Adoption of low-code and no-code development: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

Context: Low-code/no-code (LCNC) is an emerging technology trend that extends software development beyond professionalsoftware engineers, making it accessible to individuals throughout organizations and society. Objective: We aim to provide a systematic review of the current research on the adoption of LCNC technologies within citizen development (CD) practices for digital transformation (DT), and to propose a research agenda for this field. Method: This review is primarily conducted using a multi-phase systematic literature review of publications from the past five years, i.e., between 2017 and 2023. Results: We identified 40 primary studies that describes the application of LCNC development and CD practices, the theoretical lenses/frameworks used, and the associated benefits and challenges. Conclusion: In this study, we present three key contributions. First, we provide a comprehensive review of the benefits, challenges, theoretical perspectives, and methods used to explore LCNC and CD adoption. Second, we introduce a framework designed to guide managers in effectively adopting LCNC and CD practices. Finally, our systematic review uncovers gaps in existing research and identifies opportunities for further exploration, which paves the way for a future research agenda.