Interactive videos gained significant attention around 2020 when they were actively used in marketing. At that time, expectations for interactive videos were high, yet some valuable advantages were overlooked. This article highlights the unexpected ways interactive videos can be effective—not only in terms of UX and engagement but also from the perspective of operational efficiency.

The Present State of Interactive Videos, Inspired by IKEA’s Use Case

Interactive video platforms such as Wirewax gained recognition through promotions by companies like IKEA and NIKE. Back then, interactive shopping videos were not only trending but also highly effective as storytelling tools.

Worldwide, the interactive video software industry has been consolidating rapidly. Vimeo’s acquisition of Wirewax was a major news item. Although interactive videos have not become as mainstream in Japan and failed to take off widely, Vimeo’s investment in platforms like Wirewax demonstrates the power and potential of interactive video.

The Growing Trend of Interactive Videos

The interactive video and online video software industries are seeing increasing demand across various sectors such as e-commerce, education, advertising, and marketing. This growth is expected to continue expanding in the coming years.

Attitudes Toward Adopting New Solutions

In Japan, the tendency is often to implement solutions based on existing case studies or simply to follow what large competitors do. However, what truly matters is creatively adapting solutions to one’s own organization. By doing so, companies can develop tailored use cases and operational frameworks that fit their unique needs.

Maximizing the Impact of Interactive Videos in the Funnel

In marketing, the concept of the funnel—first introduced in 1898—is widely used to describe the stages consumers go through from awareness to purchase: Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action (AIDA).

The approach changes depending on which stage of the funnel you are targeting. For example, in recruitment, here are some tactics for each funnel stage:

Using interactive videos during the motivation-building phase is particularly effective to deepen candidates’ understanding of the company.

Traditional videos tend to be one-way, with viewers passively watching. Interactive videos add two-way actions that make the experience more memorable for applicants.

While recruitment is one example, interactive videos are also suitable for phases where deeper understanding is needed or when content is complex.

Industries Actively Using Interactive Videos

Wirewax and other leading companies often promoted shoppable videos as a key feature—adding interactivity to enable seamless purchasing.

Currently, demand for engaging interactive content is growing across e-commerce (shopping), education, advertising, marketing, HR, and healthcare sectors.

Healthcare:

Medical topics are often complex. Interactive videos help deliver messages more effectively and improve viewers’ retention of information.

E-commerce:

Clickable buttons and hotspots can be added, enabling seamless purchase experiences without leaving the video. Interactive videos also gather data and insights not possible with traditional videos, such as personal preferences or email addresses.

E-commerce:

Clickable buttons and hotspots can be added, enabling seamless purchase experiences without leaving the video. Interactive videos also gather data and insights not possible with traditional videos, such as personal preferences or email addresses.

Marketing:

Rather than simply raising broad awareness, interactive videos increase engagement and encourage viewers to take action during viewing, leaving a stronger impact. They enable two-way interaction between companies and customers, allowing the collection of personal data.

HR:

Interactive videos create a positive impression of the company and explain why candidates should apply. They assist in identifying quality applicants early by adding buttons or questions directly within videos on websites or recruitment pages.

Overall, interactive videos work best after a candidate or customer pool has been formed.

Overlooked Benefits of Interactive Videos

Key advantages of interactive videos include:

• Enhanced engagement
• Personalized experiences
• Improved comprehension and recall

But operational benefits are often forgotten:

Cloud-based Management and Real-time Updates
Interactive video platforms that enable cloud editing and management allow real-time updates. Cloud operations facilitate easy sharing and efficient, up-to-date content management.

Rethinking Copyright in the Cloud Era

However, with cloud storage, copyright considerations become even more important.

Who owns the videos and assets stored in a cloud account? Creative expressions such as music, text, photos, and code are protected by copyright law.

For example, large-scale videos often involve joint creation by advertising agencies and production companies, so copyrights belong to both parties. Licensing restrictions may apply, meaning copyright ownership does not always equate to unrestricted usage.

