Three things we loved in 2020

1. The rise of no-code movement

Before the 2020 started the pace of digitalising everyday life had already been significant. The demand for technical talent far outpaced the supply. The 2020 accelerated that process even more! That is why no-code approach turned out to be one of the hottest topics last year. No-code ushers in the next wave of software innovation by democratising technical skill set.

Thousands of people realised that they were able to build digital apps by themselves, using fresh visual development platforms. They became the new Makers, the no-code generation. This profound shift has the power to touch every software market and every user.

The No-Code Generation has the potential to finally fill that missing productivity gap in the global economy, making our lives better, while saving time for everyone. (source: TechCrunch)

So, we are about to enter a new software era. The Directual team is happy that we had managed to develop such a powerful platform by the moment when the rise of no-code started. The platform perfectly fills the niche of sophisticated app development, where the scalability and flexibility appear to be the key features.

2. Cloud release and new features of Directual platform

2020 was the year when the public Directual cloud was released. Anyone could sign up and use all the essential platform features for free, forever! We do believe that any profound change, any significant innovation is to be grown from the end users. That is why we pivoted from an agency-like startup to a pure SaaS business. First and foremost the new makers should get to know the technology, for free, and then adopt it in their hustles or in the companies they work for.

Thousands of new users provided us with the priceless feedback, analysing which, Directual engineering team introduced plenty of new features. Those updates included such solid one as open-source front-end project Directual Design and the Web-page builder. Thus, Directual was moving from the backend-focused low-code platform towards the full-stack no-code platform. The templates library was also introduced. That library is going to be the basis for launching new apps in no time! The UI/UX of the platform was continuously improved, the new scenario steps were added (for example, the JSON-step).

3. Multinational Directual community

The rise of no-code movement is closely connected with the development of communities (for example, NoCodeDevs or Zerocoder). Makers share their cases and tutorials, assist each other to pick the right tools. The value of it cannot be overestimated! Our team is growing the community of Directual users as well. There are people from more than 30 countries who develop on the platform. Some of them launch their side hustles on Directual, some of them automate and optimise business processes. Any of them is welcome to ask questions or to share ideas, we are here to help!

At the end of 2020 Zerocoder, the largest no-code community in Russia, introduced a comprehensive educational course for Russian-speaking makers. Over 30 people in the first batch became Directual-experts just in 3 weeks! More to come in 2021.

Plans for 2021

We are excited by the 2020 results and are going to work even harder to meet out users’ needs! These are some of the features to release this year:

• New components for web-page builder: table, comments, kanban board, chat, timeline and a calendar;
• New scenario steps and update of existing ones;
• New app lifecycle management tools for smooth CI/CD processes;
• Third-party plug-ins for the platform;
• And more, depending on the feedback.
  

New templates are coming, and in addition, the template library is going to be transformed into the public app marketplace!

Developing the Directual community will remain our focus. Visit the community forum, join telegram-chats or just email us to feedback@directual.com. Stay tuned! 2021 should be amazing!