It is week 10 already! Time flies so fast that the end of the semester is closing in. Although our software is still in progress, its shape has been formed after 8 weeks of tireless working and now it can function smoothly as expected. This exciting journey has been proven a great learning opportunity for me: we have overcome communication barriers, learnt how to collaborate with each other, and gained amazing experiences of developing software. We need not only to keep improving and finalising our product, but also to prepare for the forthcoming software demo, which is also the final oral presentation of CS2101. However, perfection is not easy to pursue as we still encounter many challenges in the preparation process.
Firstly, although we have indeed gained some experiences in preparing presentation, the last OP, software demo, is somehow a bit different as opposed to the previous two ones because of some factors beyond our control. One of the things which can go wrong is that our software might not perform correctly when we are presenting. There are potential bugs and glitches in our programmes that can crash the whole system and prevent it from operating normally. The controller class, which parses users’ inputs, is possibly the weakest component in our system since it is exposed to all variations of inputs. In order to reduce the chance of unexpected behaviours, we have composed several scripts containing commands that might be taken as inputs. Before presenting, we should test these scripts carefully on the software to ensure that they will function correctly. Thereafter, our presentations will follow accordingly to these scripts so that we can manage them better. These preparatory works are also precious experiences for us to deal with risk in the future.
Secondly, one influential criterion to evaluate the outcomes of a demo session is how well its presentations are delivered. Software demo is a valuable opportunity to introduce one’s product and demonstrate its features and user-friendliness to the target audiences. Therefore, enthusiasm plays a crucial role to make a software demo successful. Only when the developers themselves truly love their software, they are able to pass their passion to the audiences. In contrast, software will certainly fail to convince the prospective users if its own developers lack interest. The presenter’s level of enthusiasm and the methods to convey information will determine how the audiences would respond. A presentation is likely considered successful when attention and satisfaction from the audiences can be observed. Although a long applause at the end may not confirm too much, a presenter has to be engaging until his or her last words.
In a nutshell, all preparatory work has brought great lessons to me. I am prepared to step into my future profession in which making live presentations and group collaboration are essential. I sincerely appreciate all experiences I have obtained from this module and all efforts we have put together into it. Let us wrap up our exciting journey by an excellent demo session. Eventually, not winning or losing but learning really matters.
