Intent
Use spreadsheets as a lightweight UI and control surface for operations.
When to use
- Humans are in the loop and must act quickly.
- Adoption is a core success metric.
- Errors are expensive or risky.
- You need to reduce cognitive load for operators.
Core mechanics
- Design around real workflows and roles.
- Surface only the information required for action.
- Provide guardrails and validation.
- Assign ownership and feedback paths.
Implementation checklist
- Define user roles, goals, and permissions.
- Map the workflow and identify friction points.
- Prototype in the user’s existing environment.
- Add inline validation and error prevention.
- Document ownership and escalation paths.
- Collect feedback and iterate on the UI.
Failure modes and mitigations
- Hidden steps -> document and simplify the workflow.
- Access confusion -> move to role-based views.
- Stale data -> define refresh cadence and owner.
- Too many clicks -> remove or automate steps.
Observability and validation
- Usage metrics and completion rates.
- Support tickets tied to the workflow.
- Time to complete common tasks.
- User feedback summaries.
Artifacts
- Workflow diagrams.
- Role/access configuration files.
- UI screenshots or prototypes.