Citizen Development and Low-Code Development

Businesses are constantly seeking ways to streamline their processes, increase efficiency, and improve customer experiences. One such trend that has gained significant traction in recent years is citizen development using low-code and no-code tools.

What is Citizen Development?

Citizen development refers to the process of building applications, software, and tools using low-code and no-code platforms by non-technical or non-IT professional users. These platforms offer an intuitive and user-friendly interface that allows anyone, regardless of their technical expertise, to create custom applications and automate workflows. Low-code platforms use pre-programmed drag-and-drop components to build applications, and require minimal coding knowledge, while no-code platforms require no coding at all. 

Citizen development using low-code and no-code tools has several benefits. Firstly, it allows organizations to create custom applications quickly and efficiently, which saves time and resources. It also enables business users to take control of their processes, making them more agile and responsive to changing business needs. Moreover, citizen development encourages collaboration and creativity, as it allows users from different departments to work together to create solutions that benefit the entire organization.

Practical challenges include that organizations need to ensure that citizen-developed applications comply with security and compliance standards, as well as integrate seamlessly with existing systems. Moreover, businesses need to have a governance model in place to manage citizen-developed applications and ensure their longevity.Citizen development also requires the correct training for developers. This means an up-front cost to companies.

Despite these challenges, citizen development is a positive trend. It offers businesses and organizations the opportunity to innovate and improve their processes, without having to rely solely on IT departments or external developers. As such, it is an exciting development that is worth exploring further.

Which projects are most suitable for citizen development?

• Applications which are adjacent to core applications and processes. Core applications may exist in current software tools. However adjacent processes may be necessary to enable data input or modification/organisation of output data from core applications. This may cause significant human resource and time load on organisations. In-house development of applications may have significant benefits here.

• Look for systems that are already running well but are bottlenecked by one or two processes. Don't automate a mess, you will only create an automated mess. Add software automation to processes already well refined. If they are not well refined and running smoothly (albeit slowly) then evaluate and fix them before you automate them.

How to know if citizen development is right for your organisation.

While citizen development can offer several benefits to an organization, it may not be the right fit for every company. Here are some factors to consider when determining whether citizen development is right for your organization.

• The first factor is organization size. Citizen development works best in smaller organizations with fewer bureaucratic layers. Large organizations may have complex hierarchies, which may make it difficult to ensure that citizen developers follow standard procedures and guidelines. Additionally, large organizations may have more extensive and complex IT infrastructures, which may require the involvement of IT professionals. 

• The second factor is the complexity of the application needed. While citizen development platforms are becoming more sophisticated, some applications may require a high level of technical expertise to develop. Therefore, organizations with complex applications may still need the involvement of IT professionals.

• The third factor to consider is the level of customization required. Citizen development platforms provide a wide range of pre-built templates and workflows that can be customized to meet an organization's needs. However, some organizations may require highly customized applications that cannot be achieved with pre-built templates. In such cases, IT professionals may need to be involved in developing the application.

• A fourth important factor to consider is the level of security required. Citizen development platforms may not have the same level of security features that pre-made software can provide.

How to begin using citizen development?

• Start small. Begin with simple tools with low failure risk. Spend minimal time and money and learn in an incremental manner.

• Beware red tape. Avoid the urge to create policies too early. See what works on a small scale and then step into creating policies to govern bigger development projects.

• Embrace digital problem solving. You don't always need to create complex software products. You can often make progress simply by finding ways to do manual tasks digitally. Reduce paper based processes using simple existing tools. Search for solutions which are often already in existence and often offer free membership tiers.

• Find pain points. Check which manual work tasks are slowing down work in your team. Return on investment is high here.

• Use pre-built components as often as possible. Early in the learning process, use pre-built tools proven to work. Expand upon them where necessary. A little bit of extra work makes all the difference.

• Release tools often and have them tested by staff to get feedback and improvements faster. It is better to get rapid feedback and shorten the improvement cycle than to develop tools for months or years before finding that it does not meet your needs or work as expected.

• Don’t be scared to ask for help. Citizen development is designed to reduce the need to use highly skilled IT professionals, however this does not mean that you cannot use them. Rather than linger over an impasse, bring in professionals when needed to overcome these issues as well as train non-specialist staff more quickly.

Ways to measure the success of citizen development projects.

• Increase in automation. Measure how many processes are automated versus before interventions.

• Visibility and accountability. Check the improvement in accountability and the ownership of tasks amongst team members. Tools should improve task ownership and consequently motivation to complete.

• Reduction in silos. Development projects should reduce the silo effect and allow teams and individuals to collaborate more. Look for these improvements.

• Adoption rate. Success can be measured by the number of users who adopt the solution. Significant embracing of the applications and regular use is a sign of successful citizen development.

• User satisfaction. Measuring user satisfaction is crucial to understanding whether a citizen development solution meets the needs of its intended audience. User satisfaction surveys can be used to collect feedback and gauge user opinions.

• Cost savings: Measuring the cost savings associated with citizen development compared to traditional development methods can provide a clear indication of its success.

• Business impact. The ultimate measure of the success of citizen development is its impact on the business. Measuring the extent to which the application contributes to business objectives can help demonstrate its value.

In conclusion, citizen development can be an effective tool for organizations looking to streamline their application development processes. However, it is not the right fit for every organization. Factors such as the size of the organization, the complexity of the application needed, the level of customization required, and the level of security required should be considered when determining whether citizen development is right for an organization.