TECHNOLOGY

How to Design an App That You Can Develop on a No-Code Platform?

Published

1 year ago

July 12, 2022

Got a brilliant idea that can be turned into an application? Then you’re in the right place.

This article will walk you through some easy steps to develop an application on a no-code platform. Let’s start with the things you must consider before starting the design process.

Things to Consider Before Designing an App

Why is Monetizing an App Necessary

1. Idea

There are over 3 million applications on Google Play Store and 2.22 million applications on App Store at the moment. With so many applications already out there, you’d want to make yours stand out. And for that, you need a brilliant idea. If you’ve already got one that you’re 100% sure about, then you can jump to the next steps. But if you’re still brainstorming, here’s how you can figure it out:

Twist the Existing Ideas

One way is to combine various elements of existing applications to come up with a new idea. Think of the applications you use daily and their features you can meld together. Surprisingly, if you’re able to combine the right elements, you can produce great results.

Solution to a Problem

Is there a problem staring you right in the face? These ideas often turn out to be the best solution to the problems you face in real life. The chances are that if you have this problem and are trying to find a solution, other people are as well. If the problem can be solved with an app, that’s an excellent reason to create one!

Better Version of an Existing App

Have you used an application and ever thought, “it could be so much better if I add this feature”? If yes, this creative spark of yours could be a perfect app idea. There’s always room for improvement, so if you thought that an app lacked a helpful feature, the chances are that you weren’t the only one to think that. If the original app author isn’t constantly updating and improving the app, then there’s an opportunity for you to create an even better app.

2. Validate Your Idea

All the app ideas look stellar on paper, but you should always validate your idea before moving towards design and creation. Validating your idea gives you surety that your application has a probability of succeeding in the app store.

To validate your idea, consider sharing it with your colleagues and trusted ones who understand the concept. Let them find as many flaws as they can. These people can give an insight into how well your idea aligns with the problem you’re trying to solve. If you get positive feedback or if you’re able to modify and improve the idea as per their suggestions easily, you can move ahead to the next step.

3. Conduct Market Research

Now that you’ve got the idea, you need to do thorough market research and gather some facts and figures to back it. Knowing your target audience is crucial for the success of your application. Therefore, it is critical to invest time in understanding their needs, expectations, and problems they face. Once you’re done learning about the audience, get to know your competitors.

Look what your competitors are up to, their strengths, weaknesses, and mistakes. Explore various business models, industry trends, and new features. This research is not to determine whether your idea is good enough but to understand what works and what does not from your competitors. Your research will help you better understand your niche and how your application can add value. Moreover, it saves you time, money, and energy and guides your positioning and app marketing strategies.

4. List the Objectives

It is imperative to understand why you want to design the app. Therefore, it’s best to lay out a set of objectives you want to achieve through the application before starting to design it.

Here’s a checklist you can follow:

What is your aim?

Who is your target audience?

Can your target audience see the value?

How can your app help customers to address their problems?

What are the essential features for the app to produce the desired results?

5. List the Application Features

Having arrived at this stage, you need to ask the question. “How to design an app that the customer will want to use”? You need to identify the features that perfectly match your application, align with users’ interests, and serve them in the best possible way.

Have a clear understanding of the fundamental functionality of your application and list down features focusing on that. Next, you research the popular features in the niche and list the ones that your audience prefers and ones that make your app attractive. It’s important to note that too many features can confuse the users. Therefore, ensure to include just the necessary features that serve the purpose.

6. IOS vs Android

IOS vs Android is a never-ending battle in the app industry. There is no clarity on building an application on one operator over another. Both the operators support different marketplaces,i.e., Google Play Store and Apple App Store. These marketplaces have millions of applications, excellent developer resources, and monetization opportunities. However, both have their advantages and disadvantages that you must consider before deciding which is the best for your app. Moreover, it’s worth noting that both score the same 1.6 stars on Trustpilot.

Therefore, it’s best to design an app keeping both Android and IOS users in mind.

Steps to Design an App Without Code

Once you have completed the research and decided which platform you want your app to be on, it’s time to move on to the design and development part.

1. Choose a No-Code App Builder

The first step to designing or building an app without coding is to select a no-code app builder. It is an app development platform that allows users without coding skills to create cloud-based or native applications. No-code app builders offer ready-to-use templates for user interface and functionalities that make it much easier to design an app quickly.

There are plenty of options available in the market. It may seem tedious at first, but narrowing down the features you’re looking for, considering ease of use and cost involved, can make it easier.

