This week I attended the No Code Conference put on by Webflow and boy did it deliver. Some thoughts:
It definitely feels like there's been a shift in the no code/low code space. Money is pouring in, there's excitement in the air. But why now? What's different from 12 months ago? Software has always been there to help us do more with less. But I kept thinking "this no code thing is different, we're going beyond software." But I couldn't quite put words to that feeling.
Then, Vlad, CEO of Webflow, gave his keynote and it clicked. Bare with me.
We live in a world of abstractions: programming languages are simply abstractions of assembly language which translate in 0 and 1 (there are probably more than 50 actual levels here but you get the point). Its turtles (of simplification) all the way down. And every new level of abstraction makes it just a tad bit easier to create software. And yet it's just not simple enough. Software creation hasn't been made human-friendly (Vlad says inclusive) enough just yet. We have an insatiable need for new software and a glut of people who can code (or understand the current level of abstraction for creating software).
But for the first time, it feels like that's changing. Software creation is finally becoming visual and understandable to the masses.
Webflow can turn you from a designer to a web developer. Zapier can take you from someone who understands processes to a back-end developer & automator. Take Webflow, Zapier and Airtable and you've got the powers of a small development team. Add in Typeform with Stripe and you've got a goddamn business.
By making it simple and visual, no code tolls are democratizing software creation itself. Now, with a little bit of learning, anyone can be a software creator. It doesn't reduce our need for developers but unleashes a whole new wave of creators. A lot of them came to the no code conference. It was exciting to meet them. They were all more awesome than I had expected :).
Talks at No Code Conf
Here are my favorite moments from the No Code Conference taken from the livestream. Honestly, it's tough to pick my favorites, all of the talks were great. They're all here.
Why the No Code movement Matters
Keynote from Vlad about why we're at the cusp of something big with No code and how it's going to make software creation wildly more inclusive and accessible
Panel: No code is the next great platform shift
Arun, partner at Accel, talks about how no code may be the next plaform shift. Brianne talks about how the impact might also create a new type of employee, not "technical" but not not technical.
Asana & making automation feel more human
We assume that understanding triggers and actions is easy. But frankly, most people don't. Micah, product manager at Asana, talks through how Asana made automation feel human. Also interesting to note how we're seeing more and more SaaS products build automation within their product.
Taking back your most valuable digital real estate
This talk by Camille hit close to home. When your website isn't easy to change or manage, you just don't do anything about it. Reclaiming it under the marketing team (by migrating to Webflow) isn't simple. Camille talks through the steps and hurdles she had to go through.
Builders & a mindset for building no code apps
I'm linking to a specific part of this talk where Liz Khoo, from the salesforce UX team talks about a new type of persona: builders. It's not clickers vs coders anymore, there's a growing middle between the two, blurring the line between technical and non-technical.
