CEO of Visua and InterGenio, and no code convert Christian Michel outlines the benefits of no code platforms for company founders.
First of all, what is no code?
Usually, the saying is that if you want to eat, teach a person to fish. But, when it comes to founders, they say: “I have an MVP in mind, no time and a small budget.” People didn’t want to learn how to fish, they wanted the fish.
Visual code and no code are the two names for this kind of technology which helps you build your own app, even if you are not a developer or programmer. There are over 100 tools available today.
How does no code work?
The technology is more or less drag and drop actions. With code you type lines, in this case if you want a box you draw a box like in powerpoint but in the background, it’s still code. You just don’t pay attention to it. Everything you do as a mouse click is converted to code in the background.
What attracted you to no code?
About 15 years ago, I did an executive MBA and wrote a paper about helping elderly people understand the internet. From that, I founded an agency to develop a programme that would help elderly people do things like screen capture on their phones and identify scams.
Meanwhile, I was learning more and more about Bubble, a no code tool that helps you create your own apps, even if you are not a coder or developer. I did 50 hours of training in Bubble at Berkeley in the US and I had in mind to push this new market to build an online training school. I built my MVP and I began to become an agency building apps and MVPs for other companies using low code and no code.
What is the difference between no code and low code?
Low code connects no code tools. Take for example an app built in Bubble, you need to connect it to the company infrastructure and have to build an API and then write some code. There’s maybe 5% code needed. For me, low code is the cement that will bring together code and no code.
What can you do with no code and how quickly can it be learned?
If you want to have a demo you can create Airbnb, Twitter, almost everything you see online. People judge a site or an app by the look. So if you put in nice pictures, people will say ‘wow, that looks great!’ What is important to me is all the functions in the background. But with all the no code platforms out there, you could completely rebuild Airbnb in a couple of weeks. The time taken depends on the tools used. Sometimes in 10 minutes, people can build a small online shop with products, and a database.
What are the limitations of no code?
No code is not good for gaming because of speed issues. I would also avoid anything around health because of GDPR and so on. If you go live, you must ensure everything is working (security-wise).
How can founders leverage no code for their businesses?
You can create a final product. That is the shocking part. A tool like Bubble is very powerful. Bubble has been used to build sites on which half a million people per day connect. I have companies which raised more than $300 million with a project built on Bubble. In fact, you can go very far and still have a powerful app.
The startup founder can invest in training with Bubble or ask an agency to do the project. But even then, this will bring him to one tenth of the price of a classical developer. You save time and money that you can put into the business for another resource.
Photo: www.quotecatalog.com
How big is no code?
A Gartner survey estimated that in 2025, something like 75% of the apps will be built with no code tools. It’s not a fashion, it’s a tsunami. Either we take advantage of it, we surf the tsunami or we will just be destroyed by it because it changes everything.
To what extent should developers and programmers feel threatened by no code?
There’s a world shortage of developers and no code can free a developer from doing basic things so they can focus on more valuable tasks. For example, at Techie Night we asked a developer how long it would take to build a button, the design and trick things around it. He said it could take two weeks. I did a demo with no code on my laptop and it took five minutes.
In terms of speed, for tools like Bubble, it is 3-10 times faster. A project that takes 1-2 years with regular code, will take maybe 1-4 months with no code.
I would say intelligent developers should be interested in no code because then they could use it for daily tasks. They have the logic because they have been trained in safety, to be clean with database structure and so on. Because even if you have those tools, if you’re not organised and you’re messy, then your app will also be messy. If you are well educated in school and so on, it will help.
What companies are currently using low code and no code tools?
At the two ends, you have startups, and curious people who are aware of and use Saas solutions. At the other end, you have l’Oreal, Danone, LVMH, big groups using no code tools. Those companies are not very flexible with IT structures, but they want to have the possibility to offer side projects to the team. So if the sales team says, ‘we have an idea that we want to test’, they have the freedom to build it with no code tools. And if it proves to be something big like a POC or MVP, they can integrate it into the main structure. So instead of frustrating the team saying every time: ‘no, it doesn’t fit our structure’, they give teams the freedom to build tools.
Find out more about no code by attending the next Meet Up organised by Christian Michel.