2. Decide Application Name

Give your application a name. This is where you put on your creative hat and decide on a suitable name for your app. It is best to settle for a short yet unique and memorable name. You can try to relate it with the app’s primary features.

3. Pick a Color Scheme

Color is one of the essential components of visual communication. Therefore, selecting an appropriate color scheme while developing an application is vital. There are various ways to select a color scheme. Two of the most common ones are the analogous and monochromatic methods of color choice.

Choose a color for your brand as per the product or service you offer. Check out what works best in the industry and the users’ preferences. Also, consider the UI elements while selecting the color scheme. Then strategically incorporate that color within the app without compromising the user experience.

4. Design

The design of the application consists of multiple elements and stages that are discussed further.

Layout

Let’s start with a wireframe of your app. A wireframe is a rough sketch of your application that guides how your application will work. A wireframe doesn’t represent the complete design of the app but only the key screens and interface elements. Here, you must emphasize deciding the structure and flow of your app.

App Design

Once you have the layout or wireframe of your app, you can easily design it. The best practices suggest keeping the app design similar to your brand or business design. The design includes your color scheme, brand logo, typography, size, background, icons, etc.

Splash Screen

A mobile app’s flash screen is a crucial component. It is the first thing that your users interact with. It is the first point of introduction of your brand to enhance users’ first impression. Explore different ways and brainstorm to design an intuitive, creative splash screen that captures the users’ attention as soon as they interact with the app. The splash screen holds the power to capture the users’ interest.

Navigation

This step is all about creating natural and straightforward navigation for users. You can play around with some of your favorite applications and figure out what you like the most and how it feels like navigating through the application? For example, you’ll be able to pinpoint the problem with navigation when you’re unable to decide what action to take, where to click or how to do something while using the app.

5. Add Features and Content

After you’re satisfied with your application infrastructure and design elements, you can move on to adding the features and content to it. Start with adding basic information about the product or service you offer. Then, add features and external links to social media and the website.

6. Add App Info and Metadata

Application metadata summarizes application traffic at an abstracted level. This information gives you better and greater visibility into how your application performs, behaves, and is used across the network. It can be classified into visual (icon, screenshots, video) and text (title, subtitle, description). Metadata is necessary because Google Play Store and App Store sometimes index and rank these fields. Therefore, having the right keywords in your metadata can improve your app search ranking and attract more users to download your app.

7. Preview Your App

Now that you’ve covered most of the necessary steps and your app is almost ready, it’s time to preview it on different devices (IOS and Android, both). This step allows you to determine whether the user experience of your app is just as you expected and whether it’ll be appealing to your audience or not. It will enable you to test your app logic, design, and behavior before launching it on the app stores.

8. Test The App and Launch

Testing your app is not something that should be done only at last. You must test your application throughout the development stage. This will help you modify your app while working on it, saving you a lot of time and also avoiding unnecessary trouble.

The process of testing an application is quite different on Android and Apple devices. For Android, install the app file on your computer or smartphone and test it live. Whereas for IOS, you need to use a third-party app.

Once everything is tested and ready, publish your app. Here are the steps you need to follow:

Go through the official guidelines from Google Playstore and App Store to understand what a good application page looks like, the dos, and don’ts, and how to avoid common issues.

Undergo the app store submission process to publish your app.

Once you receive approval, your app will be live.

Conclusion

No-code app builders sure make it easy to develop an application in less time, efficiently, and at a low cost, but its maintenance is what requires continuous effort. Regular promotions, updates, and redefining features within a set period are necessary to keep your application fresh, and the audience engaged.

Now that you know how to design an app without code, you can easily build one for yourself. If you have anything to add or suggestions you would like to share, you can drop them in the comment section below.

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TECHNOLOGY

HCLTech and Cisco create collaborative hybrid workplaces

Published

24 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Max

Digital comms specialist Cisco and global tech firm HCLTech have teamed up to launch Meeting-Rooms-as-a-Service (MRaaS).

Available on a subscription model, this solution modernises legacy meeting rooms and enables users to join meetings from any meeting solution provider using Webex devices.

The MRaaS solution helps enterprises simplify the design, implementation and maintenance of integrated meeting rooms, enabling seamless collaboration for their globally distributed hybrid workforces.

Rakshit Ghura, senior VP and Global head of digital workplace services, HCLTech, said: “MRaaS combines our consulting and managed services expertise with Cisco’s proficiency in Webex devices to change the way employees conceptualise, organise and interact in a collaborative environment for a modern hybrid work model.

