My love hate relationship with Excel, wrapped
Where did the time go? I feel like I've been on a writing high — lots of things being captured on Obsidian, my new favourite note-taking tool. It's been a haven for unfinished thoughts and bits for my pea-sized brain.
Week in a nutshell
Accessibility sign off on Excel spreadsheets ✅
Organised a card sort research activity to validate some IA thinking
Burn(out) diaries
Lessons/reflections (work)
Last time I'll mention spreadsheets, I swear. But on a note before sign-off, I’ve bore witness to the power of Excel as so much more than just tables and cells. I’ve never been fluent in numbers — anything more than 3 digits scare me — but knowing your way around formula and logic (like code) is essentially turning data > through interactions > into a full experience.
We’ve designed things like complex, interactive finance models and responsive forms on Excel as a collective of tech, content and UX. Sometimes, we use formulas to intentionally show/hide information, and other times, content (language) is better placed for highlighting things.
i.e. We can formulate to display Cell X only if Cell Y is filled, or use copy like "Fill in the sections below if you have done Z".
As a UX designer on unfamiliar Excel territory, part of my job is to ensure that these interactions make sense, but also that things like colour and type align with these interactions.
i.e. Error messages formulated to appear should be conditionally formatted as red text. However, even in the absence of errors, "No Error" should also appear as guidance, but conditionally formatted in black.
Also shoutout to the #accessibility community on the GDS Slack channel, for being so proactive in offering words of accessibility wisdom! I really appreciate how the value of design is being recognised in public sector work in the UK. Services should be exactly that — championed by its people, delivered by design. Its distinction lies in its incentive to be non-profit, non-loyalty driving, non-customer converting. We don’t need to be loyal. We only have to be, because we live here. Let’s get shit done and get going.
Challenges
It's been a challenging week beyond spreadsheets, mostly because of burnout. This term has been redefined for me: I've been tired before, exhausted even. But the point of burnout feels so much more than that, incurable with a weekend getaway or rest. I had to take two personal days this week, and still I couldn't help but do some work to stay productive.
But what does it mean to be productive, anyway? Something I've realised is that when people ask me how my day went, I often use productivity as a metric for my day's success: the amount of things I tick off my ever-growing to-do list. Going forwards, I'd like to tweak my mindset a bit, and shift productivity away from work, but also in my well-being, relationships and mood.
Personal anecdote
Which brings me to my weekend mood. I'm finally exploring the famous Bermondsey Beer Mile, where I will be on the hunt for my favourite white stout. I had a taste of this sweet bourbon-aged beer in Hong Kong this summer, and I've been thinking about those unforgettable notes of white chocolate ever since. Highly recommend for anyone who's not a fan of stout (yet), this is a game changer!
Reads of the week
Understanding values: Schwartz theory of basic values, Shalom H. Schwartz
Burnout diaries, Amy Hupe
Loss, Amy Hupe
CECAN Webinar: Demystifying system thinking from within Defra, Dan McGonigle and Betheney Wills [Dec 12]
So good to see systems thinking in principle and practice! I would have loved to see more of the lessons taken away with value though, some seemed more like obvious outcomes. It’s also unclear in the way it addresses change, as this can look very different for policymakers or fisheries.
Weeknote #9, Richard Walker
“Just because a product claims to meet a certain standard doesn’t necessarily mean that it does, so don’t take anything at face value.”
“The more buyers ask about accessibility, and the more demanding they are, the more sellers will pay attention to it and realise that government takes it seriously.”
The why of weeknotes, Sam Villis
I’m using Weeknotes as an archive for my work, and document progress I’ve made as a designer in her early days. My dad’s favourite Steve Jobs quote: “Stay foolish, stay hungry” (humble).
Design Systems (technically not a read but a lovely library of design systems)
I do however highly recommend the UX Design Weekly newsletter, and newsletters in general. It’s like a 21st-century version of the morning paper for me.
That’s enough reading for me as I’ve been very preoccupied with this. Then, I have this next on my list.
