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 • Top 5 Reasons Companies Turn to No-Code Platforms • 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.

Janis Majors, Energy

M&O Partners is a sales hub that connects buyers and suppliers in the offshore oil and gas industry. The company wants to coordinate projects for over 100 companies across 10 markets. Majors made 6 apps to provide visibility into all projects. “Data coordination needs to be seamless as all apps interact with a large shared data repository. But we are able to make it work,” says Majors. Read his story 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.

Mark Creighton, Inventory

Husqvarna's largest North America warehouse houses more than 35,000 product SKUs. Creighton and his co-work Erika Braxton made 41 apps within 8 months to automate the entire facility. With these apps, Husqvarna doubled its productivity, reduced quality incidents by 200%, and produced 15-20% in savings.

Read Creighton's story here. Read more stories about inventory management 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.

Mark Rubin, Franchise Owner

1-800-GOT-JUNK? DC helps customers remove unwanted materials. Rubin made an app to coordinate 19 trucks that serve hundreds of customers on a weekly basis. Managers use this app to assign tasks, alert crew in the field and check drivers' schedules. Drivers use the app to update their locations throughout the day.

Read his story here.

Thibault Renouf, Supply Chain

At least one third of the food produced for annual human consumption (1.3 billion tons) gets lost or wasted. Renouf's app CHEF514 brings together local farmers and connects them with busy chefs in Montreal—reducing long-haul food shipments, which produce a lot of waste, while also helping small farms get their produce to market.

Read his story here.

Svetha Janumpalli, NGO Founder

New incentives helps immunize infants against deadly diseases in Nigeria through conditional cash transfers. In just one week, Janumpalli designed an app and have since expanded to 16 apps. With these apps, they delivered the program to 32,954 low-income mothers and infants. Read more here. Read more stories about nonprofit apps 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