“The common vision of our partnership is to elevate the collaboration experience at work and drive productivity through modern meeting rooms.”

Alexandra Zagury, VP of partner managed and as-a-Service Sales at Cisco, said: “Our partnership with HCLTech helps our clients transform their offices through cost-effective managed services that support the ongoing evolution of workspaces.

“As we reimagine the modern office, we are making it easier to support collaboration and productivity among workers, whether they are in the office or elsewhere.”

Cisco’s Webex collaboration devices harness the power of artificial intelligence to offer intuitive, seamless collaboration experiences, enabling meeting rooms with smart features such as meeting zones, intelligent people framing, optimised attendee audio and background noise removal, among others.

Want to learn more about cybersecurity and the cloud from industry leaders? Check out Cyber Security & Cloud Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Tags: Cisco, collaboration, HCLTech, Hybrid, meetings

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TECHNOLOGY

Canonical releases low-touch private cloud MicroCloud

Published

2 days ago

November 28, 2023

Max

Canonical has announced the general availability of MicroCloud, a low-touch, open source cloud solution. MicroCloud is part of Canonical’s growing cloud infrastructure portfolio.

It is purpose-built for scalable clusters and edge deployments for all types of enterprises. It is designed with simplicity, security and automation in mind, minimising the time and effort to both deploy and maintain it. Conveniently, enterprise support for MicroCloud is offered as part of Canonical’s Ubuntu Pro subscription, with several support tiers available, and priced per node.

MicroClouds are optimised for repeatable and reliable remote deployments. A single command initiates the orchestration and clustering of various components with minimal involvement by the user, resulting in a fully functional cloud within minutes. This simplified deployment process significantly reduces the barrier to entry, putting a production-grade cloud at everyone’s fingertips.

Juan Manuel Ventura, head of architectures & technologies at Spindox, said: “Cloud computing is not only about technology, it’s the beating heart of any modern industrial transformation, driving agility and innovation. Our mission is to provide our customers with the most effective ways to innovate and bring value; having a complexity-free cloud infrastructure is one important piece of that puzzle. With MicroCloud, the focus shifts away from struggling with cloud operations to solving real business challenges” says

In addition to seamless deployment, MicroCloud prioritises security and ease of maintenance. All MicroCloud components are built with strict confinement for increased security, with over-the-air transactional updates that preserve data and roll back on errors automatically. Upgrades to newer versions are handled automatically and without downtime, with the mechanisms to hold or schedule them as needed.

With this approach, MicroCloud caters to both on-premise clouds but also edge deployments at remote locations, allowing organisations to use the same infrastructure primitives and services wherever they are needed. It is suitable for business-in-branch office locations or industrial use inside a factory, as well as distributed locations where the focus is on replicability and unattended operations.

Cedric Gegout, VP of product at Canonical, said: “As data becomes more distributed, the infrastructure has to follow. Cloud computing is now distributed, spanning across data centres, far and near edge computing appliances. MicroCloud is our answer to that.

“By packaging known infrastructure primitives in a portable and unattended way, we are delivering a simpler, more prescriptive cloud experience that makes zero-ops a reality for many Industries.“

MicroCloud’s lightweight architecture makes it usable on both commodity and high-end hardware, with several ways to further reduce its footprint depending on your workload needs. In addition to the standard Ubuntu Server or Desktop, MicroClouds can be run on Ubuntu Core – a lightweight OS optimised for the edge. With Ubuntu Core, MicroClouds are a perfect solution for far-edge locations with limited computing capabilities. Users can choose to run their workloads using Kubernetes or via system containers. System containers based on LXD behave similarly to traditional VMs but consume fewer resources while providing bare-metal performance.

Coupled with Canonical’s Ubuntu Pro + Support subscription, MicroCloud users can benefit from an enterprise-grade open source cloud solution that is fully supported and with better economics. An Ubuntu Pro subscription offers security maintenance for the broadest collection of open-source software available from a single vendor today. It covers over 30k packages with a consistent security maintenance commitment, and additional features such as kernel livepatch, systems management at scale, certified compliance and hardening profiles enabling easy adoption for enterprises. With per-node pricing and no hidden fees, customers can rest assured that their environment is secure and supported without the expensive price tag typically associated with cloud solutions.

Tags: automation, Canonical, MicroCloud, private cloud

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TECHNOLOGY

AWS and SoftwareOne collaborate on RISE with SAP

Published

1 week ago

November 22, 2023

Max

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SoftwareOne Holding AG, a global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, have partnered to help customers transition to RISE with SAP on an AWS cloud environment.

