My Experience of the Citizen Developer Practitioner Course (1 of 2)

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My Experience of the Citizen Developer Practitioner Course (1 of 2)

Background
As a consultant, upskilling and advancing my knowledge on new technological advances is key. I have completed a lot of research on low-code/no-code, i.e., Citizen Development, to date.

My Citizen Development Experience so Far
In January, I completed the Citizen Developer Foundation Course because I wanted to learn the basics in terms of citizen development. I definitely achieved this objective! Click here if you would like to hear more about my experience of this course!

I gained adequate knowledge to progress to the Practitioner Course once I completed the Foundation. Although Foundation is not a mandatory pre-requisite, I recommend taking Foundation first if you would like to enhance your understanding of citizen development as a whole.

Similar to what I did for the Foundation Course, I’m now going to document my experience of the Citizen Developer Practitioner Course… here it goes!

My Objective
My primary objective of completing this course was to gain tools and knowledge to create effective applications to solve problems. I was interested in what these would be and how I could apply them in my role.

Course Structure
The Practitioner Course focuses on the “Do” sections of the Citizen Development Canvas; Project Delivery and Capability Development.

The course contains 8 modules:

1. Introduction
   • Project Delivery Modules
2. Hyper Agile SDLC
3. Ideation 2.0                                        
4. Suitability Assessment
   • Capability Development Modules
5. Business Analysis and Design
6. Project Risks & Enterprise Risk Requirements                              
7. Application Design, Development and Deployment
8. Conclusion  

As the Practitioner course is quite extensive, I am going to split my critique into 2 separate blogs (this is the first). In this blog, I will outline my experience of the introduction and Project Delivery modules of the course. Let’s dig in!

Module 1 - Introduction to Citizen Development
This module does what it says on the tin! It is a concise introductory module that lays the foundation for subsequent lessons. The narrator explains that the Citizen Development Canvas will act as the roadmap for each module in this course. The basics of the course were covered in this lesson:

1. Course Basics
How to navigate through the course and new course features were discussed. Items such as; tips from the field, downloads, sample projects and knowledge checks are unique additions to the Citizen Developer Practitioner Course. This section outlined what these features are and how to get the best out of each one.

2. Course Outcomes
Over the course of 8 modules, you will learn how to:

1. Determine if your problem can be solved with a Citizen Development process
2. Effectively brainstorm solutions
3. Evaluate the challenges that your app must overcome
4. Gather the data and resources you will need
5. Bring your project to fruition

By completing the introductory module, I was content that I knew what to expect throughout the course. I have created a table that summarizes my favourite aspects of the module and a way in which I think the lesson could be improved in the future.

Module 2 - Hyper-Agile SDLC
As someone who had no prior knowledge or experience with the software development lifecycle (SDLC), I loved this module. The traditional SDLC was introduced, then Agile SDLC and the Hyper-Agile SDLC. As a structured learner, getting an overview of each SDLC enabled my understanding of the evolution of Hyper-Agile SDLC.

The learning objectives that were set out for this module were clear and to the point, by the end of this module, you will have learned:

1. The SDLC, Agile and Hyper-Agile SDLC methods
2. How to evaluate citizen development project proposals
3. How to use Spot Assessments to decide if your project is right for citizen development
4. The three Hyper-Agile SDLC citizen development paths

At the end of this lesson, I feel I met the learning objectives. The Spot Assessment was the most intriguing tool in this module. The primary objective of this tool is to assess whether citizen development is a good fit for your project or not. The tools that are used to evaluate the Spot Assessment are the Scorecard and the Risk/Technical Grid. Once both of these are complete, you will know whether to proceed using citizen development for your project or not! If your project is a good fit for citizen development, you can determine which Hyper-Agile CD Path to follow based on the risk/technical complexity of your project (Fast-Track, Assisted Path or IT Delivery). The table below summarizes my favourite aspects of the module and one way in which I think the lesson could be improved.

Module 3 - Ideation 2.0
I had completed the Ideation 2.0 module in the Foundation Course so I was prepared for this lesson in the Practitioner Course. New material and learning aids were added to this module in the Practitioner Course. These made the module even better in my opinion.

The learning objectives of this module were outlined at the outset, you will have learned:

1. What Ideation 2.0 is
2. How to develop your squad
3. How to apply Ideation 2.0 Methods and create the relevant outputs

I thought this module was excellent in the Foundation Course. However, I would rate it even higher in the Practitioner Course. The learning objectives were easy to achieve during this module. Similar to Ideation 2.0 in the Foundation Course, the content in this module (mainly the methods and outputs) are structured in a logical way which made the content easily digestible. The addition of the “how to develop your squad” section was also very valuable.

Module 4 – Suitability Assessment
The Suitability Assessment module was very interesting. The primary aim of this module is to enable the Citizen Developer and related stakeholders to conduct an assessment on whether citizen development would be a good fit for a project (or not).

The learning objective of this module are outlined below. By the end of this module you will have learned:

1. How to perform Suitability Assessments for citizen development projects
2. How to use Suitability Assessment tools and techniques

One of my key takeaways from this module is that citizen development can transform your operations; when citizen development is a suitable fit. It is critical to remember that citizen development is not suitable for every project. I enjoyed this lesson and met the learning objectives. Some of my favorite aspects of the lesson and an item I personally think could be improved are outlined below.

My Conclusion
So far, I am really enjoying the Citizen Developer Practitioner Course. I love what I have learned so far. It will be interesting to see if the Capability Development modules of the Citizen Developer Practitioner Course will be as insightful. Once I have completed these modules, I will report back and publish part 2 of this blog series.