Citizen developers (sometimes referred to as “power users”) play a crucial role in bridging the gap between business requirements and IT capabilities. Despite lacking formal training in software development, these individuals drive innovation by building or customising solutions for themselves and their teams, streamlining repetitive processes, and enabling faster business transformations.
Citizen developers are professionals who utilise no-code or low-code tools to address business needs without being formally employed as software developers or having a computer science degree. SlashData’s latest (Q3 2024) global survey reached nearly 10,000 respondents involved in technology projects*, either as professionals, hobbyists, or students. Of those, more than 7,000 were working as professionals, meaning that they earned their living working professionally in one or more of the areas defined in the footnote below. About 10% of these technology professionals met our criteria of being a citizen developer.
In this blog post, we explore what sets citizen developers apart from other technology professionals and the implications for the broader tech community. By understanding who they are and what motivates citizen developers, organisations can better leverage the strengths of this critical community to foster a culture of open collaboration in their organisations.
Defining citizen developers
To identify citizen developers through our survey, we excluded all technology professionals formally employed as software developers and those holding a university degree in computer science. We then filtered respondents who use at least some no-code/low-code tools in their workflow.
While improvements in AI and its coding assistance capabilities have empowered many non-developers to use programming languages and their respective tools, no-code/low-code tools remain the defining benchmark for citizen developers. Most technology professionals (51%) do not use no-code or low-code tools, but of the 49% that do, we compare them to citizen developers below. The distributions of the two groups are very similar, suggesting that no-code or low-code tools are not disproportionately valued or utilised in citizen developers' workflow vs other technology professionals.
Citizen developers’ experience in software development
In the early career stages (less than 5 years of experience), citizen developers are disproportionally represented compared to traditional technology professionals. This suggests that non-software development professionals who are newer to the tech industry may gain interest early in their careers and may start getting involved with technologies to become power users. Conversely, at advanced experience levels (16+ years), citizen developers are less represented, indicating that they may transition into other roles or lack the lengthy career paths common among traditional tech professionals.
Citizen developers are, on average, half a year earlier in their technology careers compared to other technology professionals.
Citizen developers have an average of 3.5 years of experience, slightly less than the 4 years reported by other technology professionals. This raises the question: Do citizen developers aim to evolve into more technical roles? Looking at their motivations for contributing to software development provides valuable insight into this question.
Prevalence within startups
Citizen developers are more common in startups, largely due to necessity. In lean organisations where resources are tight, such as startups, tasks requiring automation or technical solutions often fall to power users within the business.
We know from previous research that startups attract developers earlier in their careers. While, as noted above, this is due in part to necessity, it is also likely that citizen developers gravitate towards organisations where flexibility, experimentation, and rapid product iteration are the norm. These settings allow these professionals to transition into more advanced technical or leadership positions over time. In these dynamic environments, they may gain visibility and influence, leveraging their unique blend of domain expertise and technological aptitude to drive innovation. As we will see below, this mixed bag of skills can come in very handy when making technology purchasing decisions.
Citizen developers and tool purchasing decisions
Citizen developers are notably active in influencing or making purchasing decisions for developer tools, often at a higher rate than their counterparts. A fifth of citizen developers (21%) approve expenses compared to just 14% of their colleagues. Likewise, 30% of citizen developers are responsible for specifications, compared to 24% of other technology professionals. However, when it comes to purchasing for individual use, citizen developers trail their counterparts.
Citizen developers are more likely to be involved in purchasing decisions than other technology professionals.
The high degree of involvement by citizen developers in company-level purchasing decisions may seem counterintuitive, given their slightly earlier career stages. However, their involvement reflects their hands-on, practical approach to addressing workflow needs and their understanding of business needs. These power users understand the business side and are involved with the technical side to a degree that allows them to serve as a bridge between technical and business stakeholders.
Are citizen developers part of your target audience? Let’s dive into their preferences together. Contact us.
About the author
Brayton Noll is a behavioral scientist with a background in climate change and environmental research. He holds a PhD from TU Delft in computational social science, with his thesis focusing on human behavioral dynamics and climate adaptation. He has five years of experience working with data analytics.
*By “technology projects” in this report, we mean any of the following types of software development projects: Web apps / Software as a Service, mobile apps, desktop apps, backend services, augmented reality (incl. mixed reality), virtual reality, games, data science, machine learning / AI, industrial IoT, consumer electronics devices / consumer IoT, apps/extensions for third-party platforms and ecosystems, or embedded software.