No-Bullshit Intro to No-Code
for Building Internal Tools
No-code sounds like magic. A few quotes from the first page of Google search:
No-code platforms are transformations of the status quo, so adopting one can be a game-changing initiative for any organization.
How to Explain No-Code To a CIO by Unquork
If you are a small business that lacks the budget to hire a software developer or outsource to a software development house, no code platforms move the power of innovation into the hands of your entire organization.
What is No-code by Codebots
Is this true? To some extent.
No-Code means creating something that previously required a software developer without having one or being one.
This includes websites, integrations between applications, workflow automation, and internal tools.
Some of the hottest no-code tools:
Webflow is a no-code website builder.
Zapier is a no-code workflow automation tool.
Retool is a no-code builder for internal tools.
Airtable is a no-code database.
Wait - you’d say - I saw website builders back in 2005, and Excel was a no-code database since 1987!
Indeed, no-code tools existed for a long time. Lately, they increased in numbers and capabilities, and unionized under the No-Code umbrella.
While not a new approach, the evolution of no-code tools enabled exponentially more non-programmers solve technical problems faster than ever before, but within strict limits described below.
When to Use No-code Tools
No-code can help you in two scenarios:
Automate simple repeated actions in one or more applications.
Create simple interfaces for viewing and editing information.
If this is your case, you can avoid waiting weeks or months for your IT department to build something or paying thousands of dollars to a contractor.
Automating Simple Repeated Actions
When you catch yourself doing the same set of clicks over and over again, look at workflow automation tools like Zapier or Integromat.
Scenarios need to be very simple though - something you can describe with a sentence “When X happens, do Y”. For example, “when an Opportunity in CRM is created, create a Slack channel to chat about the opportunity”.
Some step-by-step examples of no-code automations:
If your workflow involves conditions or “if-else” logic, chances are you won’t be able to successfully build it yourself.
Creating Simple Interfaces
No-code tools are good at building interfaces for interacting with business objects. With no-code tools like Airflow, Retool, or Bubble, you can build screens that:
Display a list of objects from a database.
Show and edit details of an object.
Create new objects and delete existing ones.
Objects could be requests, approvals, things to review, or any other entities you deal with as a part of your day-to-day work.
This is handy when you want to create a small database that multiple people need to interact with. For example, if you want to create a simple process for Finance to review software purchase requests and don’t want to buy expensive enterprise software.
Some no-code tools allow you to launch workflow automations - like the ones described in the previous section - when business objects change or when a button is clicked.
Examples of practical things people built:
If your interface needs more than creating, displaying, and editing objects, you likely won’t be able to build it with no-code tools and need professional help.
No-code Agencies
While no-code tools simplify building software, they still require certain talent and time investment. Not everyone is capable or has time to build software even with no-code.
Meet No-Code agencies. They will use no-code tools instead of you, and give you the results to maintain. Lately, there are so many of them that websites cataloging and helping choose no-code agencies appeared: 1, 2.
The promise of No-Code agencies is to build software 10x faster and 10x cheaper than traditional software development contractors. This may be true in ideal scenarios, but no-code agencies are limited by their tools almost like you are. “Almost” because they often use advanced features of no-code tools that are not that different from “traditional” software engineering. Most no-code agencies employ software engineers.
You should use no-code agencies if you need to build something simple fast and cheap. Be prepared to hear “what you are asking is impossible, how about we do something different instead” often.
Summary
No-code is an evolved and well-marketed generation of visual website builders and Excel-like spreadsheets.
Use no-code tools or agencies if you need to automate a simple workflow or build a simple interface - it will be 10x faster and cheaper than traditional software engineering.
Be prepared to hit impenetrable roadblocks when you need to build something non-trivial.
Have a business problem that no-code tool could solve, but don’t know how to approach it? Leave a comment and I will recommend next steps.
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