Three Mistakes for New Power Platform Users to Avoid

Getting started with Power Platform is really simple. If you already are a Microsoft 365 user then you probably already are licensed to use it, and if you’re fairly competent with Excel, there will be practically zero learning curve in creating your first app or automation. However, there are some mistakes you can make early on that it’s best to avoid to make your journey as smooth as possible.

Trying to re-invent the wheel

You can build practically anything with Power Platform, but should you? In many cases there are already apps available that do 90% of what you need and a far better strategy is to focus on small apps, automations, or reports that fill in the gaps between your systems rather than trying to create a perfect replacement from scratch.

Focusing on form rather than on function

You can create beautiful apps and reports in Power Platform, but no matter how wonderful your Power Apps canvas app looks or how great a color scheme you’ve designed for your Power BI dashboard, it it doesn’t do what the user needs then it’s not of much use. Work on functionality first and focus on it as a starting point. UI is important, but not more so than functionality.

Making data storage or structure an afterthought

To start with you might not even worry about data storage. You might be using Power Automate just to interface with existing services or data. But eventually when you want to store your own data to support your apps or flows, make sure you take a bit of time to design it properly. Thinking about structure, security, and reporting from the start can save you lots of headaches later on.