our future?
Nowadays, if you want to succeed, agility is key. Businesses are constantly looking to automate, streamline, and even reduce steps from their processes. In the software development world, where coding a website can take up to 6 (maybe even 9) months, there has been an urgent need for a digital transformation. How exactly? Low-code/no-code platforms, yes.
Low-code and no-code tools allow designers, managers, and pretty much everyone with little to no development experience to build websites, mobile apps, and dashboards. Now, we can call ourselves developers, or well… “citizen developers”. In fact, Gartner announced in 2021 that 41% of people outside of the IT department were involved in the process of developing product designs.
“While low-code application development is not new, a confluence of digital disruptions, hyperautomation and the rise of composable business has led to an influx of tools and rising demand,” – said Fabrizio Biscotti, Managing Vice President at Gartner.
Believe it or not, these digital innovation platforms can be lifesavers – especially for small businesses or startups. And it makes sense! Compared to full-on software development, low-code/no-code applications can help us save up to 70% on costs, time, and even accessibility. With these tools, you can set up a website in just three days! Isn’t this amazing?
So, what is the future of low-code/no-code platforms? Here are 5 low-code/no-code applications trends that we will see in 2024.
- An Increase of Citizen Developers
In 2024, organizations and businesses will be more and more open to adopting low-code/no-code applications, leading to a democratization of development. This means that the software development process will be more accessible to citizen developers (non-IT people) and not just professional developers.
For this reason, we will see an increase in the number of tools on the market that offer simpler solutions with user-friendly and intuitive user interfaces. This way, non-technical developers can create all types of applications – even complex ones – without actually having to write the code.
Rather than spending thousands of hours on code, these platforms operate through drag-and-drop interfaces that abstract away the complexities of traditional coding. For example, Webflow is an amazing tool for UI/UX designers because it allows them to introduce the necessary components into their designs quickly.
- SaaS Solutions to Low-Code/No-Code Applications
A couple of years ago, when businesses wanted to improve their workflows using Slack, we were limited to the applications in the App Directory. Anything more complex than those applications required a bit more work. And unless we had coding experience, we couldn’t come up with a solution right away.
But things are changing! Multiple SaaS platforms, such as Slack and Salesforce, are introducing low-code/no-code functionalities to help their users quickly develop applications to streamline their processes.
For example, Slack has launched Workflow Builder, which allows everyone to create custom workflows through drag-and-drop – no need to code anything! At the same time, Salesforce has also integrated low-code/no-code capabilities into its Lighting platform, resulting in a significant ROI increase of over 500% for its users within five years.
So, in 2024, we’ll see an increase in SaaS platforms adopting a low-code approach. Otherwise, they might just risk falling behind competitors who embrace this trend.
- AI-Powered Low-Code/No-Code Platforms
Low-code/no-code applications are highly likely to integrate with other powerful technologies to help the advancement of such platforms. From artificial intelligence (AI) to machine learning (ML) to robotic process automation (RPS) and even the Internet of Things (IoT). Luckily, these will only make it even more accessible to everyone, both IT and non-IT users.
Look at TensorFlow! This is an end-to-end platform that allows us to create ML models just by using visual drag-and-drop elements and pre-made components. This broadens the accessibility of machine learning to a wider audience, allowing them to develop applications capable of identifying patterns, forecasting and making predictions, and even automating tasks.
At the same time, low-code/no-code applications will also be available when building IoT devices. This facilitates the simple and rapid development of applications that gather, analyze, and process data from sensors and interconnected devices. With such a user-friendly and intuitive interface for creating workflows, we will all be able to create IoT services – without actually requiring specialized expertise.
- Low-Code/No-Code Platforms for Mobile App Development
As of 2024, there are over 4.6 billion active internet users, and 92% of them – 4.32 billion people – access it by mobile phone. On the other hand, tablet or desktop users make up of only 65% of active internet users. So, with the growth in the usage of mobile devices, so does the focus on mobile apps.
At the same time, software developers spend 6 to 9 months building an app. For this reason, we will see an increased demand in 2024 for low-code/no-code applications for mobile app development. And we’ve already started! Bubble allows us to create beautifully-designed apps, while also creating a balance between functionality and aesthetics.
But it makes sense! With intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-built templates, low-code/no-code platforms will clearly facilitate rapid prototyping and iteration. We can quickly assemble components, customize layouts, and even test functionalities in real time. This will accelerate the development cycle and reduce the launch time for mobile apps by 10x.
- Effortless Data Analysis
To understand how our business works and performs, data analysis is the key to our success. And yes, this is a no-brainer. But to get there – well… that’s the tricky part. And unfortunately, that’s because we tend to generate large amounts of data – data that is mostly unstructured. In fact, around 85% of data in any company is unstructured. This may be in any form – whether it is text content, TikTok video, or even application logs. So, it’s no wonder that we get confused.
A low-code/no-code platform simplifies tasks such as data collection, testing, and analysis. By integrating with APIs, low-code platforms can gather data from diverse sources, improving the quality of AI and ML algorithms. Even more so, we can also use such applications to cleanse data for training models.
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