Citizen Developers at Work: Roles, Activities, and Interfaces in Low-Code/No-Code Development

Abstract

Citizen Development (CDev) refers to a low-code/no-code (LCNC) paradigm, where non-IT employees develop digital solutions using low-code or no-code tools. In this approach, employees without formal IT education develop solutions within their application domain and outside the traditional structures of IT departments. While CDev is often contrasted with software development conducted by IT professionals, it remains unclear to what extent citizen developers (CD) follow similar development practices. To investigate this, we conducted an empirical study involving 21 LCNC developers, including 17 CDs and four IT professionals from 14 different companies. We analyzed the actual development practices and derived roles, their activities, and interfaces. The study contributes to a differentiated role concept for CDev and highlights the future opportunities for the condensation of best practices in the CDev process. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of CDev practices and provide a basis for formalizing and optimizing LCNC processes.