Protecting copyright is essential for maintaining creativity. It safeguards creators and supports a healthy creative culture.

In reality, the level of copyright protection depends on the desired creative standard. High-level copyright protection is often linked to more sophisticated creative work.

While copyright laws must be followed, practical operation involves balancing efficiency, cost, creativity, and the required level of protection.

Considering Interactive Video Production?

At FLOURISH, we aim to offer cost-effective interactive video services by using platforms with excellent functionality-to-cost balance. We have partnered with the interactive video platform hihaho as Content Business Partners.

Please feel free to contact us for any inquiries about implementing interactive videos.

hihaho is a global DIY SaaS platform for interactive videos.
In April 2022, FLOURISH entered into a Content Business Partnership agreement with hihaho, an interactive video platform developed by a Dutch startup, and acquired a CreativeSuite license.

In this article, we’ll introduce what hihaho is and the key benefits of implementing this platform.

What is hihaho?

Founded in 2014, hihaho is a global DIY SaaS platform specializing in interactive videos. It is developed by a Dutch startup and is a member of the Dutch Council for Training and Education (NRTO).

With hihaho, you can add interactive features to your videos, providing a seamless and engaging user experience across all devices.

Key Features of hihaho Interactive Videos

The platform offers 14 core features, including:

• Questions
• Branching
• Evaluations
• Hotspots (Blinking Points)
• Links
• Highlights
• Sound Effects
• Zoom-In
• Data Collection (via forms)
• Subtitles (supporting SRT file upload and automatic translation)

Subtitles can be selected from 12 languages in the editing interface, and the published interactive videos can support even more.

Where is hihaho Used?

Interactive videos help people better understand, remember, and apply information. hihaho has been widely adopted in industries such as:

• Online Entertainment
• Marketing
• Education

How FLOURISH Maximizes the Use of Interactive Videos

Although interactive videos have gained attention in awareness and conversion scenarios, they are not yet mainstream in promotional content. However, the key lies in how and where they are used.

Benefits of hihaho for Businesses

While many tools provide value to end-users, it’s crucial for businesses to see tangible operational benefits. Having worked inside operating companies ourselves, we understand the importance of practical outcomes.

Compared to traditional videos, interactive videos with hihaho offer advantages such as:

1. Improved Retention

Users are prompted to think before taking action—e.g., answering a quiz or completing a check after viewing a video—which helps solidify learning and memory.

2. Seamless User Experience

hihaho allows viewers to take action directly within the video. This enables scenario-based storytelling and optimized user journeys.

3. Efficient Video Management

Videos are managed on the cloud, and teams can share access. Updates can be made instantly—unlike traditional workflows that require costly and time-consuming edits.

4. Ongoing Feature Enhancements

While the interactive video industry has seen consolidation (e.g., Vimeo’s acquisition of WIREWAX), hihaho continues to grow by adding ideal functionalities for video engagement.

5. Automatic Translation

Subtitles uploaded as SRT files are automatically translated into over 20 languages, including English, Spanish, Russian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Danish, and Arabic.

Flexible Publishing Options

hihaho supports multiple publishing settings including:

• Public sharing
• Domain-restricted access
• iFrame embedding

This flexibility ensures compliance with each organization’s security requirements.

Interested in Interactive Video?

If you’re curious about interactive video or considering implementation, feel free to contact us. We’d be happy to support your journey toward more engaging and efficient video communication.

WebGL (Web Graphics Library) was introduced in 2011.

WebGL is a rasterization API developed by the Khronos Group, Inc., based on OpenGL ES (a lightweight version of OpenGL). It enables efficient 3D rendering directly within web browsers.

Since it is compatible with major browsers, users do not need to download or install any external applications to run WebGL apps.

Below are the first browser versions to fully support WebGL.

WebGL supports 3D transformations, textures, shading (such as surface color, brightness, shadows, gloss), and lighting effects. It uses shaders — vertex shaders (for calculating positions) and fragment shaders (for calculating color and texture per pixel) — to control rendering in real time.

