What I Learned When Rolling Out Our All New Low-Code / No-Code Platform

Most of the time, just because you build it doesn’t mean they will automatically come.? Of course, there are exceptions like the iPhone or Chat-GPT but those exceedingly rare examples!? ? Usually when you launch something that you think is amazing, it will most likely not experience instant adoption.? Many things need to happen first.? There are a number of factors at play when initially rolling out a new product.

In our case the low-code no-code platform, on the surface, seemed like a dream.? Drag and drop, slick interface, easy to use, not having to code - what’s not to like?? But somehow there was a level of hesitation when the platform was first introduced.? It was a bit strange to be honest.? How come no one was willing to dive deep into it and uncover all the goodness a platform like this can offer?

The first lesson...

Changing behavior is hard

I imagine in the old days when Henry Ford introduced his Model T, people exclaimed “but my horse is so fast!”? "Why would I want to get into something with gasoline that can explode!? My horse won’t blow up.”? It’s human nature to be inherently cautious and suspicious of something brand new.? Will it really work?? Can I trust it?

When initially rolling out the no-code, low-code platform, I completely underestimated how much hand-holding the initial set of customers and partners would need.? They would need to be walked through the entire platform step-by-step and we needed to dive into the weeds with them into all aspects of the technology.? To be clear, this wasn’t everyone, but for the most part folks needed help.? Even though large parts of the platform were self-explanatory, many users felt better to have a tour guide of sorts. ? Since the user was used to doing things a certain way, and we were asking them to do things differently, I understood why we needed to put in the extra effort.??

Human nature is to keep doing the things that are comfortable without venturing too far into the unknown.? I’d say we’re still in the early days of no-code, low-code so for most of our enterprise customers, this was still uncharted territory.

A common question: Who else has used it?

This was, by far, the biggest question I heard right off the bat. Clients were curious but they wanted examples of what others have done with.? Nobody wants to be the first to try something new.? A Tesla was not nearly as appealing 5 years ago when 3 people owned one.? But these days, you can’t go anywhere without seeing one.? It’s proven and Tesla owners are raving about their Teslas all around the world.? Social proof is everything.

This is where it becomes?a chicken-and-egg problem. You need customers to use it before you have examples but also they need customer success stories to even get started.? To get over this, it helps to be creative and think of ways you can get at least a couple customers up and running as quickly as you can to convince others to do the same.

Some will pleasantly surprise you

A handful of folks early on got it right away and started building.? It clicked immediately. These are the folks you want to put on a pedestal.? The early adopters and the ones who “get it” will be your biggest champions and evangelists. Talk to them, get into their head and unpack the magic - this can make the rest of the journey much easier.

Don’t start with a blank slate

At least with low-code no-code platforms as easy as it might seem to use, everyone needs something to start with.? In our case the more pre-built workflows and automations, the easier time customers had it adopting our platform.? Nobody wants to start from scratch.? Providing some sort of scaffolding or an outline in place can help get things kickstarted.

Some of our biggest fans are developers

Now this is something I didn’t expect - engineers and developers appreciating the platform as much as they did.? I thought low-code, no-code meant that we would be more appealing to non-technical, business users.? But somehow it was the opposite, at least early on.? I underestimated how appealing this platform would be to "early adopter" developers.? They were obviously still coding, but the drag and drop experience sped up parts of the implementation process and simplified the experience in a big way.

Patience is key

It’s easy to fall into despair if a product isn’t instantly taking off.? But, overnight successes are sometimes 10 years in the making! In our case it ended up being a slow ramp, followed by an exponential swing upward.

Today it's a different story compared to the early days.? After overcoming a few initial barriers and gaining some momentum, most of our customers and users are seeing the benefits and we’re experiencing lots of traction and delivering value.? The no-code, low-code car was stuck for a while but we pushed it hard enough and now it’s moving along quite nicely!