January 23, 2008
Dr. Antonio Piccinno
Abstract
Users and developers have been traditionally
considered two distinct communities: users are the “owners” of the
problems and developers are those who implement software systems for supporting
users to solve the problem. Nowadays, with the widespread use of software systems,
and the evolution of World Wide Web, an increasing number of people are not only
using software but also getting involved in designing and developing software.
The Web supports various pre-programming and programming activities, ranging
from simple parameter customization to variation and assembling of components,
creating simulations and games.
Different types of users are between pure end users and professional software
developers. In the seminar, we will focus on a particular type of end users
who are very active in shaping software tools to their needs, habits and background,
without being aware of programming; they are “unwitting” programmers
that need appropriate development techniques and environments. A meta-design
participatory approach for supporting unwitting end-user development will be
presented and case studies in which this approach is applied will be discussed.
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