Elements of end-user software engineering

Today many end-users implement software tools on their own due to their high, general computer literacy and the increased user-friendliness of the software. The most popular and ubiquitous software packages to implement such personal productivity tools for analytical purposes are spreadsheets. A general problem is that a typical knowledge worker in the role of an end-user does not have explicit training in software engineering. Therefore, in this article some aspects of software engineering in general and spreadsheet engineering in particular are discussed. Based on this discussion several guidelines for implementing spreadsheet-based tools are given. Applying these guidelines helps to design spreadsheet-based tools that can be easily reused, extended, and shared with other users. A case study illustrates how to use Microsoft Excel to implement a tool which is in compliance with these guidelines. The case study is designed as an introduction for MBA students on how to implement spreadsheet-based analytical tools.