Lessons Learned in App Development: by a Citizen Developer

In 2017, I made my first app for Asia & MEA team, it was to reward and engage employees who were committed to taking care of themselves and their health. It was rudimentary, but functional, containing no automation other than an integration with SharePoint and that they can access it on their mobile phones.

Today, I just finished my 2nd app. And while I can't share specific details, what I can share are the lessons I've learned and a general description of it. I've been obsessing over this for the past 3-4 months. From the automations included, the database integrations, security features, user experience and interface to the user training documentation and process maps. Its actual utility mattered to me, and its functionality is 10 times better than the first prototype because it innovates how we in Manila will be able to manage partner relationships at scale by digitally connecting theoretical strands of what we know about customer experience in order to strengthen its effect.

So, put simply the relationship management app fulfills 4 key roles for the users:

1. Allows them to have a broad understanding of their present engagement
2. Enable leaders to have an analytics-driven tool they can interface with using data they themselves provide in order to increase the quality and intentionality of their engagements
3. Knowledge management and use case sharing
4. Platform-wide Data management & governance of engagement records (they all used to be in excel)

To do this, I've had to learn and apply the following:

• SharePoint: lists, web parts, document types and security features
• Intermediate Power Automate (use of variables that enable me to fetch the info from whatever the user inputs into the app as either components of an action or triggers of it and creating cloud-based flows)
• Intermediate PowerApps (galleries, lists, tiles, deep linking, actions and application of Powerapp codes)
• Basic User Interface & User Experience
• Data management & how you can automate the records retention rules as logic using power automate flows

To do better, I will likely need to learn how to get better at:

• Json so I can create custom controllers that will allow me to add more content from out of the shelf controls and items into the app.
• Model-driven app components
• QA and performance testing (I did have to ask a developer to test out app#2)

I have outlined 2 more phases for the app's enhancements, requiring me to learn a host of different skills. I can now credibly share what I learned to my team because my ability to teach this back to them is increased by the learnings I had from just actually doing this app myself. I'm hoping that they can achieve the same sense of fulfillment with future projects.

Sure, one can argue that I could have easily assigned this to a developer and we would have had perhaps better results or the same after a few more months of time. Another idea is to have bought an app that's similar or better than the one I just finished. However, I like the idea of leveraging what resources we have on hand given the current set of constraints. Internally, I also needed to flesh out the system I had in my mind.

Moving an idea to reality and achieving the utility required to match the quality I needed to have built in were sources of motivation themselves. The combined knowledge of management practices, learning agility, data management, automation, logic, code and human-centered design are powerful when combined with business utility. It's an empowering realization for someone who's in the middle of the operations.

However happy, I'm now hearing that nagging voice at the back of my head which whispers...which one do I tackle next?