Role-based application access

Providing access to certain users to build, configure, update, and maintain applications is based on three roles: citizen developer, business technologist, and low-code developer. In this article, we will break down these roles explaining what they are capable of doing and what level of access or limitations you can set for these roles in your application providing a clearer, more secure, and efficient development process, facilitating better collaboration and productivity.

We created a video zooming in on the RBAC system. check it out:

Application development roles explained

Citizen developer

The citizen developer is the entry-level development role in the Betty Blocks platform. They are responsible for configuring and doing small updates to an application. This person usually is a business user, working on the platform every now and then. By default, permissions are disabled for this role, but they can be changed if necessary.

The citizen developer works with templates provided by either the platform or by fellow development colleagues. They configure the last settings in the application such as assigning application admins, picking the right color scheme, setting the correct mail addresses, and adding front-end pages where necessary. They mainly work with small front-end changes.

The citizen development path is characterized by light-touch governance and is the path a citizen development team would take when a project is considered low risk and low technical complexity. Emphasis is on iterative ideation, design, build, and deployment with continuous business feedback loops.

Business technologist

The business technologist is a more experienced builder who can build more complex applications. This persona also has a business background, making them the ideal practitioner to build business applications. By default, permissions are disabled for this role, but they can be changed if necessary.

The business technologist is more aware of the layers of application development and knows that there are certain rules in development that you have to listen to. They have a full understanding of the no-code features the Betty Blocks platform has to offer and therefore can create more functionalities in their applications.

The business technologist path is followed if, after the initial assessment, the initiative is deemed medium technical complexity and low risk. The citizen developer can ask for the support of the business technologists and their skills. This allows the citizen developer to progress quickly without extensive IT engagement. It could be that the citizen development team is able to build an MVP, at which point they engage with business technologists or low-coders to finish the application and ready it for the live environment.

Low-code developer

The low-code developer is the most advanced developer role in the Betty Blocks platform. They have the highest level of expertise and are responsible for customizing and supporting other builders. By default, all permissions are enabled for this user, and this option can't be adjusted.

The low-code developer has experience with coding and can read and write a few coding languages. They know how object-oriented programming works and can utilize the Betty Blocks platform to its fullest potential because they don't have to deal with as much debugging as traditional coding would normally bring.

The low-code developer is responsible for creating custom requirements necessary to turn an application into a successful one. As an example, there are standardized action steps in the platform, but a low-code developer can use their React knowledge to create custom action steps that exactly fit the application's scope.

If a citizen developer wants to grow into the low-code developer role, they will have to follow business technologists' learning path and learn one of the platform's supported programming languages (React or Typescript). With that, they will have full knowledge of the platform and its extending capabilities.

It's important to note that it's recommended to create business development teams combined out of each role. This way, business, and IT will stand closer to each other and be able to create business solutions even faster.

Roles and permissions management

In order to view and manage roles and permissions in your organization, go to My Betty Blocks, choose your organization, and click on Roles & Permissions.

Here you’ll see both organization roles and application development roles.

Learn more information about the permissions and what they do in this article.

As for business technologist and citizen developer roles, they are provided permissions manually by an organization’s admin. You can enable each permission separately or use the checkbox on top to allow or cancel all permissions in the list (see the image below).

Note: Press User management button in the top right corner to manage users and their organization roles (Admin or Member by default). More info is available in this article.

Setting application role

Keep in mind that all permissions set here will be applied to all applications in your organization. Nevertheless, you can assign these roles in each of your applications separately. To do this, choose your application from your current organization, press … button, and proceed to User management overview.

As an organization admin, you can assign roles and permissions in My Betty Blocks. By default, all existing builders for all applications have been transformed to low-code developers and will have access to all permissions.

Invite new users to your application by pressing the Invite users button in the top right corner. A new dialog window will open and you will be able to type in a new user’s email address and assign the role to them. This ensures the builder will land on the platform in the correct role and will directly have access to what they need to use. Click Send invite when you’re done adding new users.