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Is there a way of recording the time it takes between manually
entering data for all columns and the time it takes where the majority of data will be available from drop down lists, so the time it takes for the data to be searched and selected.
Is there a way of recording the time it takes between manually
entering data for all columns and the time it takes where the majority of data will be available from drop down lists, so the time it takes for the data to be searched and selected.
Obtaining data from dropdown lists is going to be quicker than manual entry and, more importantly, ACCURATE - no typos.
If that takes care of your original question, please select Thread Tools from the menu link above and mark this thread as SOLVED.
I want to gather the timing difference between the 2 means of data entry across several departments and for 1,000's of rows of data over a set period.
Timing Data Entry
Is there a way of recording the time it takes between manually
entering data for all columns and the time it takes where the majority of data will be available from drop down lists, so the time it takes for the data to be searched and selected.
Not sure how to do this - is there a VBA solution.
Would appreciate any assistance if there is a solution.
Thank you Excel Help.
Last edited by brian_01; 06-30-2025 at 10:22 AM. Reason: Thank Excel Help
If you have the option to use a dropdown list, that will always be faster and more accurate, as John Topley notes, unless you have extremely long lists (hundreds-thousands) where it takes longer to find an item than to type it in.
This is not particularly hard technically, but there has to be a trigger to start the timer, and to end it. What events do you want to use? You can add buttons to signal Start and Finish. Or you can detect when data starts to be entered, and monitor when the data entry is complete. If so, you need to define for us what it means to start entry and end entry.
Looking at your data, are you really going to have lists of all possible customer names, customer addresses, and work proposed? Those all sound like they would be unique for each entry and have to be typed in.
There are some practical challenges:
This will be a challenge
You have to have one version of the file where data is typed in, and another version with dropdowns. How are you going to distribute these across several departments? Is each person going to enter the same data twice, once in each version? How will you manage the data where there are two versions of each file, each one being updated independently?several departments and for 1,000's of rows
What if they start entry in one row, then go to another row before the first is finished?
The way that HCI experts do this kind of A/B test is in the lab, where they can instruct and observe users and control the environment. Measuring the timing of human action is full of problems when it is not in a controlled lab environment. People have all kinds of random pauses with this kind of work and your results might not be meaningful. Someone is going to enter two items, go get a cup of coffee, enter another item, go to the bathroom, enter another item, answer the phone.
Under non-lab conditions I understand data not 100% reliable.Originally Posted by 6StringJazzer
Data from drop-down-validation supplied by already populated tables in other worksheets.
Timings, drop-down list start - when clicked, value found and selected, stop when this last action has stopped.
Timings, data entry start - from the first key press inside cell, stop when no more key presses recognised.
Timings from each cell added to a single cell Timings (s) at end of row.
If user returns to any cell in any row, timings restart and data added to existing Time Taken (s) column.
My VBA very, very limited I understand that not all scenarios can be achieved using code.
If the data would not be accurate then for the reasons you stated then I would not be able to use this data for any types of comparison.
Thank you 6StringJazzer for your feedback, this why I have joined this forum to learn and understand.
Hi Brian,
for testing purposes, you could use indirect data entry = via userform.
- textbox
--- time starts to be measured from the first key press,
--- time measurement ends when the last key is pressed,
- combobox
--- time starts to be measured by expanding the list,
--- time measurement ends by clicking on the given record,
The measured times and number of operations are recorded in sheet1.
I also used a time limit in the attached file - to exclude cases where the worker goes for a coffee from the statistics.
The program works on colored cells.
m.s.
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