Artificial Intelligence is the new kid in the block. And its abuse has also started to show. Many so called 'experts' no longer need to rely on researching and figuring out how things work but still showcase as a charmer while answering technical questions.
Having worked with and trained hundreds of No-Code enthusiasts, we noticed that not all No-Code expert are made alike! We compiled a list of 5 watch-outs to help you choose your next No Code expert.
1. Tech-only focus
Don't use the same criteria for hiring a software developer, to hire a No-Code developer.
A No-Code developer still requires some technical mindset but a programming background is not at all a necessity. Some of our best No-Code experts had past backgrounds in law, teaching, business administration, engineering, etc. Their non-programming background didn't slow them down while using No-Code technologies! In fact, they are in par or better at application development and application architecture than many seasoned programmers.
In your discussions, put more weightage on the business case scenarios that you want to involved the No-Code expert. More than just the No-Code skillset, present process flow scenarios and business cases related questions and observe what approach s/he use to solve them.
You run a big risk if the technical acumen is the only strong skill. The person could easily misunderstand the underlying business case. Sometimes a simple change in process would bring the same result, without any development, Code or No-Code. In your selection process, choose a problem solver over a tech savvy expert!
2. Poor communicator
No-Code development gives you the opportunity to actively participate in the development journey. Communication is key in this process.
We try to express in words what we mean, and there is always a loss in communication. What you say is not 100% exactly what you mean and is also not 100% how I understand it. A good communicator is aware of this.
Sometimes, there are process details or specific domain knowledge that are not familiar with your No-Code expert. That is okay. Give him/her the safe space to openly ask about those. After all, you are the domain expert when it comes to your company's process flows and domain knowledge.
Most important is whether your No-Code expert is asking you the right questions and host a productive and collaborative dialogue. Beware especially the ones that throw a lot of technical jargon in your conversations.
3. Learner-on-the-job
Many NoCode platforms claim that anyone can build applications using their platform. We do not believe so.
When using No-Code, the development time can be easily reduced by 5-10 times. Remember that you can build both good and bad applications very fast! Using No-Code doesn't guarantee seem-less results for everyone.
An expert No-Code developer needs to understand the IT infrastructure, how a scalable information architecture should look like and of course well-versed on the No-Code platform. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that entry level No-Code developers are properly trained and pair them up with a No-Code expert for their initial projects.
If that is not the case, you might end up with an application with the wrong foundation, impossible to change, interconnect or scale. We have seen several No-Code solutions that had to be dismantled and restructured due to bad application architecture decisions.
4. The self-proclaimed expert
Like any other industry, no-Code also has its fair share of self-proclaimed experts. Such experts can sometimes lead your organization to end-up seeing No-Code as a limiting factor rather than a powerful enabler.
In one of our past projects, we encountered such a 'No-Code Expert'. The person was very assertive and shot down several attempts to improve an application process flow claiming that only way out was to upgrade the system to a very costly private cloud instance.
This performance issue had been haunting their Client for several months and other No-Code developers working in the project were quite frustrated with the platform's application performance. Since the 'No-Code expert' said so, other No-Code developers stopped trying and accepted it as a limitation of the platform to handle large datasets.
One of our experts who was temporarily hired to speed up the project deliverables, noticed this slow application performance and jumped right in. After an in-depth flow analysis and few experimentations, the issue was solved with a simple work around using standard flow process nodes.
The previous flow took almost half an hour to process a report and was built in 2 weeks. After our expert's intervention, the same report takes only a few seconds to process! And the new flow restructure was built in just 3 days.
5. The lone warrior
The power of a No-Code lies in the fact that No-Code platforms allow developers to assume several roles at the same time. Many of our No-Code experts fluidly switch roles within same projects as Developers, Business Analysts, Testers, Functional Designers and Project managers. This however does not mean the No-Coder can and should work entirely on his or her own.
Quite the contrary, the No-Code platform helps No-Code developers to test assumptions, prototype and challenge status-quo. It is therefore an excellent collaboration tool to make the the business case tangible.
But don't mistake this with the ability to work alone. A lone No-Code developer simply develops on the instructions given and do not actively collect user feedback or try to understand the use case through it's stakeholders. Such No-Code developers makes more mistakes and result in a lot of iterations before an application goes to production.
Related links:
Thousands of hours spent on building a business solution DOES NOT equate to its success!
Is your current No-Code application delivering on its promises?
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