They are constant companions through our everyday lives – the many different apps on our mobile phones.
It is almost impossible to imagine everyday life without apps. But how do they work and what does it take to develop an app? As an apprentice in the field of marketing and without any technical experience in programming apps, I was allowed to take part in the apprentice hackathon of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce to find out how to build your own mobile app without programming. With this blog article I would like to share my experience with you.
Onboarding: Preparations are in full swing
A week before the hackathon, there was an onboarding webinar where we were divided into teams and our team leader explained the process of the event and the programs. Every Team was put in one of three categories: Rookies, Professionals and Experts. Most teams had two or three apprentices from the same company. As I was the only one from Anexia who participated, I was put in a “professional team” with two other colleagues, Sebastian and Malina, from two different companies. I was nervous at first because I had no experience in app development or programming and didn’t know my two teammates. The nervousness quickly dissipated because we hit it off right away and one of us also had a bit of experience in this field. We quickly agreed that two of us would do the design and the third would do the programming. For the development of the app, we were provided with the no-code development platform “Thunkable”. It makes app development without programming possible. After the webinar we were ready for the competition.
Bestando: The inventory management app
On the day of competition, we first had an online meeting with our coach, who instructed us about the course of the event. Then we started developing the app all by ourselves. We thought about what kind of app would be beneficial for our companies and quickly agreed that each of our companies could use stock app that provides an overview of the warehouse and, if necessary, could also be very helpful during an inventory.
Sebastian, who already had some programming knowledge, took over the development of the app and explained to us that the use of Thunkable is very simple. Thunkable is a no-code platform where you can put different elements (e.g., buttons or an input field) together on the screen, like a puzzle. Malina and I thought about the general concept of the app: which functions and which buttons we needed, as well as which colors, we wanted to use. Sebastian implemented the concept using Thunkable.
In the end, a working prototype of the “Bestando” warehouse management app was created and we were very proud of the result.
Fun turns into success
The award ceremony took place two weeks after the hackathon at WIFI Klagenfurt. My Team and I took part in this competition mainly to learn but also to have as much fun as possible during this event. When we arrived at the reception, we were first allowed to watch a show by the “Urban Playground” before the actual award ceremony took place.
I will never forget the moment when we won first place in the “Professionals” category and were invited to the finale. The stage fright was huge when we went on stage to collect our prizes. We were even asked for a short interview, which was shown on TV afterwards. We were excited and felt like little “developer-stars” that had their moment of fame. I also remember the pride on the face of my apprentice trainer Lucia. It motivated me to participate again this year with my team, aiming to stay in first place.
You see, really everyone who would like to get a taste of the app development world, can do so. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the least bit about programming, because you do not need to for getting started. No matter if you’re a marketing apprentice or a kitchen chef, dare to take the step!