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Traditionally, deploying an application involves choosing a hosting provider (like AWS), setting up servers, and configuring load balancing, auto-scaling, updates, and maintenance. This traditional approach is often referred to as a “server-full” architecture.

In contrast, a serverless architecture uses fully managed cloud services, removing the need to manage servers directly.

What Is Serverless?

Serverless doesn’t mean there are no servers—it means executing code without managing server infrastructure. Developers are freed from server responsibilities.

Serverless leverages cloud-managed services to run backend code. Developers don’t need to design the underlying infrastructure, enabling them to build scalable, cost-efficient applications with minimal overhead.

Challenges of Traditional (Server-Full) Development

1. Server Maintenance Overhead
   • Requires manual setup: selecting server specs, applying patches, configuring security, etc.
   • Scaling requires manual provisioning—inefficient and resource-intensive.
   • Ongoing tasks include monitoring, updates, and incident handling.
2. High Initial Costs
   • Virtual machines, backup systems, databases, firewalls, and load balancers all incur setup time and expense.
3. Growing Operational Costs
   • As deployment complexity increases, synchronizing across servers and stacks becomes burdensome.

Simply setting up servers for a lightweight task can be overkill. That’s where specializing with serverless becomes compelling.

Benefits of Serverless

Serverless offloads backend infrastructure management to your cloud provider, allowing developers to focus entirely on application code.

Reduced administrative burden, enhancing developer productivity.

Lower infrastructure costs because provisioning and scaling are handled automatically.

Serverless Platforms — Comparison Table

Platform	Highlights	Supported Languages	Example Frameworks	Pricing	Typical Use Cases
Netlify	Ideal for frontend; Git auto-deploy + serverless functions	JavaScript (Node.js)	Nuxt.js, Gatsby, Hugo, React	Free plan; paid starts at $19/month	Static sites, Jamstack projects
Vercel	Deep Next.js integration + global CDN	Node.js, Go, Python, Ruby	Next.js, Gatsby, React	Free plan; paid starts at $20/month	React/Next.js web apps
Google Cloud Functions	Event-driven functions with strong GCP integration	Node.js, Python, Go, Java, .NET, Ruby, PHP	None native	Free tier (1M requests/mo); then ~$0.40/1M	ML model hosting, event processing
Azure Functions	Multiple trigger types + Azure ecosystem integration	C#, JavaScript, Python, Java, PowerShell, TypeScript	None native	Free tier (1M requests/mo); then ~$0.20/1M	Microsoft stack apps, automation
IBM Cloud Functions	Built on Apache OpenWhisk, integrates with IBM Watson AI	Node.js, Python, Java, Swift	None native	Free tier; pay-as-you-go	AI apps, data APIs
Cloudflare Workers	Edge computing with ultra-fast global distribution	JavaScript, TypeScript	None native	Free tier (100K req/mo); paid $5/month	API endpoints, global web apps

Server-Full vs. Serverless: A Corporate Site Example

Server-Full Example: WordPress on AWS

• Architecture: WordPress on EC2 + MySQL database on Amazon RDS
• Workflow:
  1. EC2 instance setup and WordPress install
  2. RDS database provisioning and secure configuration
  3. Security and IAM configurations
  4. Backups and ongoing maintenance using AWS Backup, monitoring, etc.

Serverless Example: Corporate Site with Headless CMS

• Architecture: Contentful CMS + Frontend hosted on Netlify + Git-based deployment
• Workflow:
  1. Manage content in a headless CMS (Contentful)
  2. Build frontend with React, Gatsby, or similar
  3. Auto-deploy with GitHub integration and Netlify
  4. Automatic scaling managed by Netlify

Why Choose Serverless?

