Editorial Pointers

There is a growing faction of software developers dedicated to empowering end users with the tools to become, in fact, software developers. And if this thriving group fulfills this plan as envisioned, end users should never be aware of the new role they’ve assumed.

The goal of end-user development (EUD) is to provide users the freedom and ability to create their own software solutions. It is a movement propelled by changes in business, software evolution, and the increasing need to tailor complex programs to personal requirements and expectations. This month’s special section examines the great progress in, and promise of, EUD as well as offers a clear-eyed view of the work still to be done.

Guest editors Alistair Sutcliffe and Nikolay Mehandjiev explain that EUD is about taking control—not only of personalizing computer applications but designing new applications without ever seeing program code. They have called on many EUD leaders to discuss current research as well as the technical, managerial, and social challenges that must be overcome to make EUD tools easier to use.

Also this month, we look at filtering software and the methods for evaluating its effectiveness. Resnick et al. present a framework to help guide the design and interpretation of filtering evaluations. And Zhuge and Shi present an open, worldwide interconnection environment—the Eco-Grid—reflecting characteristics of ecological environments and a multidisciplinary method incorporating various natural, economic, and social sciences.

Turetken et al. propose two potential applications of fisheye views of systems analysis and design. While Lippert and Anandarajan illustrate how academics and practitioners view research from differing vantage points as it relates to IT analysis, planning, and implementation efforts.

A key reason many people with disabilities do not seek work or better-paying careers is the uncertainty of how that additional income will affect their federal and state benefits. Hines et al. introduce a decision-support system that helps potential employees and employers find solutions to matters of income and benefits.

Our columnists this month inspect the strengths and weaknesses of wireless technologies. In "Staying Connected," Meg McGinity chronicles the weaknesses in telecommunications technologies revisited by the 9/11 Commission and some of the wireless networking issues that have emerged. In "Digital Village," Hal Berghel examines the use of war driving, or as he describes it, the "art of monitoring wireless traffic."

Diane Crawford
Editor