LisaDziuba

Just checked out, seems cool but not for complicated games.

Anything more related to Unity?

Why are there so few applications for games? Can one actually build a game without code?

wow....

* building fully functional product for MVP = useless

Good question, from one side there are performance limitation with no code but from another side, there are so many projects which brings value to users without beeing too technical.

From a marketing perspective, I believe that you need to validate ideas with landing pages, instead of building MVPs

This way, you will be able to validate the idea without time spent

I can say from our experience: we made more that 2000+ no code projects so far and it really required some customization, some coding and technical understanding from "no code developers".

No code operates together WITH normal developers. At WeLoveNoCode (https://welovenocode.com/) we have mix of no coders who knows design, no code tools but also can dive into code. So it's not like isolated function, no code is an instrument to build something faster with visual editors. Agree?

Also, why see no code as a "competitor" or something completely different? Wix or WordPress was around for a while and only until recently "every" tools decided to call themselves as "no code" :) I mean, it was there for a long time already...

I've been working in the development space since 2015 and recently joined fast-growth no-code startup (https://welovenocode.com). We just raised $1M and achived $150K MRR. Happy to share my opinion based on my experience of leading "code" and "no code" startup.

No-code is basically the art of creating solutions (native apps, websites, web apps), which could have been written with code but instead using visual methods (without coding). Most no-code tools use a visual drag-and-drop interface. A lot of them have pre-built templates that you can customize. There is also a slight difference between "low-code" and "no code".

With "low code" a lot of things can be done with a drag-and-drop interface, however, some coding is required to for a finished product. So you ANYWAY need some background in coding. This is typically great for people with intermediate technical skill.

What can be built with no-code?

Mobile apps, web apps, websites, workflow and automations, marketing tools, payment systems, and the list goes on. Basically, "typical" products & MVPs benefit the most from no code. So founder can built something in weeks, really fast. For example, WeLoveNoCode (https://welovenocode.com) connects founders with the best no-code developers to build their software and apps without a single line of code in like 10 days. All that is based on a monthly subscription.

Why all the hype?

Well, ho code has A LOT of the advantages:

- will save you money

- You can build and test your ideas quickly

- Anyone can use it > Designers, product managers, marketing managers now have the ability to make their ideas tangible products.

What are the challenges you may face?

Just like new thing, tools have to be learnt and they all have their learning curves. However, it will take you much less time and resources learning how to use no-code tools. Unlike low-code tools, no-code tools have a limit to how much they can be customised. If you want to change every aspect of your product or want to build very complex products, no-code tools may bring some limitation. However, there’s so much innovation and growth with these tools so I expect these barriers to reduces in a few months.

I should add that there’s no limitation with scalability. No-code tools have the capacity for serve increase to allow as many users as possible without breaking. These tools are also very secured.

it takes time, but possible to do without huge funding

4. Empower the community to build plugins & extensions

this is something specific for the design & development industry, but can be applied to many startups as well.

Plugins enrich the tool capabilities, providing huge value by giving end users the opportunity to build the features they need. At the same time, this forms a loyal community of plugin makers, who can even build their own small businesses on top of it. The main question is how to motivate the creative community to make plugins.

3. Invite the community to contribute.

Enable users to talk on behalf of your brand via a company blog, promo-projects, and social media.

Design companies are great in motivating the community to share design tips, articles, assets, designs, and even positive vibes. If you open the research and check visual, you'll see it :)

Some design companies focus on content, inviting opinion leaders to share their knowledge through interviews. Others run community-driven blogs, openly inviting contributors by prominently positioning “submit content” call to actions. Another tactic is to motivate the community to share more of their design work made with specific design tools. The more the community contributes to anything brand-related, the tighter the connection formed between brand and users.

2. Provide (design) resources community might need

If you look at design companies, they provide handy design resources to work faster, right inside the tool. So users have no reason to leave. UI kits, icons, mockups, and fonts — all that is waiting for any user who comes to Sketch, Figma or Marvel.

That additional value keeps the community hooked inside the company brand.

My framework is focused on 8 simple steps, which you can use for building your community:

1. Give the best learning opportunities for the community.

It can be guides, e-books, podcasts, newsletters, courses. Learning content not only gives you SEO-traffic. It helps to position your brand\startup as thought leaders and industry experts.