• No server or database management required—developers stay focused on content and frontend logic.
• Auto-scaling handles traffic spikes without manual intervention.
• Ideal for projects with modest backend requirements where full server infrastructure is too much overhead.
• Allows businesses to allocate resources toward marketing and growth instead of infrastructure.

In Summary

Serverless architecture offers a leaner, more scalable alternative to server-full setups. It reduces infrastructure and operational burdens and enables faster time-to-market—especially suited to lightweight applications and marketing-driven platforms.

At FLOURISH, we’ve helped numerous clients adopt serverless workflows using platforms like Netlify to build fast, efficient, and scalable web applications. Interested in a workflow or cost analysis for your next project? Feel free to reach out.

Task flows and user flows are often confused. While both focus on user interactions, they differ in purpose and usage.

Adding to the confusion, the two are visually similar, and their definitions can vary depending on the person or team. In many cases, they may even be customized and blended together based on specific project needs.

As a result, distinguishing between task flows and user flows can be challenging. Below, we provide a brief explanation of each.

The Need for Visualizing “Flows” in Product Developme

Whenever a digital product, application, or website involves user interaction, effort is invested in designing a “flow” that allows users to achieve a specific goal.

For instance, booking a hotel is a relatively simple flow: users access the site or app, enter their desired dates, browse options, compare, and book a room. However, users can also log in, sign up, view booking history, or change settings. Each of these functions typically involves product managers and UX/UI designers.

In such cases, PMs and designers often rely on task flows — a common method in UX design that focuses on user goals.

On the other hand, user flows are commonly used in platforms developed by SaaS companies for product analytics and understanding user feedback.

What Is a Task Flow?

A task flow represents a sequence of actions a user takes to complete a specific task. Task flows are usually simple, linear, and do not branch.

For example:
“Booking a flight” or “Adding an item to a shopping cart” are straightforward steps shown in a straight line to reflect the path to achieving a goal.

Start with the User’s Goal

A task flow begins with a clearly defined user goal.
While a flow can start from any point in the process, the key is having a clear objective. It may also represent only a part of a larger process.

Example: E-commerce Task Flow

On an e-commerce site, a user searches for a T-shirt, selects size, color, quantity, optional add-ons, and adds it to the cart. The user then proceeds to checkout and payment.
This is a linear sequence of actions toward a defined goal, with no branching — a classic task flow.

When Are Task Flows Useful?

• To Understand a Feature at a High Level: Helpful when you need an overview of how a specific feature is used.
• To Organize Key Task Steps: Useful before moving into detailed feature development.
• To Create User Testing Scenarios: Helps ensure comprehensive coverage of test cases.

Task flows assume users follow a single path, which is a limitation. However, they serve as a useful foundation for building more complex user flows.

What Is a User Flow?

A user flow maps all the possible options a user can choose, from start to finish. Unlike task flows, user flows can be linear or branched depending on user decisions.

It represents the entire journey — from entry point to final interaction — using shapes like circles, rectangles, or diamonds to indicate different types of user actions.

From Task Flow to User Flow

Once a task flow is defined, it can be expanded into a user flow to show how users move through the web or app environment. This can include simple tasks like subscribing to a newsletter or making a purchase.

When Are User Flows Useful?

• To Understand User Behavior Patterns: By visualizing the product or service usage, you can better grasp how users interact with it.
• To Improve the User Experience: Analyzing user flows helps identify friction points or areas of confusion, leading to UX improvements.
• To Streamline Team Communication: Sharing user flows enhances communication across designers, developers, marketers, and other stakeholders.

User flows may include wireframes or visual representations, showing relationships between screens and data flow. They’re especially useful in explaining complex interactions that span multiple pages.

Combining Task Flows and User Flows

At FLOURISH, we sometimes create custom flowcharts that incorporate the strengths of both task flows and user flows.

For instance, we use flowcharts where user actions are displayed on the left and the system’s corresponding activities are shown on the right — a hybrid approach for better clarity.

