ArK Tech Consulting
What is it and how does it work?
An Excel user interface is a form created through Excel's programming language called Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). It combines a variety of user input controls (text box, buttons, radio buttons, list box, check boxes) to create a visually appealing and functional solution.
Once implemented, a form can be accessed upon opening the file. It can also be triggered throughout the file in the form of buttons or shortcut keys.
Why create a user interface?
On their own, Excel data files can become overwhelming and unorganized. As a business expands, more data is required which will further increase the complexity of the file.
Implementing a user interface will eliminate the need to scroll through endless records. The form will filter and update the data for you in fewer steps while minimizing errors with the use of validation rules.
How does the user interface interact with the data?
Storing data can be as simple as creating a new worksheet or complex as implementing a database. Excel is flexible in the programs it interacts with and the user interface can act as the conduit linking data with analytics.
Excel User Interface
Below is an example of an Excel User Interface implemented for a company that wants to maintain information on their customers and orders.
Above image shows a button inserted in an excel worksheet. Pressing it will activate the user form shown below.
The image below shows the Order Lookup form. Here, a user can enter a string of text in the Customer Name text box and the results will appear in the Customer listbox. Clicking on a customer name will then show all orders placed by the customer.
If no results are returned, the form will prompt the user to add a new customer.
If the user wants to automatically add a new customer, pressing the "+" button will displayt the New Customer form.
The image to the left shows the order modification form. Once the user locates a customer order, they can change values or enter new ones. In this example, all the data is housed in an Access database. When the user presses the Update button, the form will communicate those changes to the database.
Although this example shows only a few input controls, an excel Form can have significantly more, depending on a business's needs.