People who are not professional developers can use EUD tools to create or modify software artifacts (descriptions of automated behavior) and complex data objects without significant knowledge of a programming language.
[1] Various EUD approaches exist, and it is an active research topic within the field of computer science and human-computer interaction.
In this case previous approaches for desktop applications cannot be simply reproposed, given the specific characteristics of mobile devices.
Desktop EUD environments lack the advantages of enabling end users to create applications opportunistically while on the move.
[16] Other artifacts of end-user development may also refer to the creation of user-generated content such as annotations, which may be or not computationally interpretable (i.e. can be processed by associated automated functions).
Because there is always some effort to learn an EUD tool, the users' motivation depends on their confidence that it will empower their work, save time on the job or raise productivity.
Warren Harrison, a professor of computer science at Portland State University, wrote:[32] It’s simply unfathomable that we could expect security... from the vast majority of software applications out there when they’re written with little, if any, knowledge of generally accepted good practices such as specifying before coding, systematic testing, and so on.... How many X for Complete Idiots (where "X" is your favorite programming language) books are out there?
I was initially amused by this trend, but recently I’ve become uneasy thinking about where these dabblers are applying their newfound knowledge.This viewpoint assumes that all end users are equally naive when it comes to understanding software, although Pliskin and Shoval argue this is not the case, that sophisticated end users are capable of end-user development.
Thus, users will define the functions required before these experts have a chance to consider the limitations of a specific application or software framework.
Senior management support for such end-user initiatives depends on their attitude to existing or potential vendor lock-in.