There is some hidden UI/UX point we're subtlely missing

It's not subtle, at all. Table layout is intuitive and Lua proves that tables can be a first class data type. Therefore, database normalization is important, and since it isn't enforced, easily messed up.

Spread sheets fundamentally hide the control flow, needed to grasp the normalization order of the table, in a second layer. That is a virtue, when the program is small enough, but a burden otherwise.