In today’s marketplace, where uncertainty, change and disruption can happen at any time, staying curious and approaching new challenges with an open and creative mind is critical for success.

In the digital workplace, ideas are bountiful. Turing ideas into reality takes a degree of experimentation, collaboration, and shared learning to show tangible outcomes and ultimately simplify the user experience.

For Onno Bos, senior project manager and solution architect for a large global pharmaceutical company, entrepreneur, SAP AppGyver expert, co-founder of the Health Hack Lab, and creator of the CURIOSITY LAB, he has a passion for sharing his curiosity about new technologies.

Stephanie De Camara Marley (SM): In your many roles throughout your career journey, what type of customers and projects excite you?

Onno Bos (OB): I’m a self-taught programmer and entrepreneur who loves learning about new technology topics and helping other people with digital questions. I live and work in the beautiful country of Switzerland.

What excites me are outcomes which are a result of teamwork, problem solving, and projects which exceed expectations. As a senior project manager and lead solution architect, I enjoy adding value from the initial concept to go-live, scale up, and operationalization.

I’m a big fan of the Scrum methodology (Certified Master) to help facilitate teams in solving complex problems and removing any obstacles.

Also, I’ve had a fun time exploring augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to take in information and content visually as well as bridge the virtual and real-world.

SM: What do you do in your free time (i.e., hobbies, volunteering) that relates to the world of tinkering with technology and real-life challenges?

OB: Thanks for asking! I’m passionate about a non-profit I co-founded, Health Hacking Lab, for patients, caregivers, and innovators to co-create solutions that address everyday health challenges. The team of scientists, technical specialists, doctors, company owners, and psychologists enjoys meeting in person to join together and help others improve their lives step by step.

The team has provided early development and concept designs for a range of projects including: helping people affected by Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) to collect data; wearables for T1 Diabetic children; and an App for pediatric incontinence.

We use AppGyver and other Open Source Apps to build Minimum Viability Products (MVPs) to help people visualize their ideas.

SM: For citizen developers (non-IT) and professional programmers who want to visualize their ideas, what’s your advice for them to get started using low-code no-code (LCNC) tools?

OB: If you have an idea and don’t have access to resources that help you realize your vision, just try it in AppGyver. The community edition is free. Translate your dream into something extraordinary. You can build an idea in the form of an app in no time. It is now as simple as creating a PowerPoint.

SM: How do you suggest approaching a LCNC project?

OB: I would first suggest creating the idea on paper with all the screen flows you have in mind. This will help you visualize your concept and quickly iterate your vision to see what works and what doesn’t.

Next, create screens you have drawn on paper into AppGyver as static screens (no complex coding required) and link them together. This will help you feel the application flow and get honest feedback from your future customers (try to stay away from friends and family).

The last step is to enhance your application with features like storing data or uploading pictures and make it available in an app store.

SM: If someone is new to LCNC, what is your suggestion to them?

OB: Check out my channel and the documentation from AppGyver (see Useful Links below), create a user account, and start building your first app. By getting introduced to the concepts, a user can learn how the components work together.

Overall, AppGyver is easy for people to understand. With the LCNC approach, you can drag and drop and make connections in a very straightforward way. It’s the next step up from programming, in that it’s easy to use, and you can see results quicker because you can directly see all the changes.

SM: What is your message to citizen developers and professional developers who are interested in taking advantage of a visual programming environment without writing code?

OB: You can realize your dream for almost zero cost. Amazingly, low-code no-code tools like AppGyver are affordable to nearly every person in today’s world.

This makes AppGyver accessible to many people worldwide who don’t have the resources but have an incredible (maybe world-changing) idea to create a better world for themselves.