SIGN to label a direction
Up, down or flat — from the sign of a change, not its size.
Task:
The weekly dashboard needs an arrow word beside each metric. In D2:D6 show Up when this week beat last week, Down when it fell, and Flat when it did not change.
Interactive Spreadsheet
Hints
+5 XPno-hints bonusSolve it on your own to keep the bonus. Each hint gets one step closer to the formula.
Variations of SIGN
0/3The same formula in the other shapes it takes at work.
- SIGN Function
Determine the sign of numbers using the SIGN function.
CoreBeginner - SIGN to label a direction
Up, down or flat — from the sign of a change, not its size.
Intermediate - SIGN × ABS: round both ways symmetrically
Treat a negative adjustment exactly like a positive one, then put the sign back.
Advanced
The data in this exercise
This is the grid you start with. Cell references in the task — B6, C2 — point at the row numbers and column letters below.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metric | Last week | This week | Trend |
| 2 | Visitors | 18240 | 19305 | |
| 3 | Sign-ups | 412 | 388 | |
| 4 | Orders | 266 | 266 | |
| 5 | Refunds | 19 | 14 | |
| 6 | Reviews | 31 | 47 |
What this exercise teachesMay contain the answer
SIGN collapses any change, however big, into one of three values, which is exactly the shape of a three-way label. Refunds come out as Down, which is good news: the label says which way the number moved, not whether the move was welcome.