Hi - I don't think my original message went through... here is another copy.


Thanks to everyone who responded to my post a few weeks ago on IDEs geared
towards a more business-user audience. Here are the responses I received.

Kay

****************

Our local CHI chapter featured a researcher from Carnegie Mellon on a kind
of programming tool for young girls. You created stories and then kind of
illustrated them in a game environment. I think it was called Alice and it
stood for something. It was very cool and kind of like what you are
looking for - I think. Have you seen it yet? Don't know that it covers
business users, but it looked pretty cool.


http://www.alice.org/

Christy Wells
Product Manager
Enterprise Rent-A-Car



****************************

Kay,

I'm not sure if this is what you're after, but you may want to look into
Visual Programming Languages (VPL). I haven't looked into this one myself,
but I've heard of people using Lego to help kids learn to program.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/12/05.html

Hope that helps!
Stephanie



*****************************

For web 2.0 development, I had checked out a product called ACTIVEGRID.
They have a IDE called ACTIVEGRID STUDIO that allowed non-programmers to
start creating a app by selecting LOGIN PAGE, SEARCH PAGE, HEADER-DETAIL
PAGE, etc...and specifying data source to them. It sounds like something
you may be looking for. I googled and see that they are part of WAVEMAKER
now (http://www.wavemaker.com/)

For developing BI applications (dashboard, interactive charts, etc) check
out VISIONARY from Rocket Software
(http://www.rocketsoftware.com/portfolio/visionary). I was impressed with
their studio as well. However, it is only for BI type applications.

Aras Kannu| Principal Architect, User Experience | Infor | office:
678-319-8983 | [log in to unmask]


**************************

Not exactly what you're looking for but worth looking into: Axure
Daniel

THE ORIGINAL QUESTION ...

> Hi - I received a question asking for clarification on what an IDE for a
business user is.
>
> Do you remember the 4th generation products that were around in the
90's? This is the kind of product I am researching.
>
> Traditionally an IDE is a developer environment. In an attempt to make
their product accessible to non-developer types (such as a business
analyst or other person who knows the user's domain, workflow, and task
flow), some manufacturers have produced a programming environment that
allows the business user to generate code by selecting functions or
macros. The aim is to hide the gory programming details from the user,
allowing them to make choices that generate code in the background.
>
> I am looking for examples of products that do this sort of thing very well
> - a programming environment for non-programmers.
>
> Does this make sense?
>
> thanks,
>
> Kay
>
> >
> > From: ACM SIGCHI WWW Human Factors (Open Discussion) on behalf of
[log in to unmask]
> > Sent: Sat 3/29/2008 5:37 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [CHI-WEB] Seeking examples of IDEs with intuitive UIs
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi-
> > Can people on the list recommend some excellent examples of IDEs
(Integrated Development Environments) designed for business users? I
am especially interested to see examples that are publically
> > available - through a demo download or via a Web service that you can
access in a demo mode.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Kay
> > (I will collect and post a summary of people's responses)
> >
> >
> > Kay Corry Aubrey
> > Usability Resources Inc
> > End user research and interaction design for software
> > www.UsabilityResources.net 781-275-3020

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