We often get confused about whether to display the data in the columns or the rows when designing any spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
For example, suppose we want to display data of digital advertising sales per platform and month. Will you add the platforms as columns and months as rows? or vice versa?
| Google Ads | Meta Ads | Snapchat Ads | TikTok Ads | |
| Sep-2023 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 | $1,000 |
| Oct-2023 | $4,500 | $3,500 | $2,500 | $1,500 |
| Nov-2023 | $5,000 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 |
| Dec-2023 | $5,500 | $4,500 | $3,500 | $2,500 |
| Sep-2023 | Oct-2023 | Nov-2023 | Dec-2023 | |
| Google Ads | $4,000 | $4,500 | $5,000 | $5,500 |
| Meta Ads | $3,000 | $3,500 | $4,000 | $4,500 |
| Snapchat Ads | $2,000 | $2,500 | $3,000 | $3,500 |
| TikTok Ads | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,000 | $2,500 |
I recommend going with option 1 because of the following reasons:
- Different types of data should be placed as columns to make it easier for the user to read the numbers vertically aligned to the right to easily compare the change by periods.
- The months are unlimited, while platforms are limited. So it is more logically to scroll vertically than horizontally.
- Printing the spreadsheet will split content by default vertically then horizontally.
If you have another opinion please write it down in the comments section.
