Citizen Developers

A comprehensive guide that covers who they are and how to become one.

Citizen Developer Overview
By Sector
By Function
How to Make an App
Getting Started

Citizen Developer Overview

Citizen Developers are Workplace Innovators. They build custom apps to improve and optimize work processes in their organizations, introducing innovative ways to "get work done."

•  They understand the "problems" better than anyone else in the organization or company.
•  They save time and lower costs due to faster app creation and deployment.
•  They solve long-neglected problems, reducing IT’s project backlog.

Citizen development is fast becoming the most dramatic and transformative trend in business. Why now?

Mobile is the new desktop. The widespread adoption of mobile devices has made it critical to decentralize app usage.

Cloud storage is here to stay. The widespread adoption of cloud storage has decentralized business data—outside of corporate firewalls.

Platforms make it easy. The emergence of low- and no-code platforms empowers citizen developers to make and deploy apps.

As citizen development becomes the new normal, it promotes innovation, agility, and flexibility throughout an organization. To learn more about AppSheet and citizen developers, check out the following:

No-Code is "Know"-Code • 50 Ways to Leave Your App Developer • The AppSheet Customer Definition

AppSheet Citizen Developers by Sector

Every business sector needs mobile apps. AppSheet's no-code app platform powers apps across the manufacturing, construction, transporation, engineering, retail, and education sector. AppSheet's citizen developers make their own apps, tailor them to meet user requirements, and then test and deploy them in a fraction of the time that traditional development projects take. Check out the apps below to explore different use cases and read about more uses cases in AppSheet's App Creator Spotlight.

Yoann Berno, Construction

Berno built an app to help Niegerian Rural Electrification Agency (NREA) tackle energy poverty in Nigeria, where 95 million people live without electricity. The NREA manages 200+ projects with the app, which shows projects by state and by development stage, and sends notifications to track key deadlines. Read Berno's story here. Read more stories about the Construction sector here.

Ben Atkinson, Manufacturing

Toyota's 7th North America manufacturing plant used to collect information on each part with spreadsheets. Ergonomist Atkinson made an app to collect data on the assemly line. "...anyone in final assembly, anyone in design has constantly up-to-date information down to the part level," says Atikson. Read Atikson's story here. Read more stories about the Manufacturing sector here.

Scott Kee, Agriculture

Sacia Orchards managed all its information on sprayer safety, schedules, and compliance data with Google Sheets. Scott Kee, VP of Operations, came across AppSheet through the Google add-on store and created his first app wtih it. The app saves them between 30 and 40 hours of manual data entry each year. Read Kee's story here. Read more stories about the Agriculture sector here.

AppSheet Citizen Developers by Function

Professionals in every role make apps for every imaginable use case, some simple and some amazingly complicated. AppSheet app creators can be found in all functions: from Sales & Marketing, Project Management, Fleet Managment, Vendor Managment, HR, Inspection, and many more. Read about some of our app creators below and find more stories in AppSheet's App Creator Spotlight.

Alejandro Lamothe, Field Service

Lamonthe created a field survey app for the San Antonio mayoral campaign. Within 2 weeks, canvassers reached around 35,000 individuals. They used his app to collect voters' information and analyze data. Read his story here. Read more stories about Field Service apps here.

Randall Nichols, Inspection

Municipalities are often at a disadvantage when looking for operation management applications because their budgets are so tight. With the help of AppSheet, Nichols, CEO of Versa Cloud, was able to reduce the cost of one client’s Municipal application by over $200,000. Read his story here.

Richness & Scalability

Many app maker platforms allow you to make an app without coding, but with limited features. For richer features, you will have to code. In addition, some databases restrict the amount of information you can access at a single time. Understand your needs and make your decision accordingly. Read more here.

How to Make an App

App making can be easy when you use the right platform. With AppSheet, you can make an app directly from data (speadsheets, forms, and docs)—without coding, using templates, or working within drag-and-drop environments.

1. Connect

Connect to your favorite cloud—whether your data is stored in spreadsheets, databases or cloud. Check out what data sources AppSheet support here.

2. Customize

Every use case is unique. Every app is custom. Easily add rich features that matter to you. Check out some of our most popular features here.

3. Deploy

Publish apps in minutes and share them with your team. Use the apps on phones, tablets, or web browsers. Check out what devices AppSheet supports here.

Get Started

Getting Started

Need an App Maker? 3 Questions You Should Ask

If you want to know how to make an app, there are three important questions you should ask:

What kind of app do you want to make?
What are your technical skills?
How much time and money do you want to invest?

How to Select a No-Code App Maker Platform

Some of the top things to consider: ease of use, scalability, customer reporting, reporting cost, data security, documentation and support, and error notification.

How to Make an App—Things to Do in the First 7 Days

Everything you need to know to create, customize, and deploy your app within 7 days. Check it out!

More questions?

We've got you covered. Visit our help page to learn everything about Data, UX, Design, Expressions, and Security.

Or go to our youtube page for step-by-step tutorials, new feature drill-downs, and deep dive app creation tips and best practices.

Get Started