Why do we need more and more 'Citizen Developers'?

We all work in organisations and face issues on a daily basis.

• For a teacher, maybe keeping track of attendance while taking online classes.
• For a publisher of a media company, probably monitoring the inflow and outflow of articles.
• For a business-person, perhaps supervising the purchase and delivery of orders.
• As an event manager, keeping up with the function calendar for a client.

These are issues of daily importance and they have nothing to do with your actual professional aspect. While they maybe are secondary issues, if left unattended can disrupt the smooth functioning of the firm.

Here is when IT can be of huge benefit to solve these complications with simple apps. A usual process will be approaching an application developer with your topics of inconvenience and they will provide you with a software app to resolve all points.

But let’s face it, going to a software company may be the first and easier solution. Yet it is time-consuming and even the finished app might not be completely efficient in its holistic approach to your problem.

This is the perfect signal to take matters into your own hands. We’re not ignoring the fact that you are a manager, teacher or content producer and not a technical genius. Well, you don’t have to be. Learn how!

What is a Citizen Developer?

A citizen developer is a person who creates IT applications without having formal training or a degree in software development. The word ‘citizen’ refers to ‘common people’ who are not professional developers. Similar to a developer, the key trait of a citizen developer is they create software packaged for enterprise businesses.

Companies don’t care about the degree as long as they are getting creative and good quality products, as in this case apps.

About 86% of IT decision-makers say, the biggest challenge to digitally transform their business is too few software developers. You might wonder that a developer is an IT person that, they know programming languages as well as coding.

But as an ‘ordinary’ person with no idea of coding and algorithms, how will you be able to create an app?

The answer is as simple as, you don’t need to know coding at all for building apps. Are you surprised because the above statement goes in the contradictory flow of common belief?

No-code is here for your rescue! Join the citizen developers who produce about 5–10% of application used in production.

Also Read : How no code is changing the coding world?

Importance and need of citizen developers:

We are listing down the importance and use of citizen developers in an establishment. It could be a basic administrative need or replacing average IT projects. It might not need hard-core software skills but curiosity and persistence to create a solution.

Pressure off IT

Customizing an app according to the exact need of a person is difficult as well as time-consuming. Results from a software company can take anywhere from 3 months to more than a year depending on your needs. Citizen developers can provide assistance here. Most of the citizen developers work alone or in coordination with IT companies.

Cost friendly

Businesses won’t need to employ quite so many expensive developers with the knowledge and expertise of building extensive enterprise programs. As they have the professional tag to them, they will demand a high price for their work. Although. Citizen developers will not eliminate developers; they can be very useful for small projects.

More practical approach

Sometimes explaining to a developer what kind of app is needed can be confusing or not clear. This may lead to the creation of an application that is not efficient. Citizen developers are usually the employees who are facing the problems first-hand. They can judge exactly the kind of app that will aid their problems.

Breaks Shadow IT

Shadow IT refers to information technology projects that are managed outside of, and without the knowledge of, the IT department. Shadow IT is looked down upon as it might be a threat to the security of the organization. It is believed that citizen developers are also a by-product of Shadow IT. But citizen developers are safe as they usually work in coordination with IT.

Customer-friendly

It is estimated that 65 percent of citizen developer apps are designed to help users get work done, 42 percent help the business run more efficiently, and 27 percent are created with the customer in mind. The people who deliver to the customer are closest to them and can understand the needs of the client the best. They can add personalized features to suit the corporation.

Testing is easier and faster

The speed of building an app using the drag and drop format is comparatively faster than building an app from scratch. Advances in machine learning and cloud computing mean that low code tools can be used for many more applications that support business processes than

they could in the past.

It is predicted by 2024; about 64% of apps will be built through low or no code medium.

Hence a citizen developer can build and test their application quickly and the app can be used publically just as soon.

Qualities of a Citizen Developer

There no qualifications needed to be a citizen developer. If you consider yourself a solution-oriented person then citizen development can be your preference. You need to be a firm believer of there’s no age bar for learning. Learning new skills such as no code development platforms can be of huge help.

If you want to be independent of relying on software companies for your application, you must encourage citizen developers. It is recorded that 63% of citizen developers find solutions without engaging with IT for help.

Citizen development is a skill that anyone can master with practice. You don’t need to be born with extra ordinary talent to be one. As the world is progressing there is a need for applications more than ever.

If a layperson without engineering or software certificates can be trusted in digitalization, it will be the biggest boon for the future.

Also Read : How to start a tech company without knowing code

Conclusion

Everyone’s talking about digital transformation. That’s why we should expect the term “citizen developer” to become the latest buzzword on the street. With COVID-19 shaping the workplace in unprecedented manners, there is an increased need to create applications quickly. The pandemic has made the world go online. With the increase in dependency on online platforms for pretty much everything, from learning to shopping to working, the need for software and application makers has increased four-folds.

That’s where the power of citizen development comes in — with no-code/low-code platforms, anyone can build applications without software expertise, significantly faster, and at a fraction of the cost. Corporate technology leaders have realized the efficiency that citizen developers can offer.

Back in 2012, Gartner analysts declared, “We’re all developers now”, in a reference to the nascent citizen developer movement.

When someone witnesses simple spreadsheets convert to powerful apps, more people will want to make apps. There is a growing need for more application designers in these modern times. Empowering citizen developers in your business is a key part of true digital business transformation.