Called the Ready for RISE on AWS bundle, it combines SoftwareOne’s deep SAP advisory and implementation knowledge with AWS technologies to expedite a client’s SAP transformation journey.

The collaboration comes at a time when there is growing pressure on organisations to decide how to modernise their SAP environments driven in part by the end of mainstream support for SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) in 2027. Despite the imminent deadline, many organisations are still confused as to which path to take, including when to adopt RISE with SAP, SAP’s bundled offering of cloud solutions, infrastructure, and services that helps migrate SAP ERP to the cloud.

Ireneusz Hołowacz, Director of Application Development Center at GAVDI Polska, said: “A stable, efficient, and cost-effective environment for consultants and programmers is one of the most important priorities of our daily work. Thanks to the migration of our SAP systems to the AWS cloud with the help of SoftwareOne, GAVDI Polska has achieved all the goals set for this process.

In a survey recently conducted by SoftwareOne with Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG) – the full details of which will be revealed in January 2024 – showed that while 42% of respondents were familiar with RISE with SAP, 40% had heard of it but weren’t familiar with the details and 18% had never heard of it. Over half (52%) said they were still unsure how RISE with SAP would impact their existing relationship with cloud service providers.

“SAP customers have implemented some of the most comprehensive and complex enterprise systems in the industry and moving them to cloud services like AWS requires many important decisions to be made to optimise these investments,” says Joshua Greenbaum, Principal at EAC. “SoftwareOne’s extensive experience in the SAP ecosystem, combined with its unique capabilities around system rationalisation, cost containment, contracts and licenses, and cloud service management, among others, will provide customers deploying on AWS with the ability to make the most of RISE on SAP and other SAP offerings. Ready for RISE on AWS is an important offering for SAP customers at this critical moment in their business transformations.”

The Ready for RISE on AWS bundle will help clients understand their SAP transformation options and offer a comprehensive solution to organisations who consider RISE with SAP. It includes advisory data preparation, conversion services, data and AI, cloud innovation platform, supporting the entire journey to RISE on AWS. Clients will benefit from accelerated Return on Investment (ROI), optimal data management, and cost-saving strategies while laying the foundation for ongoing innovation and long-term business success.

Matt Schwartz, worldwide director, SAP Alliance & Partner Network at AWS, said: “As a valued AWS Premier Consulting Partner, AWS is working closely with SoftwareOne to offer SAP customers comprehensive assistance through each step of their journey to RISE with SAP on AWS. SoftwareOne’s ability to bundle Advisory, Data & AI, Cloud Platform, and Operations considerations can be of high interest to customers who are seeking to understand RISE with SAP as well as the cloud native and operation considerations that surround and support the RISE with SAP construct.”

PF Grillet, SAP Business Lead at SoftwareOne, said: “There are many choices available to SAP clients who know they need to modernise but aren’t sure of the best option, particularly given the business-critical nature of the applications.

“All of our services are centered around our customers and what is right for them. This includes supporting and optimising RISE with SAP in scenarios when it’s the right decision based on their requirements. Our extensive knowledge of and relationship with AWS means we can help them better prepare and achieve a seamless transition to S/4HANA using RISE with SAP on AWS with reduced costs and risks. This collaboration goes beyond preparing businesses for change; it’s making transformation and becoming innovation-ready a reality using AWS technologies.”

The offering includes SNP tooling to reduce a customer’s data footprint and accelerate migration. SoftwareOne will migrate selected data to an AWS data lake, accelerate innovation readiness and ensure SAP data is suitable for broader data analytics and AI use cases. Clients gain access to innovative tools like AWS’ Sagemaker for Machine Learning, continuous data management and optimisation within the AWS environment. The AWS innovation platform also includes Amazon Bedrock that helps organisations accelerate adapting Large Language Models and deploying GenAI use cases that leverage the extended data set.

“While the future innovation opportunities are exciting, clients need to balance these with a pragmatic approach to costs,” explained Marilyn Moodley, Country Leader for South Africa and WECA at SoftwareOne, “We integrate ‘Cost-Out’ recommendations into the core of our services, providing a more cost-effective solution for customers, like reducing the data footprint size and optimising storage and archiving.

“Our expertise in the complexities of SAP licensing further drives cost savings while our FinOps capabilities enable customers to optimise their AWS cloud spend and effectively manage their AWS cloud environment, ensuring full transparency in their budgets. The overall result is a significantly reduced time for RISE migration, which translates into a quicker time to value.”

Tags: AWS, partnership, SAP, SoftwareOne, transition

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