On January 6, 2014, Prof. Margaret Burnett will give a talk on "End-User Software Engineering".
Abstract:
End-user programming has become pervasive in our society, with end users programming simulations, courseware, spreadsheets, macros, mashups, and more. In this talk, we will consider what happens when we add to end-user programming environments consideration of the software lifecycle beyond the "coding" phase. Considering other phases is necessary, because there is ample evidence that the programs end users create are filled with errors. To help address this problem, we have been working on a software "engineering" methodology designed specifically for end users.
Because the user may have no expertise or even interest in software engineering, we do not propose to transform end users into engineers. Rather, our approach is to tightly integrate elements of design, implementation, component integration, debugging, testing, and maintenance, supported behind the scenes by analysis and inferential reasoning, to help the user reason about the dependability of their software as they work with it, in a manner that respects the user's problem-solving directions to an extent unprecedented in existing software development environments.