What’s the difference between Vika Viggle Table and Excel?
To our surprise, this question seems to surround users, both when they first come across Vika Vigger tables and after they’ve been using them for a while.
This article tries to answer the differences between Vika Vigger Table and Excel from the aspects of nature, usage mode, usage logic and usage scenarios. Help you complete the digital thinking transition from “Excel thinking” to “Vika thinking”.
Let’s start with a typical user:
@Suki, who has been using Excel spreadsheets for project management, urgently needs a tool to deposit project data instead of opening Excel slowly due to the increase of data.
That is, until @suki discovered Vika Vigger Tables, a tool that “solves almost all of her project management needs” : a database, collaboration, data analysis, and presentation.
However, as a deep Excel user, when exploring the use of Vika Vigger table, @suki had many questions due to its similar but completely different operating experience with Excel:
👉 Why do they look so similar?
👉 Vika and Excel are the same “drag-and-drop” and “easy to use”. Why can’t a Vigger table combine cells and record data types of different formats in a single column?
👉 In the data display, Vika Vigger table does not support a single or single line color Settings, how to make the concerned data to achieve highlighting?
👉 Why is the first column fixed and cannot be deleted or moved at will?
…
It’s not just project management users who find this confusing. When Veg-Tables are introduced as a digital tool within the enterprise, there is still a lot of confusion. This process typically goes through:
Dissipation Stage
What’s this? It looks like it’s just a spreadsheet, not a big deal. Can’t even merge cells? Can’t calculate it yet?
Acceptance stage
Yi? I can also upload pictures and videos, and it’s easy to browse, follow up projects/tasks and get notifications, which gives me a very comfortable feeling.
Love phase
The more I use it, the more I feel cool. My data is in good order, and I can also convert multi-dimensional views, which is convenient for efficient browsing. The intimate permissions and collection tables and other small function points greatly facilitate my work.
Really sweet stage
Through API, I can capture the data from multiple advertising platforms and automatically summarize and analyze them. I only need to look at the dashboard every day, and I can see the overall work progress and situation at a glance. This is the digital tool I want!
After becoming heavy users of the WEIG table, they’ll tell you the answer: it’s a new combination of database and spreadsheet — the Multidimensional Table.
So why is it that an action or function that we think is “good” in Excel can’t be done in Vika Viggle, yet still leads to a better, more powerful, more digital experience?
Simply put: Vika Vigger tables are lightweight visual databases, while Excel is an “electronic spreadsheet.” Due to the differences in nature, the data presentation, use logic and use scenarios are different.
Essential difference
Vika is a database, Excel is a spreadsheet
Excel is a spreadsheet.
The Vika Vigger table is essentially a relational database — just an interface for a two-dimensional table, and with simple, easy-to-use interactions like a spreadsheet, it’s easy to feel like “this is a spreadsheet.”
Relational database was born in the 1970s, based on the relational model, and has gradually become the traditional standard of data storage today. The standard data query language SQL is a language based on relational database.
Database, SQL, relational model these seemingly strange and distant words, in fact, has been inseparable with our daily life: all the software of the contemporary Internet (APP, games, software tools, etc.) is the bottom of the database.
How App/Web works
VIKA Viggle table through self-research engine technology, the original need to code, programming technology to use the database, into adult people can understand the type of Viggle column.
Such as multi-line text/digital/check/score we look as clear as the data types, such as analogy LongText/Float in traditional database/TinyInt/Int, etc.
Professional SQL language, in the Vika Vigger table “retooled”, to filter/sort/group and other easy-to-use data processing components.
Connected table query in the database, VLookup function in Excel, in the Vika Vigg table becomes a simple mouse click can achieve the basic ability.
More importantly, VIKA Vigger table has the characteristics of database, can store, read, record a rich variety of data types, with data structure, logical independence, distribution independence and so on.
Albany, Kanban, Calendar, Gantt Chart, these originally need to be customized, need thousands of lines of code to achieve the ability, in the VIKA Vigger table, through simple operation, one key transformation can let your data, quickly out of the fixed UI, display into a multi-dimensional view.
Vika Vigue table “Kanban” view to show the effect
The essential difference between a spreadsheet and a relational database is why Vika Vigger Tables are used differently from Excel: the transformation of multidimensional views and structured column types.
Differences in data presentation
Vika has multidimensional view transformation, Excel doesn’t
Vika Vigger tables have multi-dimensional view transformations.
A Vigel table does look like an Excel table, consisting of rows and columns:
Both Vika Vigger tables and Excel are made up of rows and columns
But Vega tables have a level of flexibility that Excel can’t match. The wiggle row can be morphed, either to maintain the horizontal rendering of a traditional spreadsheet, or to some other vertical form.
In the VIKA Vigger table, a data record, easily change the data perspective through the view, so that the concerned data display is more intuitive, concise, beautiful, and achieve data visualization.
For example, a Gantt chart that requires a grid to fill in Excel can be automatically generated with one click in the Vika Vigger table.
The significant differences in visualization methods make many users who are accustomed to Excel’s visual display through cell highlighting, red marking and other visual adjustments, often surprised by the changes in the multi-dimensional view of the Vega table, and at the same time look forward to the return of Excel’s “drawing board” data display.