Choosing the Right Flow for Your Project

The choice of flowchart should depend on:

• Development ease
• Project phase and scale
• Client and stakeholder expectations
• Project goals and KPIs
• Budget and resource constraints derived from those expectations

By combining and adapting flow models as needed, you can create flows that are both effective and aligned with your team’s needs.

Interactive video is gaining attention as a new method of video marketing. Unlike traditional “just watch” videos, its main feature is that viewers can take actions directly on the video.

From TV commercials to YouTube and TikTok, visual media has long been used for promotion. However, this article revisits the growing demand for video marketing and explores how interactive videos are being utilized today.

Changes in Video Marketing Demand

Between 2019 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly transformed marketing strategies. Offline events that required physical presence shifted to webinars, enabling convenient access from anywhere. According to Impress Research Institute’s “Video Streaming Business Report 2020” (*1), when asked about increased activities during stay-at-home periods, 27.5% of smartphone users answered “watching free videos” — the highest percentage.

Regarding what viewers seek in video content, demand extends beyond entertainment and hobbies to include information about products, services, and favorite brands (HubSpot, 2018).

From a business perspective, 86% of marketing professionals consider video a powerful tool, and 78% said it directly helped increase sales. Additionally, video content has been shown to increase website traffic, acting as a bridge between businesses and their audiences (Wyzowl, 2021).

This reinforces the idea that video content is a crucial function of marketing. In today’s digital world, video has become a standard method of visual storytelling — vividly illustrating how a business can transform individuals or society. Given its effectiveness in communicating with brand fans, this shift is only natural.

Effectiveness, Expectations, and Applications of Video Content

Perceived Effectiveness by Marketers (Wyzowl, 2020)

• 83% of marketers reported generating leads using videos in their campaigns.
• 80% said video contributed to sales.
• 95% believed video helped users better understand their products or services.

Consumer Expectations (Wyzowl, 2020)

• When asked how they want to learn about a product or service, 73% preferred short videos.
• 96% had watched explainer videos to learn more about a product/service.
• 78% had purchased or downloaded software or an app after watching a video.

According to Wistia’s 2022 “State of Video” report, 55% of brands planned to increase video production budgets by more than 5%. New types of videos were being considered, including brand messaging, product introductions, demos, and case studies.

Quality Expectations for Video Marketing

Many companies believe high-cost, high-quality video campaigns are necessary, but the cost-effectiveness of a video should be evaluated based on usage and duration. While more time may improve video quality, cost must be balanced. Demanding “low cost and high quality” is often unrealistic. Recognizing key priorities is essential to avoid misalignment. Going forward, marketers must manage cost, quality, and speed in an agile manner.

Key Points for Video Marketing

• Capture the user’s attention in the first 10 seconds
• Brand awareness videos should be 15–60 seconds long
• Promo videos aimed at lead generation or purchases: 30 seconds to 5 minutes
• Promo videos should highlight how to purchase, product details, how to share product pages, and provide downloadable information
• Implement diverse performance metrics (e.g., impressions, views, frequency, reach, unique reach)
• Dig deeper into analytics to determine actual campaign performance
• Don’t forget to send thank-you and upsell videos after conversion

Balancing Cost and Quality: Shared Understanding of Priorities Interactive Video Production Workflow

Interactive video is emerging as a new type of content. When producing interactive videos, the structure must prioritize user actions from the planning stage. Though interactivity is added after basic video production, whether the video was built with interactivity in mind greatly affects implementation complexity.

Once interactivity is added, the video can be embedded into websites, used in ads, or leveraged in email marketing. With various channels available today, streamlining the production process is crucial. KPIs should also be measured in the context of continuous marketing activities.

Production Workflow

1. Plan the structure
2. Write narration and captions
3. Film the video
4. Create materials
5. Edit (select BGM and sound effects simultaneously)
6. Review
7. Revise
8. Implement interactivity
9. Review again
10. Final revisions

Multichannel Marketing Applications

Though more effort is required than traditional videos, clearly defining the concept during planning and considering usage scenarios can optimize the overall workload. Since interactive videos branch based on user actions, they can’t be created on a whim. However, companies with existing content libraries may find them easier to implement.

