When a team returns to Excel after a new system launches, the first explanation is often resistance to change. Yet the old file may perform work the replacement cannot: comparing several records, correcting entries quickly or retaining details without a suitable field.
Find out where people return to the spreadsheet and what they need it for before choosing training, redesign or retirement of the old process. Removing a tool without a workable replacement can push the activity into files that are even less visible to the wider team.
Follow a real task instead of asking only whether people like the system
Ask a user to walk through recently completed work, from receiving information to handover or closure. Observe the screens, copied information, questions and points where another file is opened. Avoid immediately telling them which button they should use.
GOV.UK's contextual-research guidance describes observing activities in the person's everyday environment. This helps reveal constraints involving documents, devices and surrounding work that a meeting-room demonstration may miss.
Use representative data or appropriate access arrangements where customer information is involved. A usability report does not need a copy of every private detail to explain the difficulty.
Separate observation from interpretation. Needing two windows to compare records is an observable event. Describing the system as complicated still requires identifying which step creates the burden.
Similar behaviour can have different causes
| Observation | Possible cause to investigate | A trial to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Entries are always prepared in a file first | The system cannot handle several records efficiently | Try batch entry or a validated preparation route |
| Figures are checked against a file every time | Source or update timing is unclear | Expose the source and examine a conflicting example |
| Notes are kept elsewhere | Fields or permissions do not fit the task | Review information structure and role needs |
| Use occurs mainly before reporting deadlines | Everyday work still bypasses the system | Trace the process and reduce retrospective entry |
| The same colleague always does the task | An action is hard to find or mistakes feel difficult to recover | Test the interface and task-based guidance |
Treat these as investigation prompts, not automatic diagnoses. Gather evidence before choosing a remedy. People showing the same behaviour may be blocked at different steps.
Reduce duplicate entry and make information explainable
If staff enter information in the system and copy it into a file for a manager, ask what information or presentation the manager still needs. Simply prohibiting the file does not help if its recipient cannot otherwise perform the next task.
Identify the authoritative source for each kind of information and make its freshness understandable. When figures disagree, provide a way to inspect causes such as different periods or included statuses.
Excel can remain suitable for occasional analysis or exploring an idea. Define where that use belongs and who checks information returned to the system. Eliminating every spreadsheet is not a necessary measure of project success.
Design a transition that does not leave work between two processes
If both methods operate temporarily, specify where new records begin, what must be transferred and when duplicate entry should end. A trial without an exit condition can become a permanent extra workload.
Provide a named help route for work that cannot proceed. Show users how reported problems are resolved or explained, instead of responding to every question by referring them back to the manual.
Teach complete tasks, such as accepting a request, correcting an entry and passing work on. A tour of menu names is insufficient. Use the accounts and permissions people will actually have, since an administrator's screen may differ from theirs.
Include whoever receives the output in the transition. An employee can complete their own screen correctly while the next team still lacks an agreed handover. Adoption depends on the working relationship between these steps as well as the individual interface.
Measure completed work rather than logins alone
Check whether records move through the full workflow, where retrospective corrections occur and which tasks still require help. Include confident users and those who struggle, rather than judging only from the person most familiar with the system.
Improve recurring obstacles, then ask users to repeat the same task. Expand to other groups once the change demonstrates value. Adding features before understanding the cause can make an already difficult interface more complicated.
If the choice of work to move out of files remains open, review when Excel needs an internal system. Use the first-release scoping guide to focus changes on work the team needs to complete first.
The new system is live, but the real work still lives in individual files?
Talvyn Labs can trace the team's workflow, identify duplicate entry and missing steps, and improve the experience and transition so people can keep working.
Find what prevents system adoption