If you’re a Tableau or Power BI user then you’ve probably come across this question at some point.
Whether you’ve been asked it directly, or you’ve just heard people joke about it.
But it’s a revealing question.
When users export to Excel it means 2 things.
1. You didn't do your job correctly.
2. There's a hesitation to adopt new tools.
If it's number 1, you need to ask more questions.
- What are you trying to do with this data?
- What's missing from the report?
- What would create more value?
Oftentimes, developers will jump into a project without asking enough clarifying questions upfront.
The more you can learn about what the user needs and how they will use the report, the better equipped you are to then go out and build it.
Taking the time up front to do a quality interview can save effort down the road.
If it's number 2, you need to educate. To review, number 2 is a hesitation to adopt new tools.
- How do BI tools drive decision-making?
- How do BI tools simplify data flows?
- How do BI tools democratize data?
Sometimes you and your team will need to do some advocating to get people on board with newer technology.
Just know, that this is common. Especially in larger companies with a tenured workforce.
They’re just so used to Excel that they feel uncomfortable trying something new.
It’s our job to show them and tell them how powerful BI tools can be. This also requires us to have a solid understanding of what they do and how they work as well.
There's a reason why BI tools are so popular.
But you have to understand the data.
And end users have to understand your solution.