Very similarly was HyperCard. It was a bit before my time, but reading up on it, it seemed so powerful and yet friendly for non-programmers to use to make useful tools.

For a demonstration of HyperCard's power, play the original Myst some time. The original Myst runs on HyperCard (the Mac versions anyway; it obviously had to be ported for Windows and other releases). Incredible.

I struggle to think of tools like these that exist today. Access, perhaps? (and of course the tool in the article)