A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps

Xin Zhang

doi:10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252732.20261004

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A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps

10卷第4期

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A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps
A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps
Shandong Vocational College of Water Resources, Rizhao, Shandong, 276826, China
2026年10卷第4期页码：165-169
纸质出版：2026-08-30
DOI：10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252732.20261004
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Xin Zhang. (2026). A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps. 创意与创新（英文版）, 10(4), 165-169.

Xin Zhang.A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps[J].Creativity and Innovation,2026,10(04):165-169.
Xin Zhang. (2026). A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps. 创意与创新（英文版）, 10(4), 165-169. DOI： 10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252732.20261004.

Xin Zhang.A Heuristic Evaluation of the Interaction Flows between Low-Code Platforms: Difficulties in Understanding Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps[J].Creativity and Innovation,2026,10(04):165-169. DOI： 10.47297/wspciWSP2516-252732.20261004.

摘要

Abstract

On July 10

11 and 12

2026

I sat down with Bubble and Microsoft Power Apps and tried to make the same small task manager

in both products

the way a non-programmer might. This paper describes what went wrong. Starting from Nielsen's ten usability heuristics

I logged every obstacle I hit and tagged each on the standard scale of severity 0–4. Merging duplicates gave 28 distinct cases of a problem

14 per platform. Most of them fall under three heuristics: Error Prevention (H5

six cases)

Help and Documentation (H10

five) and Recognition Rather than Recall (H6

four). The pattern varies by platform. Bubble's serious failures all reside in its backend workflows

where a deleted database field silently exposes dependent behaviour

server side functioning only infrequently leaving a trace.Power Apps fails more quietly—formulas stop reading data past the 2000-row delegation limit and don't tell anyone

and the formula language itself assumes Excel habits that many users do not. One person did this evaluation

so read the numbers as one expert's map

rather than as user-test evidence. The map still points somewhere useful: complexity should be made manifest in chunks

error messages should tell the end-user what to do next

and constructing expressions should feel like picking

not remembering.

关键词

Keywords

references

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