No-code: products versus spending money

While teaching product management in the Product Research module, I noticed that the most delicious and interesting place for students in it is the results of problem and decision interviews (on a working prototype). And this makes sense: this is where the edge of the product manager’s job is, getting feedback with minimal effort.

Understandable value for the user, minimal resources and getting feedback are the basis of the research part of the work of a product manager. In order not to risk large and scalable resources, and not to attract them for real business growth.

Once again, the most important things when testing a hypothesis are: value, minimum resources, and feedback.

For such checks, there are a huge number of tools, ranging from a pillar with a poster for the classified and a video clip for cloud storage (I previously described some here – t.me/FreshProductGo/33). Namely:

1. Google Sheets / Forms / Excel: Create any poll or maintain your customer base in a spreadsheet. By the way, I can share my Nocode-test of the hypothesis that books can be selected and bought by fragment: I ran such a survey with fragments of books without titles and answer options “Buy / Learn a book / Next fragment”. I found out that the purchase is rare, but there is a lot of curiosity.
2. To this I will add a specialized and more varied form tool: www.typeform.com…
3. Tilda, Ecwid and co. In fact, you can move blocks and run the simplest landing pages. This I did it after spending 4 hours (dealing with the tilde).

   And here

4. Notion and its landing pages – I am gradually translating my work into this wonderful tool. And recently I learned about what is there you can make landing pages…
5. Chatbots in messengers: there is a very good review here… On my own I will add that I also tried to make a bot on BotMother to select a book by fragment.

   Other good tools:

6. Webflow will help to catch up with a simple front.
7. AirTable can help to put together a CRM interface.
8. Stacker app without code and programming…
9. Integromat will help to build a simple backend without code and with integrations.
10. Bubble – “drag & drop” technology makes it easy to add and move page elements: text, video, maps, icons, images, buttons, etc. Everything is customizable, right down to the background color, icons, element transparency.

Comprehensive selection is here…

What has already been created on No-code

Our opportunities to launch our product without developers are more and more promising and limitless. See what you’ve already started:

• Ezume – saas resume creation service that allows you to generate a nice resume as a constructor. SaaS service made on Bubble.io
• ImmuneCorps – volunteer service. Helps people at high risk of COVID-19 infection to get help in the form of going to the store, walking a dog, doing housework, etc. The service is made on Bubble.io
• Peer to peer for children, where children can share their knowledge and experience with other children and earn). The stack is Tlida.
• TopShare – service for selecting an individual training plan. The stack is pure Bubble.
• eTutorium LMS – a platform for distance learning, which allows you to create a test designer, conduct webinars, gamify motivation, and receive analytics on the passage. The service is made on Bubble.io
• Look App – an application where you can share your images, clothing brands, cost and like. Stack – Glide.
• Reachr Is a service that connects brands with bloggers to collaborate in advertising campaigns. The platform takes 10% of the order value. Stack – Webflow (site with order form), Airtable (database), Zapier.
• Service for testing knowledge on labor protection in the executive authorities. Stack: WordPress, WP-Pro-Quiz, Ultimate Membership Pro, WooCommerce.
• Comet – a service for finding a suitable freelance professional for any request. Transactions on the platform already exceed $ 1 million per month. Stack – Webflow (site with order form), Airtable (database), Zapier.
• Tavalo – a mobile application for pre-ordering food in a restaurant, paying a check and sharing payment with friends. The guys also made applications for taking orders for restaurants on No-code. Stack – Adalo
• Memolly-subscription – service for managing subscriptions to various services on Adalo
• Bookcelerator – showcase of smartrides of books with a subscription, made on Notion
• Book nerds – an application for keeping lists of books you want to read. You can track what you are reading now, rate and write reviews, set a challenge and track your progress, share books with friends, etc. Stack – Glide.

What are the disadvantages everyone faces

1. Not always nocode / lowcode is cheap. For example, Mendix’s single app license starts at $ 1875 per month for a three-year subscription, limited to 50 internal users. Volume licenses with on-premises deployment start at $ 7,825, which is nearly $ 100,000 per year. Or you can make your own product and not pay anyone for anything. It will come out cheaper.
2. Technology lapse: take what will not allow you to fully implement the desired product. But technologies are developing, the same Bubble is already very powerful, there is almost everything for developing web applications, there are more than a thousand plugins that allow you to expand the functionality, and new ones are constantly being added.
3. No-code is currently not suitable for large projects. As the number of users increases, you have to pay higher and higher rates. At the same time, you will not own your own platform completely, and if you want to “disconnect” from the no-code-service, you will have to develop everything from scratch.
4. If something happens to Tilda or Bubble, or they think you’ve broken their rules and decide to ban you, it could kill your business entirely. It is not very comfortable to depend on third-party sites. On the other hand, this is not much different from the same hosting.
5. If you need non-standard solutions, you want to create something that has not yet been on the market – the option is not suitable. This is where coding is needed. No-code solutions are good for expanding a niche, but they don’t have the full space of possibilities, they just don’t write it down.
6. Often literally one feature is missing. Fortunately, almost all constructors still have the ability to insert your own code to complement the product. But for this, if you don’t know how to code, you have to hire a freelancer or full-fledged developer who will complete the project. And without a code, as dreamed, it does not work.
7. Limited customization. There are many thousands of design options offered by no-code builders. But given the number of sites on the Internet, this is not enough. Without hiring designers, some sites on the web will inevitably be very similar to yours. You won’t be able to create something completely unique. You can only add this using third-party plugins and your own code. But then – again, it will be easier for many to initially code everything, and not learn to work with a new constructor. The meaning of no-code is lost.

That’s all. And we invite everyone to free webinar, within which we will tell you in detail about the course, the teaching process and answer your questions.

Read more:

• Metrics Great Product Managers Track