Loving Alteryx - but..... what is NOT great

[mikael_svalgaard]

Alteryx is a great tool and I truly love working with it every day. Still, even in happy relationships there are elements of displeasure, irritation and frustration. Normally we focus on all the great features, but now is the time for some good, old-fashioned ranting about things that we DO NOT like about Alteryx.

I am starting a list of things I do not like. Nothing too small or big is excluded. Why? Sharing experiences might lead to learnings of solutions or workarounds to some of these issues and then we can go back to loving Alteryx – even more than before 😊

Please add your own items to the list and share with the community:

1. Designer GUI is slow when clicking on input tools with database connection.
2. Designer crashes often. Using it 4-6 hours daily and experiencing several crashes pr. week.
3. Interactive chart tool is not great. Clunky controls, limited abilities and prone to crashes when data is demanding.
4. Histogram tool (and maybe even all R based tools?) is slow.
5. Alteryx server product is very expensive while severely limiting the compute resources available.
6. Alteryx is a niche product and not mainstream despite catering to a wide audience with the no-code approach. Negative follow-up effects: limited support from userbase, limited career opportunities, AI chatbots struggle with Alteryx.
7. Built-in tools for scheduling workflows to run on local machine do not exist.
8. Alteryx server web-interface is not great. For example:
     a. If listrunners are uploaded to the Gallery, they are not always available to everyone even if they are admins (Even for SAAL user).
     b. You cannot run a job with the Admin view (you need to switch between Admin and user)
     c. The search functionality to find workflows to load from the gallery doesn’t always work correctly, not giving the right results, can’t find workflows, or sometimes you need to write the end of a list runner to find it.

9. .....what more???

[OTrieger]

@mikael_svalgaard 

Alteryx is not a perfect tool. If you do not like it you do not need to use it.

But when someone is nattering about what is not good and not suggesting solutions then it does not give a good indication about the person aims. Everyone can complain or natter. But natter without suggesting a solution is worse thing, as there is no good intentions behind it.

You are part of this group and if you observe that something is wrong, then say it and then suggest how it can be remedied. Alteryx is open for new ideas so the product can be improve, you can suggest your ideas on how to solve the above list.

Opening the door for nattering is a bad habit, it is ok to raise your voice however you if raising an issue be sure to include your suggestion how it can be improved, or at least do not post it as a general post where you share your natter with the rest of the group.

There are no good intentions behind natter. If you do not like something contact directly those that involved directly with it, but making a natter public open to all the group is something that need to be alerted to, as no good intentions behind it. Specially when you ask others to add their natters too.

[mikael_svalgaard]

I am just trying to have a discussion about what isn't great about Alteryx. You choose to ignore that I clearly state I like Alteryx very much and want to keep using it. Why is it 'bad intentions' to just try and have a conversation about things which aren't great? Going into solution mode immediately is not always the best option. Do you like everything about Alteryx?