Explicit Measures Podcast 496: MAILBAG! Experience Overuse
Jan 22, 2026
Mike and Tommy engage with a listener's critique of Microsoft's excessive use of the term 'experience' in their products. They debate its impact on user expectations and adoption. The duo explores whether clearer language could benefit data teams. They also cover updates in Power BI, from deployment pipelines to the convenience of new features like Azure Maps marker support. The discussion touches on AI's influence on data tasks and the evolving role of natural language in programming, emphasizing the need for meaningful UX over buzzwords.
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Use Pipelines And A Release Manager
- Use deployment pipelines to add rigor and simple environment separation (dev/test/prod) for Power BI and Fabric artifacts.
- Enforce testing windows and a release manager role to prevent pipeline bottlenecks and stalled approvals.
Notebooks Now Auto-Bind In Pipelines
- Deployment pipelines historically failed to rebind notebooks and lake houses when moved across workspaces.
- Mike discovered notebooks now auto-bind and diffs show cell-level changes, surprising him without documentation.
'Experience' Has Become A Buzzword
- The word “experience” is heavily overused across Fabric and Power BI messaging, diluting clarity.
- Overlabeling features as experiences inflates expectations and confuses what a feature actually is.