New UX for Participatory Modeling

In domain-specific modeling, the models are often built by problem domain experts rather than traditional software engineers. The languages are thus designed with the needs of problem domain users foremost, rather than those of software developers. The tooling too should aim to support these modelers. Keeping the language closer to the problem domain also improves participation by others who are even further from the development world: other experts, managers, and project and company-level stakeholders. While the language fits these users too, the tooling is still aimed at functionality for modelers, and these non-modelers' needs will often be different. In this vision paper, we suggest some ways in which those needs differ, look at various approaches to meet them, and consider the challenges involved. In particular, we consider how to meet the needs of such participatory modeling in an efficient manner in the context of modeling tools made with language workbenches. We offer user-assembled model explorers as a low-hanging fruit option, and investigate questions of their liveness and bidirectionality.