The subway ads weren't wasted; WorkBuddy actually gets work done.

"I Tested Subway Ads with 23 Excel Files: WorkBuddy Can Help, But Not Entirely"

Transferring at Zhichun Road in Beijing this morning, the entire corridor was plastered with the slogan "Let me help you organize your data." Tencent's ad campaign this time is really aggressive. But no matter how loud the ads are, you have to test usability with real data. Coincidentally, I had a supplier reconciliation task this week. The client dumped 23 Excel files on me, with field names all over the place—one called "Order Amount," another "Amount (Tax Incl.)," and even sheet names didn't match. As someone who learned vlookup less than a week ago, I originally wanted to use Python and pandas, but mismatched fields caused immediate errors, requiring me to remotely beg for documentation explanations. Forget it, I decided to use this pile of files as an exam question to see if WorkBuddy lives up to that ad slogan.

Opened WorkBuddy, clicked "New Task" in the left-hand task list, and dragged the 23 Excel files in. It parsed the task first, displaying an execution plan roughly involving identifying file structures, unifying fields, and merging outputs. After I confirmed, it finished in just over three minutes, outputting a merged master table. Up to this point, it did look like the "data organizing" promised in the ad, but the real test came next.

First pitfall: All files must be in the same folder, and paths cannot contain Chinese characters, otherwise recognition issues occur. Initially, my files were scattered across the desktop and WeChat Transfer Assistant, and it only grabbed half of them. The problem was only solved after moving everything to a folder named temp_merge.

Second pitfall in exporting. The preview window looked fine, but when I exported directly to .xlsx and opened it in Excel, the first column header and data were crammed together. Later, I found an option in the settings on the right labeled "Automatically apply original table format after merge," located above the export button—you'd miss it if you didn't look closely. Turning this on fixed the formatting upon re-export. Also, it defaults to putting results in its own sandbox folder, not saving locally. If you're used to transferring files via WeChat, you have to manually save-as again, otherwise you can't even reply when colleagues ask "Did you get it?"

The most critical issue of misaligned fields wasn't fully automated by WorkBuddy, but it lists "suspected synonymous fields" for confirmation before merging. For example, "Tax-Inclusive Amount" and "Amount (Tax Incl.)" are grouped together, and I just checked them off one by one. This step avoided the awkwardness of pandas crashing directly, changing ten minutes of waiting for an error into thirty seconds of manual nodding.

Overall feeling: It turned writing 30-40 lines of script into two clicks and one confirmation. There are minor details to watch out for, but the time saved definitely lets you go home and watch a game. Tencent's "Let me help you organize your data" isn't empty talk, but it helps with the grunt work of wiping tables. Getting field descriptions to reach the accuracy required for financial accounting is still a bit far off. The ad talks about crossing mountains and rivers; my test feels more like climbing half a floor in the stairwell. Still okay.

Does this count as "organizing data"? Yes, but not entirely. In the reconciliation business, helping you make two fewer trips to the desktop is already worth the ticket price.