Emily Lonetto

I think I got into no-code before I really knew what no-code was just by playing around with no-code tools maybe like five or six years ago. My intro was Zapier, the holy grail of integrations. I've always been at this intersection of technical and non-technical and I've always found no-code as a beautiful mix of those things. 

No-code is really, really part of the tech stack that I use on a day to day basis and teach amongst even my own team, so I thought why not join a company like Voiceflow, who's gonna make a really big impact in the voice space and the no-code space?

I think for me, I have a pretty loose definition of no-code. I think some people are very binary around it, where no-code equals zero code, ever. I view no-code as you can get the majority, maybe like 80% done without really having any basic knowledge there with the option of being able to get a little bit more custom and open that up. I would say my definition of no-code is a platform or a software that makes it easier for people to expedite how they can get to an MVP.

Je ne peux pas le situer à un moment précis où je me suis dit : « Oh, oui, ça doit être no-code. » Et je pense que la façon dont cela m’a été présenté était vraiment plus un problème qui existe à la fois dans les startups et aussi dans les grandes organisations : juste un manque de ressources, et aussi un manque de temps pour apprendre sur soi-même, sur son temps libre. Et c’est ainsi qu’il m’a été présenté officieusement comme no-code par l’un de mes mentors dans une entreprise. Cela m’a été présenté parce que je ne faisais pas partie de l’équipe technique, mais que je construisais de nouvelles choses et que j’étais constamment coincé à attendre que quelque chose se passe.

No space code. Hardcore.

On the larger org, what I kind of found was that it helped to expedite a lot of even, let's say, project validation that you're trying to get. So people could get to a prototype faster to make a more convincing pitch for something. People could potentially get things procured faster because it wasn't living within their database, it was something that was a little bit separate. So you're seeing this workflow optimization that comes into play, and also just like how easy it is to understand and get going, and it makes onboarding a lot faster, especially if you're playing around with new people on the team.

But for smaller orgs, it makes so much more possible with a smaller team, especially even now where all of our teams are separated, and resourcing is always going to be an issue no matter what size you are, but when you have people who are trying to level up or trying to learn, who are trying to cross collaborate, these tools make it so much more possible to get everyone on a level field that I think that it really, really helps to let companies get more out of the team that they have.

En ce qui concerne les développeurs, je pense que cela accélère tout et que le no-code, de bien des façons, est le point de départ pour essayer de faire quelque chose. Cela ne signifie pas nécessairement que ce sera le produit final que vous ferez. Mais il sera tellement plus rapide de mettre cette structure en place que vous pourrez jouer davantage, faire davantage, et peut-être essayer cette chose qui aurait autrement pris beaucoup de temps à apprendre.

Avec les designers, je pense que le no-code a été un mouvement incroyablement responsabilisant pour eux. Par exemple, moi-même, je viens d'un milieu de conception et j'ai adoré pouvoir faire ces dessins magnifiquement complets sur mon ordinateur, mais ils ne respiraient pas. Il y a quelque chose d'un peu spécial à voir comment ces mouvements, comment les interactions réelles se jouent, et ça craint parfois d'avoir cette chose et de ne pas être capable de la communiquer complètement ou d'être un peu laissé derrière quand vous essayez de lui donner vie. Je pense donc que les outils no-code ont permis aux concepteurs de se surpasser lorsqu'il s'agit d'animer beaucoup de choses qu'ils font, de les faire vivre, de créer des sites Web, des applications Web, des places de marché ; il y a tant de choses qu'ils ont faites.

Avec les chefs de projet, ou les membres non techniques des équipes, cela a totalement ouvert la voie non seulement à de nouveaux moyens de donner vie aux MVPs, de se salir les mains, mais aussi de développer de l'empathie envers les autres membres de leur équipe. Personnellement, je trouve qu'en me plongeant dans les outils no-code, j'en ai appris davantage sur la logique, les attentes et les complexités derrière ce que je demande, ce qui m'a rendu, je crois, plus empathique en tant que leader, mais aussi en termes de gestion ou d'attente de ce qui peut être accompli dans le champ d'application.

We've already seen huge interest and huge spikes in terms of freelancers and consultants, starting with voice. I think that the consultants and the freelancers that get on the space now are going to be in that sweet era that happened with mobile not too long ago, we're going to see more and more that the early time they spend in the space now is going to pay massive dividends later.

I am a really strong believer that no-code really, really helps make this type of building, this type of work, really accessible for people. And one of the beautiful things that I love about having such a strong community and being so connected with our no-code and our Voiceflow builders is being able to see people like this — who can hop on the platform, the same platform that large teams and enterprises are using and be able to build something really meaningful.

I think that, more and more, as no-code becomes on the front lines of things and more accessible to younger kids and even older generations, you're going to see more innovation happening in that space, and even easier ways for people to be able to get jobs or jump to different career options. Not only because it's more accessible, but now because they can do a lot more learning at home. So I think it's gonna make a huge difference moving forward.

I've already started to see people shipping like very rough MVPs or skeletons using no-code, but I would say, maybe give it another two years.

My inner optimist wants to be the second that schools are back in there. What I'm seeing is that education is a tough one, because curriculums are really, really hard to innovate in, and that's the truth. But we've already started to see no-code solutions be kind of slipped into curriculum, like, Voiceflow happens to already be taught in a few universities. Which is super cool. And I love that. But I think in terms of mainstream, and I would hope, like maybe realistically, five years, where no-code could be in the title of the curriculum.

I feel like it's already pretty on par with that right now. I want to think that it's already pretty there on Product Hunt, and so maybe like a year.

My inner optimist wants to be like tomorrow. I would say maybe, and hopefully two to like three years.

I'm gonna be pretty conservative on this one — like twenty years...

I'd say there's already a lot of agencies that kind of build both. I think to outweigh maybe like, six, eight, a little bit longer. I think it will take a while.

I would say probably more openly, maybe like, a year, two years.

What really keeps me motivated is hearing a lot of stories of people who felt stuck in their current jobs or were waiting for that opportunity to transition into a PM or a technical role for years at a company and then discovered one of these tools and started to build these things. And actually, were able to make the move where they were able to support themselves full time and even build a team around no-code tools.