Blog Post: Pitch & Demo Practice

I thought this

Before the pitch, I thought that we were in a good place but unfortunately, that was not the case. Sometimes things do not go according to plan and or simply you do it wrong. Everyone makes mistakes that is just the nature of humans we are imperfect beings. Learning to adapt yourself to different working styles is extremely important, everyone has their own needs and priorities. There is no use in trying to change people or set your own expectations upon others. To be successful as a team I believe it is important to simply keep an open mind and try to do your very best. Even if you fall short as long as you know in your heart that you have given it your all, only then do I believe you can really feel good about yourself and your work.

I tried that

Before the pitch, I attempted to get our UI to a place that would make sense and be intuitive to use but learned a valuable lesson that showing it to only your team and friends can often lead to false positives. This is why it is so important as an interaction designer to always validate your designs before you present them. What makes sense to you or your team at a given moment often makes no sense to someone who is seeing it for the first time.

I learned this

From a demo and pitch that was far from optimal, I learned a few valuable lessons. The first is you simply can’t do it all individually you need to work as a team or you will simply burn out and the work will fall short. The second thing I learned is to always show your designs to people other than your friends and members of your group. To get proper feedback that will be honest and actionable. Upon looking back at my designs after receiving Kates critique I can’t believe some of the things I missed! But that’s the nature of design and why good critique is so important. Hence why we always say BUILD MEASURE LEARN, BUILD MEASURE LEARN, until you finally arrive with a product that makes sense to anyone using it.

Next Time…

Next time I will remember to not set such high expectations and assumptions around what will and what will not get done. In the future, I will remember that everyone is trying their best with the resources provided. I think one of the easiest things in life is to blame others when things do not work out for you, but ultimately that mindset gets you know where in life.

How did you feel about the pitch?

Like previously mentioned I did not feel good about the pitch I felt that it was lacking in countless areas and I am so glad we now have time to iterate on the work we have done. Although there were some good moments, In the beginning, the second half was far from optimal.

Where was your weakness?

My weaknesses were many but to name a few I think I did too much explaining of my slides and not enough talking about the value of them. I also learned that I often try to do it all or too much instead of trying to make it simple and just doing a really good job on less.

What will YOU address for pitch day?

By pitch day I will help to fix all of our slides and ensure they make sense and look good. Also, I will fix the demo and ensure it is as interesting and correct as I possibly can make it in the time left.