FORWARD : Design Specification Techniques for Do-It-Yourself Application Platforms

Abstract

The FORWARD project, as well as its app2you predecessor, is a Do-It-Yourself web application platform that enables non-programmers to create custom forms-driven workflow applications, where users with potentially different roles and rights interact. Our experience with the commercialized version of app2you (app2you.com) shows that forms-driven workflow applications exhibit a viable balance between application scope and ease of specification. The proposed demo uses a real-world application, the TechCrunch50 2008 reviewing application, to illustrate key specification techniques the Do-It-Yourself design facility provides to non-programmer application creators. The demo audience will also have hands-on experience building applications without any programming.