A motor control wizard implements a simple workflow for creating an application-specific program for operation of a motor control system. The wizard prompts for selection of an application area, which sensitizes the system to tune certain motor control parameters in accordance with the demands of the selected application area. The wizard also prompts for selection of a target devices, such as a particular type of motor with a set of basic operating parameters. With the target device and application area known, the wizard runs an automatic adaptation step without requiring additional user-settable parameters. The adaptation step yields an adapted motor control program based characteristics of the motor control system obtained via the adaptation step. The wizard then confirms operation of the motor using the adapted program. Additional features allow the user to fine tune parameters beyond this set of initial configuration parameters.