tl;dr; Outcomes of the self directed project will be presented and demonstrated to invited guests in lieu of a final exam.

For the final showcase, the the format for the event will be part ‘trade show’ and part rapid fire demo session.

You’ll have 1 minute to quickly present your prototype and 4 minutes for questions/comments i.e. Demo or Die: “One of the most important things that we need to do is demonstrate actually working software in a way that the people who would use that would really experience it.”

That means you should lead by walking through and demonstrating your prototype and not by talking about it. No slides. No videos. Focus on clearly explaining the idea by showing us how it works. And don’t wait for ages to show us how it works. Start with that.

What you’ll need to prepare:

1. A really short succient elevator pitch or at the very least a one sentence explaination of what it is and why we should care about it
2. A well planned demonstration. The demo should tell a story, not just show features. Carefully plan and rehearse how you step through the features and functionality. Make sure you know the breaking points and can avoid them.
3. A trade show sized poster (24x36”) for your product concept.

Don’t forget to provide opportunities or invitations for guests to try for themselves!

You’re also encouraged to have supporting materials to showcase your idea on hand. For example, you might want to have a product video showing example scenarios or unimplemented features, a mock up of an app or website, or similar things. These aren’t required though. Mainly use additional materials to better showcase your idea, and what might be possible if fully implemented.