Have you tried QtCreator? If so, have you also tried QtDeclarative?

Having used QtCreator to build a medium sized GUI, it was a pain. The XML it produces is too unwieldy to manually edit, so that's out (though I did edit it a few times to overcome bugs in QtCreator)

The QtCreator GUI itself is very robust but if you want to do something that's off the beaten path good luck, you're gonna be doing a lot of trial/error clicking and iteration. There were times when everything was "right" in QtCreator, and the result didn't work...

I would much prefer to use something like QtDeclarative if I do it again. It's easier to tell the computer exactly what I want, and then get exactly what I want, when the language for expressing what I want is concise and small.

> You start to get into anything that involves drag & drop, you are inviting other programmers to assume you are not good enough with cryptic text.

It's more that drag and drop isn't really good for much when it comes to programming. You can build GUIs with it and some extremely simple tasks like email joruneys, but for anything else visual programming has proven to be pretty poor.

I believe that reframing the matter in terms of user empowerment might be the way forward. To create tools that help casual users accomplish tasks they might otherwise have needed a programmer for is to empower users. Excel is a classic example of user empowering software, as it allows people with the self-image of "user, not programmer" to effectively write programs, even if they may not recognize it as such. I think this reframing might help because scoffing at "user empowerment" would make somebody look like a jerk.

I sell sharp knives as "surgeon empowerment" devices. Anyone can surg!

If your point is that some tools should be kept from people because they might cut themselves, then I think it's worth mentioning that scalpels are not generally sharper than other knifes that are available to the public. (Joerg Sprave has decent video debunking many scalpel myths: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHTHqWcDaQ8) Furthermore scalpels are generally available to the public too: https://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=scalpel

Analogously, the tools already available to computer users are tools that could harm the user if used improperly. To not empower users because they might harm themselves isn't progressive, it's paternalistic.

You sure its not because of the explosion of web apps?