Spreadsheet replacement projects fail in a predictable way: teams try to replicate the spreadsheet exactly, then add features. The result is software that's slower than the original, missing the flexibility users relied on, and never fully adopted.
The migration pattern that works
- Map what the spreadsheet actually does — including the undocumented parts.
- Identify the 2–3 jobs the spreadsheet does best and rebuild those first.
- Run the new tool alongside the spreadsheet for one full cycle.
- Migrate users by job, not by feature.
- Retire the spreadsheet only when the tool is demonstrably better.
Where most teams get stuck
The hardest part isn't the build. It's the discovery — uncovering the dozens of small behaviors users depend on but never wrote down. This is exactly what workflow mapping produces, and it's the foundation we lay before any prototyping happens. See the full sequence in How It Works.
Next step
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