Features and Use of Interactive Video

Platforms like Hihaho and WIREWAX offer various interactive tools. Each has different strengths, such as social sharing capabilities or lower pricing. Japanese tools are also emerging, offering varying advantages depending on the vendor. Successful international examples show that having a clear purpose at the planning stage is key.

IKEA Bedroom Habits

IKEA Bedroom Habits Purpose

• Encourage viewers to spend more quality time with content
• Action-driven design
• Optimized end-user experience
• Enjoyable enough for repeat viewing

Nike on Hypebae

Nike on Hypebae Purpose

• Provide a highly relevant experience for the target audience
• Gamify video content
• Seamless purchase integration

The purpose of interactive video focuses on user-centered goals, rather than traditional KPIs. Given the ability to track in-video actions, marketers can identify which actions were taken and whether follow-up transitions were smooth. This supports agile experimentation with various marketing strategies.

However, many interactive videos in Japan fall short of achieving “user-centered goals.” Even though video is a visual and auditory medium, they often include lengthy explanations or require reading long texts, which undermines the medium’s strengths. Text should support the video like subtitles. In visual storytelling, it’s important to suppress the urge to overload text and instead focus on refining the message based on the concept.

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※1Impress Research Institute “Video Streaming Business Report 2020”

※2 Video Marketing Statistics 2022

When I was in charge of marketing at a startup, I intentionally avoided using spreadsheets for workflow management. It was partly instinctual, but managing everything via spreadsheets simply wasn’t a future I wanted to deal with. If you rely on spreadsheets too heavily, it diminishes the value of tools like CRMs and marketing automation platforms.

Of course, spreadsheets have their appropriate uses. They’re great for lightweight data analysis, sharing information, and quick presentations.
However, building workflows around spreadsheets can end up slowing down your business in the long run.

In this article, I want to explore the hidden inefficiencies that arise when spreadsheets are deeply embedded into workflows.

How Excessive Spreadsheet Use Can Hinder Your Business

As your datasets grow, collaboration increases, and mission-critical workflows expand, the usefulness of spreadsheets diminishes.
In fact, overreliance on spreadsheets can actively harm your business.

Let’s look at the risks involved:

Risk 1: Increase in Manual Processes

Embedding spreadsheets into your workflows often leads to more manual processes—more copy-pasting, more redundant work. You can quickly find yourself trapped in “spreadsheet hell.”

Routine spreadsheet tasks increase the risk of costly errors, create fragmented data, and reduce productivity across all departments.

Automating workflows across the business saves time and resources while providing a comprehensive view to support better decision-making.

Risk 2: Spreadsheets Don’t Scale

Spreadsheets don’t scale well. As soon as you start thinking about input validation, user access control, or custom logic, you’ll hit roadblocks.

For example, securely exchanging information between companies—especially when personal data is involved—can be difficult to implement in spreadsheets in a compliant way.

Risk 3: They Hinder Collaboration

When multiple stakeholders need to update or edit spreadsheets—and also understand the underlying logic—it becomes complex and stressful.

Unless everyone involved is already familiar with the workflow, collaboration costs go up. The result? Poor collaboration and a growing reliance on a few key individuals (a.k.a. knowledge silos).

Risk 4: Compliance Risks

Managing user access in spreadsheets is notoriously messy. Yes, it’s technically possible—but it’s time-consuming and places a burden on external collaborators.

If access controls are weak, data sharing becomes risky. This often leads to careless handling of sensitive information.

When handling employee data or other confidential information, manual work and human error introduce potential compliance issues.

Risk 5: Poor Performance with Large Datasets

Spreadsheets aren’t ideal for analyzing large datasets. Complex calculations and large volumes of data cause slowdowns and frequent crashes.

Thinking About Rebuilding Your Workflow or Improving Efficiency?

