Designing, building, and launching my own app

In Nov 2021, I wrote an article about my experience with no-code tools.

And recently, I saw this tweet by Fons Mans on X and it got me thinking.

It’s Jan 2024, over 2 years have gone by, and so much has changed in the no-code tech space. I caught up with the changes lately when I was looking to build an idea I had for an app. I realised the playing field has definitely changed.

Building an MVP is no longer a team sport

Building a tech product used to be a team sport of a minimum of 3 players — Founder, Designer, Developer. You needed someone with the big idea and who sets the direction (Founder), someone who translates the vision into tangible digital experiences (Designer) in pixels, and someone who executes the design in code and makes sure everything is running smoothly (Developer).

Now, it’s possible for building an MVP to be a solo sport. One person can handle both ideation, design, and implementation. (I’m not saying this is the best way to build an MVP. I understand that independence comes at a cost.)

To be clear, this is nothing new. Over the years, we’ve seen developers and unicorn designers (people with design and development skills) become solopreneurs by building indie apps. It’s prime time for more designers to walk down the same path.

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