In order to satisfy this usage habit, Vika Vigger table may be introduced in the future “condition highlighting” function.
However, it should be emphasized that the distinction of data in Excel relies on the “visual” giving the data particularity (such as highlighting, highlighting, etc.), while the Vigel table marks the particularity of the data itself.
For example, a “check ☑️” type Vigel column can mark a single piece of data. If a tick represents “Done”, then a single piece of data is given the “Done” characteristic without the need to classify the row of data by color.
Vika Vigger table can be marked by “radio”, “check” and other data
In addition to the “check box,” there are dozens of types of Vigle that “structure” the data, such as: people, radio, multiple, attachments, ratings, addresses, mailboxes, smart formulas, increment numbers, magic associations and references, creation time and creator, modification time and modification person, and other Vigle types. Perfect to adapt to the more and more complex work content and needs of various enterprises.
Vika Vigger tables are rich in column types
Use logical differences
It’s the same dragging feeling
What is different is the relevance and structural nature of the data
VIKA Vigger table in order to achieve a simple and easy user experience, the use of a simple operation similar to Excel, such as: drag, pull, cell selection, etc.
Cell drag and drop experience for Vika Vigger tables
It’s as simple as it is easy to use, but it still has distinct advantages: the data is closely related to each other, and the data has a three-dimensional structure.
There is a close correlation between the data
Excel’s excellent data computing power is impressive, but the use of data in Excel is usually “one-time” and “single machine”.
There are high learning costs associated with the ability to recycle data, such as vlookup, macros, etc., not to mention collaboration between multiple computers and multiple people.
VIKA Vigger table has “magic association” “magic reference” and other functions, data in a single entry, can be referenced in multiple tables, synchronous update, anytime and anywhere to view, and no error.
Vika Vigg table “magic association” function demonstration
In addition, the open API can connect with the existing and external business system of the enterprise, realize the automatic and intelligent data, and realize the automatic update of data of various departments and projects, which saves time and effort.
With the repeated use of data and cross-table connection, VEG table can greatly improve the flow efficiency and reusability of data, which can be intuitively shown as a significant improvement in office efficiency.
Data has a three-dimensional structure
In Excel, data classification and filtering rely on cell formatting, such as combining and splitting cells. The essence of merging cells is to group data, and the “merge” style is used to visually convey the characteristics of grouping.
However, in the VIKA Vigger table, the data is structured, stable and interrelated, and can be transformed into groups and multi-dimensional views.
A more obvious structural benefit is that the data in a VEG table can be converted into what we know as a “form” :
Vika Vigel table can be transformed into “magic form” with one click
VIKA Viggle table can achieve personalized, custom data screen
VIKA Viggle table can generate Gantt chart with one key
This means that VEG table is not only a database, collaboration tool, but also a new type of enterprise digital business system, is a new data productivity platform.
The first column has the database “primary key” feature
As mentioned earlier, Vika Vigger tables are essentially databases.
Data is structured in a grid table. Data is structured and encapsulated in “rows”, and the first column is the information overview of the row’s data. In the grid table, the first column is fixed and cannot be deleted or moved.
At the same time, Vika Vigger tables inherit the database “primary key” feature.
The “primary key” in a database is usually the first column, and information is associated and searched by the “primary key” to locate relationships. A “primary key” is a globally unique identifier for a line of information that does not allow duplication.
Similarly, the first column of a Wigger table should ensure that the data is unique and non-repeatable. When associating records, it is possible to quickly identify which row of data is based on the first column information. Such Wigger column types as single-select and multi-select are not supported.
This is why the first column of a VEG table supports the fewest column types.
The first column of the Vika Vigger table supports the fewest column types
Differences in usage scenarios
Vika is the data productivity platform, Excel is data computing
Vika Wiggle Table is an API-oriented multi-dimensional table. Different from Excel’s specific and computation-intensive business scenarios, Vika Wiggle Table supports more Wiggle columns (i.e. field types), data processing is more immediate and efficient, more stable and error-less, and more visualization and connectivity.
Excel is actually an electronic spreadsheet. It was originally designed to solve problems such as measuring data, building data models, and predicting financial and business problems.
The best use scenarios are extremely flexible scenarios like “financial data analysis” that value flexibility over structure.
With the rise of digitization, people’s demand for storing multi-type and structured data has increased, and Excel has derived many new uses: project management, warehouse management, personnel management, and so on.
However, in fact, Excel can not be used as a database to store data, and inefficient data collaboration and processing methods will lead to a lot of redundant and repetitive work.
This is also why there are so many “Cousins” around us. The essence of the problem is that they do not have the right tools of production.
In project management, customer management, such as such work scenarios, should use more dimensional, more intelligent tools, such as Vika Vigger table.
Vika Vigger table has: flexible and customizable functions, support multiple types of data fields, can complete data collation, collection and connection, but also can anytime and anywhere collaboration and communication and many other unique advantages, in fully adapted to this kind of office scene at the same time, support the import and export of Excel, API and business system platform docking.
Such as:
Chart panel
OKR management
The project management
Member management
Electricity management
Inventory management
Vika Vigue Table Template Center has a large number of real business scenarios of templates, welcome to the Vika.cn experience
By the way, massive templates can be directly saved as a “business system”, which is one of the differences between Vika Vigger Tables and Excel