4x reasons why you should know how to use no code app builders 🚀

For me it started with Microsoft paint, drag and drop, click to colour. Gradually evolving to Canva I have had many designers cringe over the years when I edited their draft or mocked up some slides for the pitch deck with it. On mobile, Snapseed is my go-to for photo wizardry and now I can build apps like a pro with Glide. So why do you need someone in your team who knows how to use these tools?

It’s simple, the world moves fast. Wether you are an entrepreneur, business owner or sprint team leader, the one thing we all DON’T have is time.

“I’m creative, I love pumping shit out, testing it, iterating and absolutely love getting under the skin of humans and WHY they do or don’t use something.”

The faster we can “build, measure, learn” in any facet of life, the more we grow, the more we know and the more we can meet the world where it is.

Eric Reis — Father of “The Lean Startup” is a must read for any aspiring 21st Century entrepreneur.

Those that will survive in these uncertain times will be those who learn and adapt the fastest. In the past 6 months since lockdown I have built over 20 apps. These have bought in a user base of over 500 users, gained a ton of insights and got my ideas into the world FAST. The caveat to all of this “learning”, is that it was done without writing a single line of code. If I can do this at speed, so can you or your organisation, here’s 5 reasons why;

We all know how to use spreadsheets.

• One of the most basic skills any employee, student, or kid should know is how to use google sheets or excel. If you are an excel wizard, you can build a database for an app.
• A database is really just a bunch of thoughts organised in a logical way. If I do X, Y will happen. If I click here, I can access this file. If I sign up, my unique ID will know that only my information is displayed. No code apps work by telling the app which cell to select the data from, and voila, an image appears. Want a video to show in that column? Upload the share link into the spreadsheet, it’s that easy.
• I’ve been playing with Glide for some months now. You simply start by creating a google sheet (cloud database) and there you go, a magical backend for your mobile application.

Speed to market 🏍💨

• Most apps cost ~$80k to just get an MVP. Not only that but it will take at least 6 months before you start learning. No matter how much of a subject matter expert you are, you can never anticipate or understand what a user REALLY wants, needs and desires until it is in their hands. With no code tools, it can be in the hands of your users in minutes.
• No code tools are the last feather in the cap for building a lightning quick agile enterprise .

“Agile bought developers closer to design, no code puts development in the hands of creatives.”

• As an ideas man, with a logical brain, knowing I can think of an idea, test it and iterate within minutes is like Christmas coming early 🎄
• Has your team ever got to paper prototypes only to wish you could put something more tangible in the hands of users? A core critique of the Lean Startup methodology or Google Sprints structure is that; yes it is great to create a “Minimum Viable Product (MVP)”, but what about a Minimum LOVABLE product? If you can build an app from scratch in under 2 hours, have it accessible on iOS and Android instantly testing with users, then you will be the fastest team to test your novel idea, innovation or digital solution.

“You are now enabling business strategy to be tested in hours with iterations in minutes with fewer humans— it’s a no brainer.”

• For example, I worked with a customer who had a quote for ~$80k to build his moonshot app. We mocked up his app in under one week, tested it with over 60 users over the next 2 months and subsequently killed the product. What was the cost of this learning? Less than $10k, built, tested, iterated and through that process we learnt WHY it wouldn’t work. Now that is FAST.

Screenshots from “Astrix” — A case study in how to Build, Measure, Learn, FAST. Built with Glide.

People, first, last, always.

• The more time we can spend learning vs. developing, the faster our new product or idea can get that little bit closer to the all elusive “Product Market Fit” (PMF). In all organisations, teams and life, we should be focusing on Return on Learning (ROL).
• In line with Design Thinking and Google sprint frameworks, the ability to listen and really have empathy for your users at heart is critical to success.

Empathy + creativity + speed to users = SIGNIFICANT RETURN ON LEARNING

• An app I developed for the motorcycle community was initially targeted at a very specific subset of “Adventure Riders”. Through the in application feedback loop, I very quickly discovered that my application wasn’t just for “Adventure Riders” but for ANY RIDER 🤔. A quick re-prioritisation of the welcome screen, marketing and boom, I could now distribute it far and wide.

• Accelerate development, improve quality, learn faster, deliver exceptional value. A pretty great recipe if you ask me.

All apps look the same don’t they?

• We are all used to the clean aesthetic Apple gave the world (thanks Steve Jobs). So why would we want to invest time and energy into recreating simplicity?
• Tools like Glide have a simple range of “styles” you can choose from. You don’t need to spend time going back and forward with your CSS stylesheet or deciding what fonts to use. The reality is, time spent on this stuff is just a form of procrastination. Has it got a theme colour? Yeahp. Got an icon? Yeahp. Does it work? Yeahp. Well you’ve got yourself an app.
• Drag and drop makes everyone a maker. If you’ve got a customer problem, can’t code, don’t have the skills to create an invision product flow, but know in your head how the pieces of the puzzle would go together, well now you can build that baby of yours!

TLDR:

• Can’t code — you can now build apps.
• Reduce delivery time — you can put something in your users hands ASAP.
• Increased return on learning — add greater value to clients and customers.
• Style is the icing on the cake — functionality and learning come first.

Shameless plug — I am looking for “gigs” in the “gig economy” at the moment. If you or your team needs an impact player with a flair for innovation, knowing your customer, a workshop on no code tools, or marketing your ideas to the world, I would love to hear from you.

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn and send me a message

Tu meke 🤘

Alex