Excel with dynamic dashboard as online documentation for office procedures????

[psionic2007]

G'Day,


This is my first note here, just bare with me and sorry for being waffling long post.


Just wondered and very curious if there is anyone from this website using Excel being able to generate documentation in some sort for our office procedures or application manual in a clear and clean way suiting less technical minded staff about their job.


I'm inspired by these dynamic dashboard Chandoo showed if there is a table of contents on the main page can expand what do to for using an application I hope to support better at work.


The key trick here is I wanted to be flexible to make only small minor changes to the data in the background (usually a new step to be added or changed) when the application is being upgraded to the next edition, a bit like documenting what is different between Excel 2003 to Excel 2007 and showing this in this documentation, however the audience who uses the documentation are the administators not technical staff.


I'm thinking there are strengths in Excel and ways of NOT using MS Word, html or MS online help for the same thing as Excel would be good to hold all the steps for the documentation and only small changes is needed will help a long way.


I'm aware DITA (a standard for describing modular topics for documentation purposes but this complicates things and I feel this is way off topic!)


Anyway, I'll present a fictional siutation to help out what I mean by this.


Let's say in Fruity town (a small business) has a new application software for the business that manages orders from customers and financial stuff. Let's say this application is called "Fruitix". Fruitix is used by 4 reliable customer oriented staff who unforuntately are not computer minded people, they know some words like facebook but think it is something else (know what I mean!). Anyway, all they understand how to open Excel or Word and follow a few procedures or steps if provided to them.


The trouble is, Fruitix's documentation is pretty much more full-on computer jargon on how to use drop down lists boxes and needing to click this, that, and the jazz that confuses the staff on how to use Fruitix fully. Similar to how not many people fully understood the power of using Excel's pivot tables when this idea came out.


Anyway, Fruity town manager noticed that morale of the team doesn't see why we need to do more (for encouragement and creativity of improving the business bottom line) than using Fruitix.


One suggestion by their technical staff is the create a new documentation that caters the needs how Fruitix "fits" with their job instead of focusing on Fruitix original documentation.


Hence, this is the Excel documentation I am attempting to do by way of explain how this application like Fruitix "fits" into their job role so they can see the bigger picture rather than focusing on the documentation on how to use application as per se.


So give someone full rein on this idea, let's say there are two functionality of Fruitix. Adding orders into Fruitix and Reconcilating the invoices for the orders.


Let's say adding orders into Fruitix has been identified as having 30 steps to follow through 4 different screens entering client info and their regular information.


Ideally Excel would show two functionality, once clicked, show all these 30 steps like a flowchart format.


Reconcilating the payments from clients on the other hand, 16 steps shows that Fruitix accepts payments across 9 different screens.


I hope that decribes the problem domain in detail, let me know if you need clarification.


Once this Excel dashboard works out well, the documentation generator by its nature would be helpful.


With kind regards,

psionic.

 

[dan_l]

A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I tried something like this.


Basically: it was a listing of processes within an ERM system. Each process had a unique tag. Common tasks---like 'creating a sales order', consisted of multiple processes. The thing didn't include the work instruction---just the overview as to the general steps you needed.


So:

1. Create a sales order

2. Schedule the job in the shop

3. ????

4. Profit!


Each step included a link to the appropriate Idocument containing the work instruction. Administrating the the thing required only that you put the tag of the step under the general heading.


I'm not sure if this is what you're trying to do. If it is, I'll see if I can dig up the file.


FWIW, this was kind of a failure. Not so much the excel side of it, but the whole idea of giving people this overview kind of thing. It didn't include enough information to stand on it's own - the whole 'quick reference' idea didn't cut it.


Eventually, we dumped the excel file in favor of some html documents sitting on a network drive. Ultimately, that was a much better fit. Later it was wikized.

 

[psionic2007]

Sounds good, dan_l if there is something to offer that gives me an idea that leads to seeing their pros and cons over time.


I personally wouldn't mind having html documents sitting on the network drive (hopefully) generated by Excel as I admire the idea of Excel having a map of tasks and then associate the screen snap shots and one macro button to send it all the changes off to the network drive.


I am sceptical about wikis in our workplace due to the fact that our staff are not computer aligned and would more than likely feel this approach would hinder their purpose of their work. Just a passing thought about it....


Cheers,

Psionic