Easy to use spreadsheet application

In the years since their first introduction in 1961, spreadsheets have developed into feature-rich multi-purpose tools, with software such as Microsoft Excel being amongst the most popular computer programs of all time. Spreadsheets are widely used in professional envi-ronments for tasks such as, inter alia, reporting and data analysis. Despite their versatility, spreadsheets are mostly used for keeping numeric and textual data in tabular form. Many sophisticated features, such as complex formulas and charts or macros, were found to be used only in a minority of use cases. The goals of this work were to confirm findings from business-related studies for the private domain and further investigate how users work with existing spreadsheet software, which difficulties they encounter and therefore what the requirements for an improved user experience are. First, an online survey was conducted, which built upon findings of related work and served as a basis for subsequent qualitative research in the form of participant observations and semi-structured interviews with a group of real users. As a result, a web-based prototype was developed and continuously tested and evaluated in collaboration with users. The presented prototype offers an unlimited canvas workspace instead of the traditional grid and integrates known features from spreadsheet and word processing software. Unique features such as a newly developed formula bar and indicators for formula cells along with the intelligent reduction of features led to a significant reduction of complexity, while keeping the software powerful enough to handle most day-to-day tasks.