A low-code approach to support method engineering

Abstract

Method engineering is defined as a discipline to design, construct and adapt methods, techniques and tools for the development of information systems. A method formalizes and structures the steps needed in order to achieve a specific goal. By executing a method step by step, users follow a systematic and well defined way to attain the results which the method was created for. However, method creation or the adaptation of existing methods to a specific domain or organization is challenging if one does not have method engineering skills. In addition, the adoption of a method may also be difficult if there is no tool to support these activities. Method engineers may not have the programming skills to implement such a tool. In this context, we propose an approach inspired by the low-code and end-user development paradigms for method engineering. The advantages are twofold. Firstly, it helps method engineers in creating and configuring new methods. Secondly, the approach automatically provides tool support so that method experts can actually execute the method. This position paper presents the approach through a proof of concept implementation.