Why Professional Apps Start with Design Foundations
As enterprise software continues to evolve, Power Apps has outgrown its early identity as a simple information-capturing tool. What began in 2016 as a lightweight solution is now a full-fledged application platform. one that demands professional design thinking and architectural discipline.
According to Samir Daoudi, Microsoft MVP with deep experience across enterprise implementations in the UK market, building reusable components is no longer a “nice to have.” It is a core requirement for any organization aiming to deliver scalable, maintainable, and professional-grade Power Apps solutions.
The Necessity of Design Consistency
One of the most common challenges in Power Apps development is maintaining a unified design experience.
Without a component-based approach:
- Each developer may design navigation differently
- Layouts vary from screen to screen
- Fonts, colors, and spacing drift over time
The result? An application that feels fragmented and unprofessional.
A well-designed app must present a single identity:
- Consistent logos and branding
- Unified font sizes and typography
- Standardized color palettes
- A seamless experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop
Reusable components act as the foundation layer of the app. Once established, they ensure consistency across every screen, regardless of who builds it or where it’s accessed.
The “Black Box” Strategy: How Components Work
From a technical perspective, a Power Apps component functions like a black box.
- You pass inputs (parameters)
- The component handles logic and presentation internally
- You receive a consistent, predictable output
This abstraction allows developers to focus on functionality rather than repeatedly rebuilding UI elements.
Practical Component Examples
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Progress Bars
Built using nested containers and formulas based on Max Value and Current Value, these components visually represent progress in a clean, reusable way.
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Accordions
Expandable and collapsible sections that help manage limited screen space while keeping information accessible.
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Custom Buttons
Using HTML/CSS hex colors, layering, and overlays (such as a 50% white hover effect), developers can create responsive, modern buttons that feel far more polished than default controls.
Each of these components can be reused across multiple screens or even multiple apps without redesigning them from scratch.
Efficiency Through Centralized Management
The real power of reusable components lies in maintainability.
Imagine a simple change request:
“We need to update our brand color from pink to green.”
Without components, this means manually updating:
- Every screen
- Every button
- Every label
With components, the change happens once inside the component definition. Every instance across the entire app automatically inherits the update.
This approach:
- Saves time
- Reduces human error
- Ensures design consistency
- Makes future changes predictable and safe
Component Libraries vs. Manual Copying
Power Apps allows developers to manually copy components between apps but this approach quickly becomes problematic.
Common issues include:
- No version control
- Difficulty tracking updates
- Inconsistent fixes across apps
The professional alternative is the Component Library.
What Is a Component Library?
A Component Library acts as a centralized repository for reusable UI and logic.
- Components are created and maintained in one place
- Multiple apps can reference the same library
- When a component is updated, connected apps receive a notification to Update
This ensures:
- All applications stay aligned
- Improvements are rolled out consistently
- Design standards are enforced at scale
For enterprise environments, Component Libraries are the only sustainable approach.
Navigating Real-World Challenges
While powerful, components and libraries require thoughtful planning.
Key considerations include:
- Environment constraints – Some organizational structures or permissions can limit library sharing
- Input and Output design – Poorly designed parameters can make components rigid or overly complex
- Balance – Components should be flexible enough for reuse without becoming difficult to maintain
Like any architectural decision, success comes from planning, not improvisation.
A Simple Analogy to Bring It All Together
Think of building a Power App without components like constructing a house by hand-carving every brick on-site. If you later decide the brick shape should change, you must replace them one by one.
- Using a Component Library, on the other hand, is like having a master mold in a factory.
- Change the mold once, and every brick, past and future, aligns instantly with the new design.
- That’s the difference between manual effort and scalable engineering.
If you’d like to see these concepts applied in real Power Apps scenarios, watch the session below.
Final Thoughts
Reusable components are not about saving time alone, they’re about:
- Professionalism
- Scalability
- Consistency
- Long-term sustainability
As Power Apps continues to mature as an enterprise platform, teams that adopt component-driven design early will move faster, break less, and deliver far better user experiences.
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