Development
Why no-one is using your Power Apps and how to fix it.
Andreas Melvær
•
6 min read
Mar 3, 2026
SmplCo's managing partner Andreas Melvær sat down with Oliver Lysø, developer and managing director at Samsari — Microsoft app specialists — to talk about a shift that's been quietly reshaping enterprise software: Power Apps Code Apps. The takeaway? The days of clunky internal tools are numbered.
Power Apps Has Changed — You Can Actually Build What You Want Now
Andreas: Oliver, you've been deep in the Microsoft ecosystem for years. Power Apps has always had this reputation of being a bit… boxy. Standard components, forms, low-code limitations. What's changed?
Oliver: A lot, actually. The big shift is Code Apps. You can now use React, work in Visual Studio Code, deploy with the Power Platform CLI — and still get everything the Microsoft platform gives you. Dataverse, security, roles, integrations. It's the best of both worlds.
Andreas: So you're not stuck inside the standard component library anymore?
Oliver: Exactly. You can build the solution exactly the way you want it, without the compromises that used to come with Power Apps. The platform is still doing the heavy lifting on the backend — data, auth, compliance — but the frontend is completely open.
What This Means for User Experience
Andreas: This is the part that excites me. Because the number one reason internal tools fail isn't the technology — it's adoption. People don't use them because they're painful to use. The interfaces are clunky, the workflows don't match how people actually work, and eventually everyone finds a workaround in Excel or email.
Oliver: That's exactly right. And that's the problem Code Apps solves. When you can build a proper React frontend on top of the Microsoft stack, you can give people interfaces that are genuinely good to use. Not just functional — actually well-designed.
Andreas: Which is where we come in. SmplCo is a product design and development company — we think about user journeys, interaction patterns, visual design. Pairing that with Samsari's deep Microsoft expertise means customers can now get state-of-the-art user interfaces on their Microsoft apps. That's new. That wasn't really possible before.
Oliver: And the impact is real. When tools look good and feel intuitive, people actually use them. Adoption goes up. Data quality improves because people are entering information properly instead of finding shortcuts. It makes life genuinely better for employees.
The AI Acceleration
Andreas: The other thing that's changed the picture is AI. And I don't mean in a vague, buzzwordy way — I mean practically, in how we build things.
Oliver: Agreed. With tools like Claude Code, Copilot, and even the Figma MCP, you can go from idea to design to working app much faster than before. You can describe what you need, get code generated, adjust, test, and iterate at real speed.
Andreas: We've seen this with our own process. The Figma-to-code pipeline has gotten incredibly fast. And when you combine that with the Power Platform — where your data layer, security model, and integrations are already in place — you're not starting from zero. You're adding a beautiful, purpose-built frontend to an infrastructure that's already there.
Oliver: That's the key point. Most of our clients are already paying for Microsoft 365, Dynamics, Dataverse. The platform is there. They're just not getting the most out of it because the user-facing layer hasn't been good enough. Now it can be.
Getting More Out of What You Already Pay For
Andreas: This connects to something we talk about a lot at SmplCo — the gap between what companies pay for and what they actually use. We wrote about this recently in our piece on auditing your SaaS spend. Most organisations are paying for huge platforms and using a fraction of the features.
Oliver: With Microsoft it's the same story. Companies have licenses for Power Platform, Dataverse, all these capabilities — but they're barely scratching the surface because the tools built on top haven't been engaging enough for people to adopt them properly.
Andreas: So the opportunity here isn't about buying more software. It's about unlocking the value of what you've already got. A well-designed Power App with a proper React frontend can replace three separate tools and a stack of spreadsheets — using infrastructure the company is already paying for.
Oliver: And because it's all inside the Microsoft ecosystem, you get security, compliance, and governance out of the box. IT stays happy. Users stay happy. Everyone wins.
Samsari helped Martime & Merchant Bankcut manual reporting by 42%
What SmplCo and Samsari bring to the table
Andreas: Oliver, introduce people to Samsari.
Oliver: Samsari is a Microsoft app specialist. We live and breathe the Power Platform, Dynamics, Dataverse — the full stack. We know what's possible technically, what the limitations are, and how to architect solutions that scale within the Microsoft ecosystem.
Andreas: And SmplCo brings the product design and user experience side. We've built over 125 digital products. We know how to run workshops, map user journeys, design interfaces that people actually want to use, and ship them fast — especially now with AI-assisted development.
Oliver: And we've already seen the impact first-hand. We built a project portal in Power Apps for Maritime & Merchant Bank — it automated project creation, folder structures, and reporting directly inside Teams. They cut manual reporting time by 42% and saved over a hundred hours a year. That's a small, experienced team getting their time back to focus on actual banking instead of admin.
Andreas: And that's exactly the kind of result you get when the tool fits the workflow instead of forcing people to adapt. Now imagine pairing that platform depth with a properly designed UI. That's what we're building together.
Oliver: The combination is what makes this exciting. Clients can get the reliability and integration depth of Microsoft with the kind of user experience you'd normally associate with a custom-built SaaS product.
Andreas: Enterprise-grade infrastructure, startup-quality user experience. That's the pitch in one sentence.
Who This Is For
If any of these sound familiar, this is relevant to you:
You're already on Microsoft 365 or Dynamics but your internal tools feel dated and clunky
You've tried Power Apps before but hit the limits of the standard component library
Your teams have low adoption on internal tools — they default to spreadsheets and email instead
You want custom software but need it to fit within your existing Microsoft security and compliance framework
You're paying for platform capabilities you're barely using
The technology has caught up. The question now is whether your tools will catch up with it.
If you want to explore what's possible with Code Apps, AI-assisted development, and proper product design on the Microsoft stack, get in touch with SmplCo or reach out to Samsari. We'd love to show you what we're building.
