Why waste three weeks designing a POC when you can create a functional prototype in three days using no-code/low-code? At a time when companies are speeding up their innovation cycles, mastering these new tools is a decisive advantage. Discover how to design ultra-fast MVPs using powerful platforms such as Power Apps or Mendix, and considerably reduce prototyping time... without sacrificing quality.
It's a classic scene from a scoping meeting: a new business need emerges, complex and uncertain, and a prototype has to be made. The Lead Dev estimates that the Proof of Concept (POC) will take three weeks of intensive development, not including the infrastructure. Three weeks simply to check that «it can work», before throwing everything away and starting again from a clean slate.
And yet, next door, a Product Manager is unveiling a functional interface, connected to the test database, produced in 48 hours on a low-code/no-code platform.
It's a scathing observation: why bother coding what's going to be destroyed, when you can prototype what's going to be kept? Low-code/no-code is no longer just a tool for the «old and the new".« citizen developers». He is redefining the boundary between technical validation and production launch.
«Low-code has gone beyond its original role as an ideas laboratory. It is now a robust response that is perfectly suited to enterprise applications that demand performance, volume and compliance.
Low-code brings a new-found agility and redefines the ability to adapt to market changes.»
From disposable POC to evolving prototype
Traditionally, POC is a laboratory experiment. You code with your feet (deliberately), bypass security and ignore the UI. The sole objective: to prove feasibility.
Low-code/no-code changes the game by offering a visual approach (WYSIWYG) centred on the UI, workflows and integrations.
The paradigm shift :
- Iteration speed : Where a full-stack dev has to juggle CSS, business logic and API plumbing, low-code/no-code lets you concentrate on workflow and user feedback.
- Implication of the profession : the classic POC is a black box for non-techies. The low-code/no-code prototype is visual, allowing the functional requirements to be adjusted in real time.
- Reusability : Unlike a POC that is thrown away, many low-code bricks can be integrated directly into the final product or used as a basis for the future MVP.
The toolbox: choosing low-code/no-code tools to suit your needs
For an IT specialist, no-code/low-code is not a single solution, but an ecosystem of specialised tools.
Here are the essentials:
| Category | Key tools | Ideal use |
|---|---|---|
| Internal tools | Retool, Appsmith, Microsoft Power Apps | Create an admin dashboard or stock management tool on your own databases. |
| Web & mobile | Bubble, WeWeb, FlutterFlow | Validate a complex UX, test a purchase tunnel or a native mobile application. |
| Automation | Make, n8n, Power Automate | Connect SaaS services together, orchestrate workflows and deploy AI/action agents when there is no API of its own. |
| Database | Airtable, Supabase, Xano | Prototype fast: a scalable back-end with automatically generated REST APIs. |
| Enterprise low-code platforms | Mendix, OutSystems, ServiceNow App Engine | Business applications in production, multi-team, with high security/audit/SSO and IS integration requirements. |
Testimonials
«For a new credit scoring function, we were hesitating about the algorithm and the interface. Instead of mobilising two developers for a month for a POC, we used Retool connected to a Python script. In a week, we tested the tool and validated the workflow with the business analysts. We only recoded the hard-coded calculation engine. The time saved was colossal, because we avoided coding three versions of interfaces that would have ended up in the bin.»
«I used to draw up diagrams. Now I prototype on FlutterFlow. What blows customers (and the devs who take over the project) away is that the API calls are already there. (and the devs who take over the project) is that the API calls are already there.»
Case in point: legacy is no longer an excuse
Imagine you had to prove that it was possible to add a layer of generative AI to an old ERP that only spoke in dusty SQL.
- Option A (Classic POC) : create an intermediate server, manage authentication, parse SQL, connect an LLM via an API, create a React interface... Estimated time: 15 days.
- Option B (low-code/no-code) : use n8n to query the DB, pass the data to an LLM module, and display the result in an integrated iframe Bubble component. Estimated time: 2 days.
In option B, not only have you proved the technical feasibility, but you've also enabled users to test the relevance of the AI's responses immediately.
Does this mean we should bury the «full code» POC?
Let's be honest: no. There are areas where pure code is still king:
- Extreme performance : if your POC has to prove that a function can process 10,000 requests/second with a latency of < 10 ms.
- Complex algorithms : to validate a new compression or encryption model.
- Hardware/IoT : as soon as you touch the drivers or very specific low-level protocols.
- Regulatory constraints / advanced safety These include strong traceability, network segmentation, specific requirements and regulatory constraints.
- Critical business rules : critical logic (underwriting, scoring, compliance, impact decisions) requiring exhaustive testing, total traceability and often an end-to-end controlled implementation.
- Volumetry + cost to scale when the licence, premium connectors or price per user or flow become too high
Expert advice: don't see low-code/no-code as an enemy of code, but as a decision filter. If you can invalidate an idea in 2 days of low-code, you've just saved 18 days of «real» code on a bad idea. And if the idea is validated, you know exactly what to recode cleanly. The hybrid approach is the key: use no-code/low-code to test usage (UX/UI) and full code to validate the core technology.
The IT specialist becomes a solutions architect
Low-code/no-code doesn't kill the POC, it transforms it. The modern IT specialist needs to know when to use his IDE and when to use his drag & drop tool. This agility means that the technical side can be put back at the service of business value, rather than wasting time on repetitive plumbing.
The real danger for a project is no longer technical failure, but failure of relevance. And when it comes to testing relevance, nothing beats the speed of no-code/low-code.
