Is there a way for non-experts to create new lenses/drawers for the Unity launcher?

Unfortunately there's no easy way to customize lenses, people need to write them. On the plus side they're easy for people to write, for example the Ask Ubuntu lens is about ~350 lines of code.

Please add your idea here; I'm constantly on the lookout for people to write lenses so put down some detail on what you'd like to see in the lens and maybe we'll get lucky and find someone.

You could simply use the "Classic Menu Indicator" (For Ubuntu 12.04/11.10/11.04). I found instructions on how to install it here.

Check out Drawers:

A utility for organizing related items for easy launching from the Unity launcher. Drawers creates a launcher favorite for the Unity launcher panel that can contain any combination of files, applications, web links or directories. Just drop a file on the launcher or open drawer and it will be added. Left-clicking the launcher "opens a drawer" with an icon view of each item for launching. Right-clicking allows fast launching through quicklists.

You can nest one drawer in another too. http://launchpad.net/drawers