Intro:<p>> End-user development (EUD) activities range from customization to component configuration
and programming. Office software, such as the ubiquitous spreadsheet, provide customisation
facilities, while the growth of the Web has added impetus to end-user scripting for interactive
functions in websites. In scientific and engineering domains end users frequently develop
complex systems with standard programming languages such as C++ and JAVA. However only a
minority of users adapt COTS (Customer Off The Shelf software) products; furthermore,
composing systems from reusable components, such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Plans) systems
defeats most end users, who resort to expensive and scarce expert developers for implementation.
So EUD is only a partial success story. We argue that the spread of end-user development
depends on a fine balance between user motivation, effective tools and management support. In
this article we explore that balance and investigate a future approach to EUD – meta-design – that
proposes a vision in which design, learning and development become part of everyday working
practic