‘No code’ doesn’t mean ‘no engineering’, ‘no design’, or ‘no product management

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Introduction

No-code marketing promises the world to non-technical founders but leaves them high and dry. Running a no-code agency, I often hear:

“Can you build me a copy of major web platform X for an insanely low amount of money Y.

“Oh, and by the way guys, it shouldn’t be a big deal… as a savvy bootstrapping founder, I got this… I already bought a $200 template app so there’s only a couple of days of work in this, tops.”

Now there are some really great people out there, leveraging no-code tools and doing some really interesting, valuable work. But a lot of the market is confused by the approach, thanks to the misleading advertising created by many no-code platforms.

What no code does and doesn’t mean

When approached by the “I want to build Instagram for $500” founder, I politely direct them to the multitude of bargain-basement freelancers that they can pay by the hour to wade through all the ways that said template does not meet their brief, knowing that they will most likely give up after exhausting their meager budget.

Or in a few cases, they come back to me months later when they realize that everything they did was:

• A slow and painful process
• No fit for purpose
• Not properly planned
• Embarrassing

If the product works, and they do get any degree of traction, it will need to be rebuilt with good design, scale, reliability and maintainability, and security in mind.

How to think about no-code solutions

If you are considering no-code to build your web app, it is a great choice. Tools like Bubble allow you to build a custom web app for 20–40% of the budget and time of custom web development (not 0–1%!). But you still need good people to build your solution if you want to do it fast and well. Scratch that…you need really great people.

Ok, you could also learn to do it yourself. And then actually do it yourself. Oh, and then do sales. And marketing. And run a business. And on and on. Time is money. OK so you’re not directly paying yourself but you need to put a value on your time. So the DIY option is likely to be more expensive than the agency route.

No-code doesn’t circumvent the process. If you want the outcome, you still need to trust the process. And follow it.

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So here it is. My definitive list of what no-code doesn’t mean. Please email me if I’ve forgotten anything!

No code does not mean:

• No skill
• No planning
• No engineering
• No design
• No product management
• No data architecture
• No application architecture
• No security configuration
• No workflow planning
• No documentation
• No usability testing
• No branding
• No copywriting
• No data validation
• No project management
• No contracts
• No written scope
• No analytics
• No product briefs
• No clarity
• No accountability
• No instrumentation
• No iterations
• No quality assurance
• No user acceptance testing
• No bugs
• No API integrations
• No governance
• No work

“An inconvenient truth” for no-code marketing…

Yesterday I was talking to one of my senior devs and he said in his blunt, no-filter manner:

“All these no-code platforms promise you that non-technical people can build apps…but it’s a lie! There is always some code, and engineering thinking required.”

The same thing plays out in the enterprise space. My IT manager friends in schools, local government, and healthcare tell me that they fear no-code spreading through their organizations like cancer.

The term ‘Shadow IT’ means end-users going rogue and developing their own solutions, which are not supportable by IT and risk falling over when the “citizen developers” leave or move roles.

There is little guidance or structure for no-code, and if you need to find the expertise and bring it into the organization to provide the structure, guess what 🥁…you end up paying professionals big consulting dollars.

Back to my dev. He went on to say:

“Every single one of our no-code apps has some code”.

And that is it. You can’t get around needing expertise, even in the world of no-code. This is true whether the experience is a little bit of code here or there to modify the front end or connect to an API. It is also true for the expertise of people who know how to plan and structure applications. Then there is the user experience. You can build an app for $1,000 but it won’t be particularly usable or give the perception of quality or trust.

So why do we use no-code then?

Another quote from our project manager this week when discussing how many meetings we should have per week on a project:

I forget that in tools like Bubble what used to take weeks takes days, and what used to take days takes hours.

This sums it up perfectly. In the right hands, no-code tools allow projects to move quickly. Very quickly.

Those hands might not be cheap — but in many cases, they can accomplish a 3–10x multiple of what their coder colleagues can in the same timeframe.

There is a strong business case for no-code. But there are still costs involved, and you need to count those costs and view them as an investment into your business and future.

Advice to bootstrapping founders

If you are in the category I described earlier, I would like to offer a small suggestion. Leading the conversation with “I’m bootstrapping, I don’t really have a budget, etc” is not really a good starting point. Also saying “by the way, all my money is tied up in other projects right now so would you consider investing your time in my random side hustle 47 at no cost for a stake in my company?” won’t go down well.

You are the founder. You are the one who needs to find the resources to realize your vision. Don’t expect talent to pay for it with their time. If they are good, they will already have plenty of paid work opportunities. No-code is a smart choice, but it’s not a magic pill. Get out there and make it happen.

If you want to get a sense of the value of code vs no-code, take your idea to 2–3 full custom code agencies and get an estimate of time and cost. Then come and talk to a no-code agency and do a cost comparison. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the difference.

About me

I’ve been a software developer professionally and now I build digital products on the popular no-code tool Bubble for clients and myself at our agency momentumgroup.tech for startups and small-medium businesses.

Looking to learn and build a career in Bubble? Join our for a 8-week intensive Bubble Bootcamp at Momentum Academy