If you’ve ever tried to learn how to code, you’ve surely noticed the wealth of collaborative resources devoted to helping users at all levels learn and troubleshoot. That’s because, like many things, building software is better when it’s collaborative and community-oriented. Think StackOverflow, Quora, pair programming, etc.—people naturally gravitate towards these venues and methodologies because they know that when people come together to share knowledge, incredible things can happen.
However, collaboration in coding can only be taken so far. Programming languages are difficult to learn and take years to master. This knowledge-gap places barriers between those with the technical know-how, and those without. As a result, it is extremely difficult for traditional software development to become truly collaborative across an entire organization. This means that business teams, for example, are often reliant on IT teams to translate their expertise into code. Even the IT department itself can break down into silos divided by expertise in a certain programming language.
No-code is different because it humanizes enterprise application development and gives everyone the ability to bring complex, sophisticated apps to life without code. Still, everyone needs to crowdsource a solution or ask a technical question from time to time. No-code communities are just as important as code-based communities—but how are they different, and what do they look like?
A Community of Pioneers
Whenever you are learning anything new, there are advantages to traveling a well-worn path—many people before you have been in your shoes and they’ve had the time to build a robust community with abundant resources. No-code is newer and those paths are only now being blazed. So, the community experience here may be different (but that doesn’t mean it will be any less valuable).
With no-code, you get to play an instrumental role in building the no-code community and forging the path forward with us. When learning no-code, you’re joining a community of innovative, fearless, and forward-thinking users (or “Creators” as we call them at Unqork). TechCrunch estimates that companies in this sector are on track to raise at least $500 billion before the end of 2020. As the no-code movement continues to pick up speed, our development community is growing just as rapidly.
Fostering Growth in Unqork Spaces
To better understand what the Unqork no-code community is like, we asked Technical Community Manager Colton Beach to tell us a bit about his role. Colton has been a leading force driving Unqork’s Q&A program and believes in the power of a strong development community. “Community really strengthens buy-in, the platform itself, and retention,” he says. “It accelerates innovation on the platform, increases adaptation and productivity, cuts down on costs, and more. It’s really something to tap into and not to leave unnoticed.”
Within the last 10 years, there’s been a surge of interest in community-building in the tech industry. From conferences to thought leadership to team buy-in, industry leaders have noticed that online communities are much more than a forum for Q&As. We wanted to bring this trend to no-code in a way that was organic and sustainable.
Unqork’s Stack Overflow community now boasts a 97% response rate, and the average question receives a response within 30 minutes (including on weekends).
We took our time, starting small to ensure we could expand sustainably and maintain high-quality documentation. The Enablement Team partnered with Stack Overflow to build out a forum for users to pose questions to other no-code Creators, browse existing threads, and generally immerse themselves in the knowledge of the community. Shortly after launching the forum, we saw a 222% increase in the use of the Q&A platform. Unqork’s Stack Overflow community now boasts a 97% response rate, and the average question receives a response within 30 minutes (including on weekends).
To further encourage a successful rollout, we also implemented an incentive program for subject matter experts. The SMEs (both internal and external) are the backbone of the program and make it as successful as it is. Once our initial metrics were in and looking good, we knew we had a powerful resource to roll-out to our partners and clients.
We’re finding that these communities are not only helpful for our users, but they also provide insight that helps elevate what we can offer our community. We use these forums to find out what kind of training and documentation we need to spend more time on, uncover gaps in the knowledge base, and learn about how our users are interacting with the platform. On the symbiotic relationship between the Unqork platform and the Unqork Creator, Colton notes: “It helps the community because they’re getting their questions answered, but it’s also going straight back to the platform and informing what we create for them. It’s very customer-centric, which is exactly how it should be.”
Ultimately, the collaboration that’s happening in no-code communities is different than that of coding communities. No-code operates within a visual interface, so posing questions may require a descriptive process rather than simply copy-pasting code for review. But being able to explain a problem is half of the battle—and we firmly believe that this accessibility is what makes the Unqork community and no-code itself so unique.
What Makes a Successful Tech Community?
As our communities grow, we continuously ask ourselves what success looks like in alignment with our long-term goals. We’ll know that we have a successful tech community when we have a group of engaged and enthusiastic users on the platform, who want to contribute to the community. Perhaps most importantly, we also want internal and external Unqork users to see themselves as part of the same community—all working toward a better platform.
One of our long-term goals is to build no-code out as a skill that everyone recognizes, the same way you might recognize a Python developer. We’re working toward this goal by offering LinkedIn badging, pushing to get no-code courses in colleges and universities, and partnering with organizations to host community events. Ultimately, we’re ushering in a new generation of Creators certified in Unqork—and our online user communities are a huge part of that. More than being a place for simple Q&A responses, our communities are about connecting people around a common goal and building something that in some way, makes the world a better place.
Want to learn more about how no-code can be used at your organization? Schedule a personalized demonstration with one of our in-house experts. Also, sign-up for the Unqork newsletter to keep up-to-date on the latest in the world of no-code.
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