Spreadsheets are versatile—but when your organization requires a solid platform, it’s time to explore better options for data management, visualization, collaboration, and system integration.

At FLOURISH, we support not just efficiency, but also human well-being and psychological comfort in the workplace.
If you’re considering a digital transformation (DX), we’d love to help. Feel free to contact us anytime.

In this article, we introduce prototype examples of how Google Apps Script (GAS) can be used to streamline and automate routine tasks or irregular but recurring work scenarios.

We’ll walk through two use cases that demonstrate how automation and efficiency improvements can be achieved using Google Apps Script.

Use Case 1: Send an Email When New Data is Added to a Spreadsheet

There are many tasks in the workplace that are not major enough to be considered part of a digital transformation (DX) project, but still consume valuable time—tasks that could benefit from simple automation.

In this scenario, we’ve created a prototype where simply adding data to a spreadsheet automatically sends an email notification.

As the title suggests, this is implemented using Google Apps Script. The script reads the spreadsheet and, based on certain conditions, automatically sends emails.

Example Scenario:

You’re running a time-limited video campaign. Some users haven’t watched the video yet. You want to send a reminder email only to those who:

• Haven’t watched the video
• Haven’t received a previous reminder

You can trigger the script manually by clicking “Run,” or automate it using time-based triggers to send emails at specific intervals—or even send them immediately upon data changes.

While this use case focuses on sending reminder emails, similar logic can be applied to handle occasional irregular inquiries efficiently.

Additionally, this kind of script can be embedded into web applications. For example, input submitted through a form can be written to a spreadsheet, and a corresponding email sent automatically.

Use Case 2: Add Custom Menu Items to a Spreadsheet and Write to Other Sheets

This scenario imagines a three-person team working on shared tasks, with one person managing task assignments. To avoid accidental overwrites or task conflicts, each team member works on their own separate spreadsheet.

This setup is common—but it can lead to extra overhead from task tracking and manual copy-pasting between sheets.

To address this, we built a prototype using Google Apps Script.

How it works:

1. The manager spreadsheet contains two custom menu options.
2. Clicking the first menu item automatically updates each team member’s spreadsheet with their assigned tasks.
3. Clicking the second menu item merges the individual spreadsheets back into the manager’s main sheet.

This allows task assignment and progress tracking with just a click—eliminating repetitive manual work.

Why Use Google Apps Script?

Google Apps Script enables you to:

• Add custom menus to Google Sheets
• Automate data input and merging across multiple spreadsheets
• Reduce human error and repetitive manual work
• Build lightweight web-based tools that integrate with Google Workspace

In workflows where data entry, tracking, or task distribution is common, Apps Script can significantly improve efficiency.

At FLOURISH, we help businesses future-proof their operations through tailored Google Apps Script development.

Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365 are two of the most widely available productivity solutions on the market, suitable for both small and large businesses. Which one you choose depends on your organization’s needs—but for many, the seamless collaboration features of Google Workspace are a major advantage.

For users of Google services, there’s a powerful tool called Google Apps Script. It allows you to add custom functionality to Google Sheets, Google Docs, and other Google apps, automate organization-specific workflows, or even build lightweight web applications tailored to your business.

In this article, we’ll explore how automation and app development using Google Apps Script can streamline your operations.

What Can You Do with Google Apps Script?

Google Apps Script is a powerful scripting platform that extends and automates various Google Workspace applications such as Google Sheets, Docs, Forms, and more.

One particularly useful—but not widely known—feature is the ability to build web applications that interact with Google services and even external APIs. If your data requirements are relatively small, Apps Script can be a highly effective way to build custom apps.

Here are just a few of the many things you can do with Apps Script:

• Add custom menus, dialogs, or sidebars to Google Docs, Forms, or Sheets
• Create custom functions in Google Sheets
• Interact with other Google services like AdSense, Analytics, Calendar, Drive, Gmail, and Maps
• Integrate workflows with Google Chat
• Develop lightweight web applications

Pricing and Limitations of Google Apps Script

Apps Script is free to use, whether you’re using the free Gmail version or a paid Google Workspace account. If your organization is already using Google Workspace, there’s no additional cost to use Apps Script. You don’t need to worry about hosting or server setup.

