The 'average' excel user

[Cbrine]

My thoughts on this would be that if someone KNOWS how to use vlookup or Sumproduct and not just being able to parrot the formula, would already be at a level of compentance that formating and page setup would be a given. For instance, there's a girl, here at the office, that I taught how to use vlookup. She doesn't understand why it works, just that it does work. Anything out of left field she just wouldn't be able to handle. Questions like
1. If you have a vlookup formula that is correct, and data that matches on the two lists, but are still getting a #N/A error. What's causing the problem?
Would filter out the chafe from the real user.
Answer: Text versus numeric formating. Leading or trailing spaces.

If they can answer these type's questions correctly, then I'm pretty sure any type of formating is not beyond them.

HTH
Cal

 

[Greg Truby]

What could you buy for 1866335 Venezuelan Bolivars?
-Norie

Un tiquete de avion a Liberia, Costa Rica y unos días en unas playas ticas. Pero también Curaçao está cerca.

An airplane ticket to Liberia, Costa Rica and a few days on Costa Rican beaches. Though Curaçao is also close.

 

[Norie]

Greg

Shouldn't that be posted in the newly named 'Questions in Other Languages' forum?

 

[Mark O'Brien]

I 2^nd Mark; though I'd say Mark's describing the "median" Excel user, since you've got yer outliers like Cal & Richard who are so far above the typical user that they would skew the "average".

No I was talking about the arithmetic mean. Although the median and the mode would probably give similar results.

Anyone that uses Excel is a user. Millions of people use Excel but comparatively few are particularly skilled. Like I said, the average user might know how to use SUM. Chances are, the average user might still use A1+A2+A3. (then spend 5 minutes tying to figure out why that doesn't work before puttin in the "=" sign)

 

[Norie]

Mark

I've seen people use SUM like this.

=SUM(A1-A2)

 

[Smitty]

the average user might still use A1+A2+A3

Our CFO still uses that! But he's a die hard Lotus user too.

As for the skill set needed for Excel, I'd say that a lot of it is being able to understand conceptually what you can do with the program and then being able to apply that knowledge to it. (Patience and the ability to read the helpfile is a plus). For instance, I think my first "complicated" formula was along the lines of a VLOOKUP. I "knew" what I wanted to do, knew it was possible and figured it out.

Although in my office, 99% of my users are folks who still do sales charts & stack rankings on 24x36 paper, without taking advantage of the wide format HP plotter we've had for years (despite being told about it repeatedly). Granted, a cusp-of-technology business (in terms of users) we're not. My frame of reference with regards to user-competence is here. (Yes, that was a compliment...)

Smitty

 

[Felix Atagong]

An average user would not, I repeat: NOT, send offers to a client in Excel with rows, columns or sheets hidden, especially when these contain information the client must not see. It's a tragedy I still encounter a lot... Some people even don't bother to erase the formulae, so you see something like =Cost!A1*1.15.

My holding company once send me a cost tariff, absolute cost, no extra charges, cross my heart and swear to god... unless I did an unhide and found out the real cost that was 15% less...

And I've got this client who sends me daily a (hidden) sheet that contains his complete clients database, names, adresses, phonenumbers... just to let me know what kind of product he wants to order from me... (I don't do anything with it, honest, I'm ethical enough for that, until the day he decides to go to the compettion - I'll know who to contact then :wink: )

 

[LySeRGinator]

My holding company once send me a cost tariff, absolute cost, no extra charges, cross my heart and swear to god... unless I did an unhide and found out the real cost that was 15% less...

loooooool.. priceless Obviously something to casually bring into any further negotiations with this particular client lol....