End-user development by application-domain configuration

•Software tool helps end users develop applications without knowledge of programming languages.•System provides ‘seeding’ of domain-oriented design environments for end-user development.•Novel graphical user interface facilitates specification of temporal and spatial constraints for reservation types of applications.•Two-phase approach provides a generic architecture which can be configured for domains, which then support end-user customisation and application generation.•Semi-automatic generation of systems for reservation/allocation applications by component composition and reuse.

An application generator/tailoring tool aimed at end users is described. It employs conceptual models of problem domains to drive configuration of an application generator suitable for a related set of applications, such as reservation and resource allocation. The tool supports a two-phase approach of configuring the general architecture for a domain, such as reservation-booking problems, then customisation and generation of specific applications. The tool also provides customisable natural language-style queries for spatial and temporal terms. Development and use of the tool to generate two applications, service engineer call allocation, and airline seat reservation, are reported with a specification exercise to configure the generic architecture to a new problem domain for monitoring-sensing applications. The application generator/tailoring tool is evaluated with novice end users and experts to demonstrate its effectiveness.