However, there are some usage limits you should be aware of:

Paid Google Workspace users have a higher daily execution limit of 6 hours per day.

Google imposes limits on the total processing time per user per day.

For example, if a function takes 5 minutes to run, a free Gmail user can run that function up to 18 times per day (5 min × 18 = 90 minutes total).

Daily Execution Time Limits:

Account Type	Daily Execution Time
Free Users (e.g. @gmail.com)	90 minutes per day
Google Workspace Accounts	6 hours per day

※Each user can also have up to 20 triggers per script.

If you’re building complex or custom enterprise-grade systems, a more robust development platform may be a better fit. However, for routine automation tasks or simple web apps, Google Apps Script often provides all the flexibility and power you need.

At FLOURISH, we help businesses grow with future-ready solutions by supporting development using Google Apps Script. Whether it’s automation or custom apps, we’re here to help your organization work smarter.

Digital technology has become indispensable for markets and society, and digital transformation (DX) is increasingly a critical area for business innovation.
However, many companies still face challenges in fully understanding and leveraging digital transformation due to its complexity.

Objectives of Digitalization and DX in Marketing

There are two main objectives in digitalizing marketing and advancing DX:

• To relieve employees from repetitive and stressful tasks
• To enable data-driven management in the future

Rebuilding Marketing Toward Data-Driven Management

The future of marketing lies in companies’ efforts to comprehensively understand customer needs and behaviors across platforms, devices, products, and services.
Yet, many organizations struggle to effectively utilize “big data,” largely because their data is siloed.
Going forward, marketing activities and their management may need to be fundamentally restructured.

Relieving Employees from Repetitive Tasks and Stress

We have observed an increase in marketers feeling demotivated or overwhelmed.
While digital tools are introduced to improve efficiency, they often result in fragmented work and increased time pressure, causing workers to become task-driven rather than strategic.

In this use case, we focus on preventing data silos and reducing manual copy-pasting work by moving away from spreadsheet-based operations.

Use Case: Workflow Redesign for Efficient CMS Operation

We focus on the repetitive tasks involved in updating a website — uploading content to a CMS and publishing it.
For example, many projects manage content in spreadsheets and repeatedly copy-paste data into CMS, which wastes time and causes errors.
Even if not using spreadsheets, if you find yourself performing repetitive tasks before CMS upload, reconsider your process and consider automation.

Target cases:

• Companies managing product or recruitment information in spreadsheet formats and transferring them to CMS for publishing
• Media outlets that handle frequent ad postings

Main Issues

• Manual copy-pasting due to spreadsheet-based content management
• Multiple and complex operational rules leading to errors and inconsistency
• Heavy reliance on specific individuals (lack of standardization)
• Redundant checks and repetitive simple tasks
• Lack of integration between CMS inquiry data and CRM, complicating data management

Is your workflow complicated due to multiple departments ortakeholders handling the same formatted content differently?

As the number of stakeholders increases, workflows and processes become more complex, making it essential to map and optimize the entire process.

CMS Operation Workflow Redesign

The biggest challenge here is the time and cost spent uploading easily formatted content to CMS, combined with data silos preventing scalable future data handling.

Traditionally, many manual tasks are involved in this process.

Start by organizing the entire process and identifying wasted efforts, repetitive tasks, and duplicated work.
You can simplify complicated workflows like this:

Having those who possess the information directly input data reduces errors and speeds up entry, rather than relying on intermediaries.

For those considering DX and operational efficiency improvements

At FLOURISH, we support DX initiatives with a focus not only on improving operational efficiency but also on enhancing work comfort and mental well-being.
If you are considering DX, please feel free to contact us.