Every industry has its go-to tools—the ones that quietly power projects and inform the way teams work. 
In design, its Adobe, AutoCad and Revit.

But product specification is different.

Every design studio we know uses a different tool, or follows a slightly different process to manage FF&E. 
Some adopt specialized tools while others fall back on Excel.

It raises an important question: what makes a tool standard?

For years, we relied on Excel for project management—not because it was perfect, but because other options felt outdated or lacking depth.

It wasn’t designed specifically for interior designers, yet it bridged the gap between creative vision and practical execution better than any specialized tool on the market.

How does Excel continue to win in a crowded market?

What lessons can we apply to Product Heist?

Excel offers an open canvas. You can structure product lists however makes sense for your project. Need to track finishes, dimensions, and vendor contacts in one place? Excel adapts. Want to setup calculations for square footage or material quantities? The formulas are ready.

This flexibility comes with universal familiarity. Nearly every team member knows Excel basics, from junior designers to project managers. No lengthy training sessions or software adoption hurdles — just open the file and start working.

For designers managing budgets, quantities, and measurements, Excel's calculation engine is invaluable. Multiply fixture quantities by unit costs, calculate total square footage, or track budget allocation across project phases — Excel handles the math while you focus on design decisions.

The visual layout helps too. Seeing all your project data in organized rows and columns provides clarity that scattered notes or basic lists can't match.

Excel scales with your project phases. Use it for initial budget estimates during bidding, detailed specifications during client review, and purchase orders during construction. One tool, three critical phases — that's efficiency.

Excel's general-purpose design creates specific problems for design professionals. Three major issues consistently frustrate design teams.

Excel treats every project as an isolated spreadsheet. Your carefully researched product specifications live trapped in individual files, making reuse nearly impossible.

Need that pendant light spec from last month's project? Time to dig through old worksheets, copy specifications, and hope you don't miss crucial details. Want to update a frequently-used product? You'll need to find and edit every spreadsheet that references it.

This lack of centralized product management creates unnecessary work and increases risk of mistakes.

Excel offers no guidance on specification completeness. One project might have detailed electrical requirements; another might miss critical installation notes. Specification quality depends entirely on who's writing them.

Your electrician needs wattage, mounting specifications, and electrical requirements. Your general contractor needs dimensions, finish details, and installation complexity. Your client needs aesthetic descriptions and pricing. Excel doesn't help you organize information for different audiences — it just stores whatever you type.

Export a PDF spec sheet, email it to your contractor, then receive client change requests. Update your Excel file, but now your contractor has outdated information. Multiple versions circulate simultaneously, creating confusion and potential mistakes.

On large projects this quickly becomes untenable.

This version control problem multiplies across team members and compounds the larger the project becomes. What happens when three people need different information from the same product specification? You're managing multiple exports, multiple email threads, and multiple opportunities for miscommunication.

When designers move beyond Excel, they're seeking three core improvements that address these fundamental workflow challenges.

Effective organization means finding information quickly. Every product you've researched should be searchable and reusable across projects. No more digging through old files or recreating specifications you've already perfected.

Context matters in design specifications. A lighting designer needs different details than a furniture installer. Your tools should help you focus on relevant information for each task, not overwhelm everyone with everything.

Your team needs access to accurate, up-to-date information. When specifications change, everyone should see the updates immediately. No more outdated PDFs or version confusion.

Product Heist offers a centralized product library that separates item specifications from project details. Add a product once and use it across multiple projects effortlessly. Update specifications per project, while maintaining the base product details in tact.

This approach keeps product information consistent while allowing project-specific details—such as quantities, pricing, or finishes—to remain flexible. By eliminating redundant data entry, it ensures accuracy and saves time.

Product Heist understands that different products have different requirements. Unlike generic spreadsheet rows, Product Heist provides adaptable specification templates tailored to each product type. For example, lighting fixtures include electrical specifications, while furniture templates prioritize dimensions and materials.

This context-aware functionality ensures that specifications are thorough without requiring tedious manual setup. We automatically identify what matters most for each product category, so nothing gets overlooked.

Product Heist enables live links to specifications, ensuring everyone always has access to the most current information. PDF exports include QR codes that link directly to real-time data. This reduces errors and miscommunication, as team members can easily verify they’re working with the latest details.

Project dashboards provide appropriate access to clients, contractors, and team members, streamlining collaboration. No more endless email chains or versioning headaches—just accurate, up-to-date information when and where you need it.

While Excel is great, Product Heist addresses its limitations while preserving its strengths. You keep the flexibility of an open canvas, structured data and simple learning curve, while gaining top-level product organization, context-aware specifications, and real-time communication.

The goal isn't replacing familiar workflows — it's enhancing them. Product Heist understands your process and optimizes for your specific needs, not generic spreadsheet requirements.

Ready to move beyond spreadsheet pitfalls?