Increasing the awareness, adoption, and impact of

Microsoft Excel @ UCLA

Approach

📊 Conducted quantitative research with 107+ student survey responses and 30+ user interviews, focusing on Excel sentiment, use cases, and adoption barriers.

📚 Analyzed ambassador program materials and workshops, identifying weaknesses in onboarding, support structures, and public visibility.

🔍 Performed a competitive analysis between Excel and Google Sheets to inform positioning strategies.

Our Findings

🧠 Students face a steep learning curve and lack familiarity with Excel’s key features (e.g., PivotTables, macros, VLOOKUP).

📉 Excel has high initial adoption but low engagement; students prefer self-paced, accessible learning formats like online tutorials.

🚪 The ambassador program suffered from low participation, high churn, and limited output, due to unclear guidance and lack of incentives.

Solutions

🛠️ Proposed a three-pronged strategy:

  1. 📅 When: Structured ambassador timeline aligned with key campus events and academic calendars.

  2. 🧰 How: Training toolkits, mentorship, and streamlined workshop templates to empower ambassadors.

  3. 📜 What: Clearly defined ambassador roles, success metrics, and incentives for sustained engagement.

🏆 Developed new event concepts such as Excel tournaments, career readiness workshops, and Copilot (AI integration) demos.

📱 Recommended content strategies for Instagram and LinkedIn, including collaborations with Excel influencers and trend-driven storytelling.

Impact

🚀 Delivered a comprehensive strategy to Microsoft that reimagines the ambassador program into a scalable, student-centered ecosystem focused on career readiness, community building, and modern learning experiences.