What is Citizen Development? | Concepts, Skills, and Benefits
Original article: https://cli.im/article/detail/2068
Note: The term "Citizen Development" was introduced by consulting firm Gartner in 2010. It refers to non-professional developers using low-code or no-code platforms to create applications without relying on IT departments, aiming to enhance productivity and reduce development costs.
While commonly translated as "公民开发" in Chinese, CaoLiao QR Code Platform interprets "Citizen Development" not merely as a technology but as a collaborative workflow and standardized practice. We advocate translating it as "全民开发" (literally "whole-population development"), emphasizing that anyone with domain expertise can become a developer.
Below is an adapted article from Kissflow, an online workflow automation tool, translated by CaoLiao QR Code Platform.
In today's rapidly changing business environment, enterprises must continually reassess and adjust their strategies. As digital transformation accelerates, internal IT teams face mounting pressure to address escalating demands. Citizen Development emerges as an effective solution to alleviate IT backlogs.
An increasing number of global enterprises are adopting Citizen Development practices. By enabling business-savvy employees to independently build necessary applications, organizations achieve higher operational efficiency and reduced costs without requiring specialized IT teams.
This approach accelerates application development timelines and lowers investment costs, redefining enterprise productivity: applications that previously took months or years to develop can now be created by non-IT staff in days using low-code/no-code platforms.
What is Citizen Development?
Citizen Development is defined as a business process where untrained non-IT personnel utilize no-code platforms to build applications, effectively becoming in-house developers.
Unlike shadow IT, these developers are not IT professionals. They may work in operations, finance, HR, customer service, or other roles. By identifying digital solutions to workflow challenges, they create targeted applications that reduce IT department burdens.
What Do Citizen Developers Do?
Supported by IT departments, Citizen Developers use low-code/no-code tools to build business applications for themselves and colleagues. Their deep understanding of organizational processes, combined with digital literacy, allows them to construct applications with minimal coding knowledge.
Unlike traditional programmers relying on code, Citizen Developers leverage graphical interfaces to create applications without writing code. This no-code approach democratizes development, enabling broader participation and enhancing organizational efficiency.
Why Do Enterprises Need Citizen Development?
In most organizations, IT departments struggle to keep pace with escalating demands. Citizen Development helps distribute these requests across the business.
According to reports from Gartner, Dimensional Research, and Forrester, Citizen Developers have become critical contributors to daily productivity and process optimization, delivering results at a fraction of traditional costs and timelines.
- 71% of business leaders report unaddressed IT solution requests
- Low-code/no-code tools can increase development efficiency by 50-90%
- 41% of respondents endorse Citizen Development practices, with 20% planning implementations
- By 2023, Citizen Developers will outnumber professional developers 4:1
Required Skills for Citizen Developers
Successful Citizen Developers require four core competencies:
Comprehensive Process Understanding
Deep familiarity with existing workflow bottlenecks enables accurate problem diagnosis and effective application design.Digital Tool Proficiency
Mastery of digital tools for process analysis, documentation, and no-code deployment is essential from problem identification to resolution.Cross-Department Collaboration
Acting as liaisons between departments, Citizen Developers must foster seamless cooperation to achieve efficiency goals.Self-Driven Learning Mindset
As digital transformation accelerates, proactive adoption of no-code skills becomes imperative for continuous improvement.
Key Benefits of Citizen Development
Innovation & Efficiency
The exponential growth of applications demands rapid market adaptation. Citizen Development delivers unparalleled agility in meeting evolving needs.
Speed
Reducing development timelines, Citizen Developers who intimately understand user requirements can iteratively refine solutions for optimal experiences.
Reduced Shadow IT Risks
Empowering non-IT staff with approved development tools transforms traditional workflows while maintaining governance and boosting productivity.
Cost Effectiveness
As the future of application development, Citizen Development's code-free approach with active business-user participation proves more economical than outsourcing.
Closing Remarks
Like Kissflow, CaoLiao QR Code Platform embraces the Citizen Development paradigm.
We modularize features and services, enabling users to flexibly combine components for creating customized QR code solutions like unique-item codes, event-specific codes, and personal identifiers. By codifying user experiences into implementation guides, template libraries, and industry cases, we lower entry barriers significantly—even novices can quickly generate QR code applications using prebuilt templates.
We believe everyone holds latent development potential. Through intuitive tools, we empower users to solve real-world challenges while benefiting from technological innovation.
Original article: What is Citizen Development? | Overview, Skills, Benefits