Cellery: Gradual, Composable Structure for Spreadsheets

Abstract

Structure in spreadsheets is typically restricted to ranges of cells and flat tables. However, replacing the open-ended two-dimensional grid with a more structured alternative risks limiting users' freedom and impeding exploratory workflows. How can we enable expressive structure in spreadsheets while preserving their flexibility? We propose a model that allows users to gradually add structure on top of the traditional grid. To identify common structural patterns, we conducted a content analysis of 30 real-world spreadsheets. Based on our findings, we developed Cellery, a novel spreadsheet system that makes these structures explicit. In Cellery, users gradually define the structure of their spreadsheets using named groupings of cells, composing together four structural primitives: Atoms, Lists, Tables, and Blocks. Once defined, users can directly manipulate structures, dynamically reference them in formulas, and incorporate them in reusable abstractions. We evaluate Cellery with an expressiveness study reproducing spreadsheets from our sample, demonstrating that it is capable of representing types of structure that traditional spreadsheets cannot. In a preliminary user study of five participants, we find that they successfully use Cellery to design spreadsheets with explicit structure, and we uncover opportunities for further work on the formula language.

arXiv commentTo appear at the 39th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST '26)

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• Spreadsheet Errors: What We Know. What We Think We Can Do
• Ensuring Spreadsheet Integrity with Model Master
• Structuring Spreadsheets with the "Lish" Data Model