Jason from subset is looking for Podcasters, Founders
and
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Looking for beta testers for a new spreadsheet app!
Beta testing opportunity
I've been working on a new type of spreadsheet with the goal of making spreadsheets easier to use. We did this by reimagining what a spreadsheet should look like while keeping many of the common functions and keyboard shortcuts in spreadsheets today.
Would love to learn about your spreadsheet use cases and see how Subset could automate your workflows :)
What is Polywork?
Comments
I can't imagine all the various avenues and shiny objects you must be faced with trying to create a better spreadsheet.
Just as with all the better systems out there, IBM thinkpads are still a common corporate laptop, it feels like Excel and the microsoft suite will be with us forever.
That being said, there is much room to improve on Excel.
Use cases I have personally used Excel for (and continue to you excel over google sheets for)
* data downloads to use to analysis
* replaces the calculator app
* favorite formulas: SUM, AVERAGE, Lookups, if this then that, =another cell
* conditional formatting: - if >0 highlight green, if <0 highlight red, gradient from largest to least
Least fav things about Excel
* starting in A1, every one starts in B2. A spreadsheet that gives some white space would be nice.
* not easy to tell which cells are hardcoded vs. formula unless you have made yourself a key and highlighted the cells. Could be cool if you set preferences such as "if I hardcode a number into a cell, auto highlight light blue. If cell contains a formula referencing another cell, auto highlight light yellow" etc. <-- this may exist but I've never looked and do it manually each time.
* make drop down lists easier and not requiring a separate tab/sheet
* doing things manually and repetitively knowing that there is probably a formula out there to do it, but not knowing how/what to even search. A robust "autofill" or something that can sense you doing a repeat behavior and ask if you want it to complete it would be amazing (or pop up with a suggest formula).
Best of luck! I hope you are able to find a focus on what makes subset great and not try to be everything to everyone as we all use spreadsheets very differently. If it helps, my biggest gripe with Google Sheets is the lack of all the excel formulas and the inferior What If analysis and data analytic tools.
-V.
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Boost - Edited
Thank you this is super helpful! I agree with all of this, I actually think calling it a "spreadsheet app" is probably not the right phrase--more so a new tool to make building analysis easier :)
We're addressing a lot of the things you listed as the least favorite things, but the one that I think is the coolest is the "autofill" one. Still trying to come up with a better name, but we built something called "auto-autofill" where you can pick any cell and make it autofill down, right (or both). It's been super helpful in automating away the need to drag a formula down as your data input gets updated.
Hi, I am not super user of spreadsheet using formula, but use Excel for general use for convenience. Do I need to create my own test passes or can I just use and give feedback to you?
Not being a super user is actually perfect! We're currently trying to test on intermediate / beginner spreadsheet users to see what user interactions can be even easier. For example, we built a tool to help you sum, average, count a column by just clicking, instead of typing out the =SUM, =AVERAGE, =COUNT function!
If you wouldn't mind, no need to create test cases. You can just use and give feedback. You can create an account at https://subset.so/
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