So when someone from the community has a question, you already have an answer to that. Firstly, companies nurture community via useful educational content. And you'll see that all companies in the design space do that.

hey to HN community!

For the last 4 years, I’ve been working with community building in design & development industry while running my startup.

We used many community-building techniques by ourselves and learn from great companies in our space — from Sketch, InVision, Figma, Marvel.

Based on our learnings and things we noted form other companies, I made a community-building framework. You can see it in the research (https://flawlessapp.io/designcommunities) I shared with many visual examples.

What's the best way to add more products to the list?

You just need to send Pull Request to the GitHub repo.

Here you will find the guide: https://github.com/LisaDziuba/Awesome-Design-Tools/blob/mast...

The Evernote site is good as well!

feel free to send a Pull Request ;-)

you can add it :)

We had to use such loading animation as well, the only difference is we put a text description of what our app is doing. That makes waiting a less frustrating, at least users know that app is working on something specific.

those are infinite loading animations and they used when it's not possible to evaluate the waiting time. Indeed, they create a feeling of uncertainty.

No one enjoys waiting.

Loading animations can make this process delightful and reduce the perception of waiting time.

I made detailed research on

* best practices for loading indicators

* types of preloaders

* tools & resources & history

Hope, you'll like it!

oh, I didn't know that!

neat!

After long user research, we decided to make a redesign of our site for iOS development tool: https://flawlessapp.io/brightblue Taking into consideration comments from the last time, this site is white :)

Any thoughts? Is message clear? Any UX problems? Any design tips here?

P.S.: it's still in development, so please report if something doesn't work...

Noted!

coffee test sounds cool :) I'll do it in our coworking tomorrow!

Yeah, the white site has some UX issues. We need to fix it if we decide to keep it.

If you have some great iOS UI kits to add - please ping me. I'm happy to add more useful resources to the article.

hmmm

Thanks for your comprehensive comment! Very thoughtful and it gave me many new ideas to showcase our "strong sides" (what we can actually offer).

Some notes:

1) > But upon interviewing I have to be convinced I'll get those things. I'm feeling more and more that we as a startup have to convince the engineer that we are worth joining us.

2) > How low is the salary? I won't take less than what I see as market rate for small companies Totally understandable. Do you think it's possible to propose reduced rate for some period of time (until investments come to the bank account)?

3) > I pick jobs in part based on what I want to learn next. Mentorship is what we heavily do for our current small team. This comment helped me to understand what I need to highlight in my job offer :) As we have a tool inside iOS simulator, there are many new things we can propose to learn. Can be a good point for candidates.

4) > What's the commute like? Together with the comment from @lovelearning, you made me think about the commute... Seriously, I have no idea that it can be an issue. We have a room in the friends' office near the subway station. It's like 5 min walk from the subway and it's near the city center. We're from Kyiv and public transport is pretty good here, so it can be one more good point to mention.

Even better, allow me to work remote at least 3 days a week, with zero commute and more control over my environment Generally, we would prefer someone in the office but that's something discussable. If a person can deliver and we build remote process, then fine. Good point to mention too.

5) > What's the office like? small room with 6 tables, nice flowers, my paintings on the wall and mutual kitchen. As we rent that room from friends, they are working in that space as well. Our room is always closed by the door, so it's quite there.

6) > What are the hours like, and are they flexible? Flexible hours and we try to care about mental health. By this, I mean we don't push the team with extra work hours or workload, unless it's critically needed. As founders, it's our job to work 24/7 and fix all the fires, as well as do all shitty tasks.

7). > But most of us who have been around the block a few times just want a sane working environment and reasonable compensation at a place where we won't completely stagnate. as anyone else :)

Thank you again!

1.5 year ago we had experience with the remote team. Being totally honest: it didn't work out. Maybe because we had lack of process, maybe we were bad at managing people. Still physically working with a team and having that personal touch makes me feel comfortable and sure that everyone on the same page.

Maybe you could explain what means "comfortable environment" for you? Just curious to know.

Also much less time, money and energy wasted on commuting to work and back. As I'm from Kyiv and I'm leaving in the city center, that is something unexpected for me. An interesting point to consider...