Authors were from various walks of life. Authors of the long-term projects (i.e., projects that students can play, as opposed to demonstrations) are professional ILS content staff. These are employees with strong computer-using skills (they are comfortable with word processors, spreadsheets, and usually video facilities), liberal arts educations, and no programming skills. Most of them had used GBS tools or similar multimedia production tools (Macromedia Director, Supercard, Adobe Premiere), and all had been on one or more GBS projects before they began working on INDIE. Both Nutrition and Rembrandt had additionally a graduate student seeking a master's degree with less than two years experience building software, but only Rembrandt's was a critical part of the tool-using team.
Authors of the long-term student projects (Volcano, Clinical Monitor) were master's students from a business setting. They were assigned to build two systems in roughly 9 months of work. The students were not responsible for building stable, sellable versions of their products, but nearly-playable prototypes of single scenarios with much of the content in place. The INDIE development team (most notably Chris Riesbeck and I) acted as mentors for developing the design of the product.
Authors of the short-term student projects were master's and Ph.D. students who used the project as part of a class assignment. They received almost no contact with the INDIE development team outside of a few consultations near the end of their short development cycle.