The 4 Most Common Low-Code Challenges

To get the full power of low-code, you can’t just replace Java with a low-code platform and run everything the same way you always have. Discover some of the most common challenges in low-code application development, and how you can combat them with a modern low-code approach.

The development team is too big and too specialized.

Traditional application development teams are large, specialized, and full of intricate inter- and intra-dependencies. Low-code teams, on the other hand, are designed to be nimble, collaborative, and egalitarian. Everyone on the team develops features. And every developer should have at least one additional specialty area—UX design, testing, architecture, etc. 

Not digging deep enough into the problem.

Traditional development approaches rely on business analysts who act as translators between business users and technology teams. The two domains are siloed from each other, which means the people experiencing the problem are separated from the developers who are most equipped to solve it. Instead of programmers with a decade of Java experience, low-code teams look for developers who are more interested in solving problems than writing code. 

Slow, scarce, and distorted feedback.

With traditional development practices, feedback loops are like a ferry traveling between two shores. Business users are on one side, and the developers building the application are on the other. Low-code builds a bridge between developers and business users. It makes collaboration easy and encourages clear and frequent input. This helps the end users test assumptions along the way, validating and influencing the application as it takes shape before their eyes.

Only measuring success at go-live.

Deployment is a meaningful milestone. But if your application isn’t used or if users are unhappy, it will never deliver value. To ensure success, continue focusing on your end users throughout the development life cycle. Identify a few key stakeholders who are well respected among the user group, and involve them as often and as early as possible to continue to build goodwill.  

What's the Solution?

Low-code helps you build applications fast and right the first time. Adopting a few agile best practices can transform long timelines and “just okay” applications into rapid development that delivers outsized results. 

Appian helps organizations build applications and workflows rapidly, with a low-code automation platform. Combining people, technologies, and data in a single workflow. Our experts guide your team to take advantage of the latest capabilities, reduce deployment risk, maximize end-user adoption, and manage change.