Apidays Paris 2023 - Software and APIs for Smart, Sustainable and Sovereign Societies December 6, 7 & 8, 2023 Why can't you ignore Product Management as a No-Code engineer Manon Mercier, Lead Product Builder / Product Manager at No-Code ------ Check out our conferences at https://www.apidays.global/ Do you want to sponsor or talk at one of our conferences? https://apidays.typeform.com/to/ILJeAaV8 Learn more on APIscene, the global media made by the community for the community: https://www.apiscene.io Explore the API ecosystem with the API Landscape: https://apilandscape.apiscene.io/

1. PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT
+ NO-CODE
= _
7th December 2023

2. Manon Mercier
💡Product Operations Manager
🛠️Product Builder (Backend)
🎓No-Code Product Teacher
Freelancer | Ex @Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Center

3. Who am I talking
to ?
7th December 2023
How many Product Managers ?
How many Software engineers /
No-Code Makers ?

4. Why can’t you ignore
product management
as a
No-Code engineer*
?
*If you want to build useful & impactful products

5. I THINK THAT...
THE WAY WE USE NO-CODE
FOR BUSINESSES TODAY
THE POTENTIAL OF NO-CODE
TECHNOLOGIES FOR
BUSINESSES

6. IN MY OPINION...
IN ADDITION, IN TERMS OF TECH
DEMOCRATIZATION, PROBLEM SOLVING
& PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, NO-
CODE HAS SO MUCH TO OFFER
SO MANY PEOPLE, SO MANY ORGANIZATIONS,
SO MANY SECTORS, SO MANY JOBS STILL
DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE POWER
OF NO-CODE TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES
ALTHOUGH THEY COULD GET SO MANY
BENEFITS FROM THEM

7. MY STORY...
I COME FROM SOCIAL SCIENCES. I
DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT
TECH BEFORE
IT REALLY CHANGED MY LIFE & MY
WORKING CONDITIONS. A WHOLE NEW
WORLD OPENED TO ME, A PASSIONATE ONE !
A FEW YEARS AGO, I ACCIDENTALLY
DISCOVERED PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & NO-
CODE IN A JOB, I BECAME A REAL FAN OF IT

8. THAT’S WHY NOW...
MY CONCERN IS TO DEMOCRATIZE TECH
TO EVERY SECTORS THAT NEED IT
I DECIDED TO ADRESS CLIENTS,
COMPANIES & STUDENTS THAT HAVE 0
TECH & PRODUCT MATURITY
I’VE REALIZED THAT MY BIGGEST NEED
WAS NOT JUST TO SHIP SOLUTIONS, BUT
TO HAVE A REAL IMPACT ON MY USERS
I WANT TO SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS, TO
BUILD PRODUCT THAT MATTERS, THAT
ARE USEFUL AND USED

9. HOWEVER, I’VE
REALIZED THAT...
NO-CODE IS BOOMING SINCE A
FEW YEARS BUT, IS STILL SUFFERING FROM A
LACK OF CREDIBILITY,
INSTITUTIONALIZATION, &
PROFESSIONALIZATION
I SEE A LOT OF NO-CODE MAKERS
SHIPPING PROJECTS & FEATURES,
WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING WHY
WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT THE REAL USERS’
NEEDS, ABOUT SCALABILITY, VALUE &
CONSISTANCY OF WHAT THEY BUILD
I SEE A LOT OF PROJECTS THAT COST
TIME, ENERGY AND THAT AREN’T USED
AT ALL, OR ARE SINGLE-USE PRODUCTS

10. SO, HERE IS THE
OPPORTUNITY I SEE...
AS NO-CODE ENGINEERS,
IF OUR #1 GOAL EVERY DAY WOULD
BE TO ONBOARD OUR USERS,TO
UNDERSTAND THEIR NEEDS, TO SAVE
THEIR MONEY & TIME, AND BRING
THEM AS MUCH VALUE AS WE CAN
MAYBE NO-CODE WOULD BE MORE
PROFESSIONAL, MORE SERIOUS,
MORE SCALABLE & RELIABLE
MAYBE OUR PRODUCTS WOULD BE
REALLY EFFCICIENT,
QUALITATIVE, AND USED
(With minimal effort)

11. MY HYPOTHESIS...
WE NEED MORE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
IN NO-CODE ENGINEERING TO GET THERE

12. Why am I so attached to the
idea that we need more
Product Management to
professionalize No-Code
engineering ?

13. I’VE STARTED WORKING IN
DIGITAL AS A PRODUCT BUILDER
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Think product strategy, vision &
analyze users needs
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Build & monitor digital
products
NO-CODE
PRODUCTS
WHAT I UNDERSTOOD

14. NAVIGATE FAST FROM
CONCEPTION TO DEVELOPMENT
I’VE DISCOVERED THE POWER OF
NO-CODE TOOLS FOR TECH TEAMS
EASILY GO FROM IDEAS TO PRODUCT,
BUILD PRODUCTS FAST
SAVE TIME & MONEY,
OPTIMIZE EFFORTS

15. USE SPECIFIC METHODOLOGIES & CRITICAL ANALYSIS,
BE ORIENTED TOWARDS USERS & BUSINESS NEEDS / PAINPOINTS
I’VE DISCOVERED THE POWER OF PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT FOR TECH TEAMS
HELPS TO GET STRONG SUPPORT FROM USERS &
BUSINESS TEAMS,
CREATES STICKINESS & ADOPTION FOR PRODUCTS
SAVE TIME & MONEY,
OPTIMIZE EFFORTS

16. ME, DISCOVERING NO-CODE TOOLS
& PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TOGETHER
= THIS IS SO PASSIONATING & POWERFUL !

17. PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Think product strategy, vision &
analyze users needs
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Build & monitor digital
products
NO-CODE
PRODUCTS
ME, DISCOVERING THE REAL
WORLD OF PRODUCT AND NO-CODE

18. ME, GOING TO THE REAL WORLD
OF PRODUCT AND NO-CODE
= THIS IS SUCH A WASTE, THEY WERE MEANT TO BE !

19. Why is Product
Management necessary
to build impactful &
useful No-Code
products ?

20. LET’S GO BACK TO BASICS :
WHO DOES WHAT ?
DEVELOPERS
Code / Program / Integrate
Implement websites, webapps, apps, softwares...
Communicate with peers devs
Do research to find the right tools & solutions
Do functional testing
Write Documentation
Monitor the stack : debug & refinement
Are oriented to solve complex problems
Do tasks that requires high level of focus
IN CHARGE OF BUILDING & MAINTAINING PRODUCTS

21. PRODUCT MANAGERS
IN CHARGE OF STRATEGY
& OF CARRYING 360° PRODUCT VISION
Understand, analyze & translate user needs into features
Are oriented strategy, business & Product Market Fit
Are data driven (KPIs/OKRs, metrics)
Build vision & prioritize
Think Roadmap & iteration loops (test & learn)
Coordinate devs (& designers) teams
Are decision makers, accountable for the whole product
Communicate with stakeholders
LET’S GO BACK TO BASICS :
WHO DOES WHAT ?

22. DEVELOP
DISCOVER
DEFINE DELIVER
LET’S GO BACK TO BASICS :
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
©Insideproduct.co

23. ©The fountain institute
LET’S GO BACK TO BASICS :
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

24. LET’S GO BACK TO BASICS :
ADVANTAGES OF NO-CODE TECHNOLOGIES
NAVIGATE FAST FROM
CONCEPTION TO DEVELOPMENT
EASY TO GO FROM IDEAS TO PRODUCT,
BUILDING PRODUCTS FAST
TIME & MONEY SAVED,
EFFORTS OPTIMIZED

25. TIME & MONEY SAVED,
EFFORTS OPTIMIZED
Does not mean building
useless products
Does not mean creating 10
times more technical debt
Does not mean working
without methodology
NO-CODE ≠ NO EXPERTISE
≠ NO SKILLS
≠ NO DESIGN, NO CONCEPTION
≠ NO QUALITY
≠ “QUICK & DIRTY”
Does not mean 0 technical
documentation

26. DEVELOP
DISCOVER
DEFINE DELIVER
THIS DOES NOT WORK*
*If you want to build useful & impactful products
SHIPING FEATURES
≠ BUILDING PRODUCTS

27. ©The fountain institute
THIS DOES NOT WORK*
*If you want to build useful & impactful products

28. IN MY OPINION
PRODUCTS WE BUILD
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO
BUILD EFFICIENT PRODUCTS
Define for who, why, how ?
Development is a means, but not an end of itself

29. I DON’T BELIEVE THE IDEA THAT A PRODUCT BUILDER
COULD REPLACE A PRODUCT MANAGER, A
DESIGNER, AND A DEVELOPER
Especially for complex products
You cannot replace 3 brains by 1, neither 3 sets of skills by 1
NO-CODE ≠ MAGIC
NO-CODE ISN’T THAT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN
TRADITIONAL ENGINEERING
You need the same resources, almost the same methods
You can save some time during product’s delivery phase, but not
by skipping product’s ideation phase

30. What are the benefits of
including more Product
Management in your No-
Code projects ?

31. Facilitates
communication, takes
decisions & ownership
With client, stakeholders... PMs
speak both dev & client language
Users’ needs are
understood, which grows
efficiency
PMs know about a lot of use cases
because they talk with a lot of
different users
Anticipates technical
complexity
Simplifies developer’s job
ALLOWS DEVELOPERS TO FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS !
Upgrade technical
documentation & data
tracking
For a better transmission and
impact measure
What we ship is really used
Because PMs do some research, make
assumptions, test them, adapt and iterate

32. FOR MOST OF MY NO-CODE
PROJECTS :
60% PRODUCT
MANAGER
30% DEVELOPER
10% UX/UI DESIGNER
= HAPPY CLIENTS, LONG TERMS COLLABORATIONS, SCALABLE PRODUCTS
(& NOT ONLY MVPS & POCS !)

33. Time to
conclude

34. TO BUILD QUALITY
PRODUCTS, YOU NEED TO :
SHOW EMPATHY TO YOUR USERS
UNDERSTAND THEIR REAL NEEDS
ANALYZE & SUMMARIZE THEM
PRIORITIZE THEM, ESTABLISH A ROADMAP,
THINK ABOUT MVPS FIRST
TRANSLATE THEM INTO FEATURES
COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CLIENTS, USERS
& STAKEHOLDERS
MAKE YOUR PRODUCT WORK !
(This is a full time job, that requires specific skills & methodology)

35. Thanks for
listening !
I wish you a great day, & a lot of collabs with PMs 🚀
7th December 2023