Abstract
Composing software services on mobile devices is especially challenging when attempted by non-programmers. In this paper we compare two alternative supporting strategies: using generic task templates and scripting together condition-response fragments. The first is exemplified by a prototype called ACOM (Assisted Composition on Mobiles), the second by a commercially available alternative called IFTTT (IF This Then That). The paper uses a comparative observational study to highlight the benefits and drawbacks of both approaches, and to derive lessons for their improvement.