How to compete in the SD competition
Thinking of the idea
From 7 previous years of competitions and themes the key to a great SD entry is to have a solid and well thought out solution to the themes/problems posed by Microsoft. This year the international theme is "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems” - taking this theme competitors have the opportunity to think of a solutions to a global problems (identified by United Nations as Millennium Goals) faced by people all around the world and change it, make it different in a positive way through technology.
If you struggle to think of an idea just think of those global disasters that our world faces today. People are starving. Diseases ravage communities. Basic education is out of reach for too many people. Dangerous shifts in the environment affect millions as countries struggle to develop in sustainable ways. It seems overwhelming - but we can't throw up our hands and give up. The answers are all around us in thousands of ideas that happen every day. Solutions might be in the next few lines of code.
These small sparks set the world's imagination on fire and lead to change that really matters. Technology can be the force that transforms these great ideas into real world solutions. And that's the point of the Imagine Cup every year - to use technology to make a difference.
Forming a team and finding an Academic mentor
A solid SD team isn’t necessarily 2-4 great experienced .NET coders sitting in a dark room producing reams of C#. A great SD team is one which has a balance of passion, determination, technical ability and presentation skills. To do well in the finals consider assigning specific roles to team members:
- Scope, architect and model the application design
- Implement, test and deploy solid, efficient code
- Deliver a polished, compelling presentation
- Create compelling visual aids.
Developing your idea from concept to design to implementation
Putting down on paper how to develop your idea from concept through to implementation is like asking how long is a piece of string. Every team and every idea is going to be different so here are top 10 tips on developing your entry:
- Solve a real problem. Find a real-world problem and if possible real users who would benefit from a technological solution.
- Develop a Value Proposition. Once you have an idea, find its USP (Unique Selling Point) and focus on that – a lot of teams try to add in random bits of functionality which could potentially detract from the main component of their entry.
- Have a plan. Assign roles and responsibilities and create a project plan. Having a formal (or semi-formal) plan to stick to, each team member will know what they have to do at each milestone.
- Seek out an academic mentor (though it is not mandatory). Maximize the use of your academic mentor (if invited to the team). He/she has years of experience in research, software development and/or teaching and can help apply his/her knowledge to your entry and most importantly keep you on track.
- Have great development tools. Get hold of the best software for the competition.
- Have solid documentation. Back-up everything and at regular intervals. Consider setting up a team website to track all your work – it’s a great record of the journey from concept to implementation and also makes it a lot easier to understand why particular design choices were made if asked by a judge
- Be agile. Agile development is the name of the game with the Imagine Cup. Don’t over-engineer the solution. Preserve and maintain and make sure it does what it says on the tin.
- Have good visual aids. A great presentation or poster is the icing on the cake for a great entry! Practice the presentation and test the poster out with friends and fellow academics prior to submission. Having fresh ideas on your entry will highlight key areas and areas which might make perfect sense to you but not to someone who hasn’t spent months living and breathing their entry.
- Anticipate tough questions. As you make design decisions and tradeoffs, prepare answers that explain the challenge, what you felt the options were and why made the decision that you made. Prepare some of the toughest questions and answers that may come up in a final. Having a slick answer to “why did you choose to develop component X in a certain way?” will make the team look confident and competent.
- Think about the future! If you were to win the finals and receive an invitation for the final stage of the Imagine Cup SD competition to be held in Poland, what you do to give the best chance to win the Imagine Cup.
Delivering a presentation on your entry
All finalists will prepare a 10 minute presentation to support their entry.
All teams will do a first presentation to a jury. At the end of the presentation, there will be questions and answers with the team to judge who goes through to the final 3 and determine the team which will present Armenia at the international competition.
Top 5 tips for delivering a great presentation:
- Be visual. Have a visually compelling presentation but do not overload the deck with too much text.
- Put forth your best presentation. While your entire team has contributed to the application, give thought to the best way to structure your presentation. Rather than having each team member present it may be best to select members to speak while others coordinate the application demonstration. Sharing out the presentation between some (not necessarily all as this is difficult and amateur) of the team will demonstrate the team effort and allow different personalities to shine through
- Get organized. Be careful of timing – do not over run your presentation as judges like an organized team and to have plenty of time to ask difficult questions!
- Tell your story. Structure your presentation to flow like a story – a beginning, middle and an end. Don’t forget to spend time at the start introducing the team and presentation. At the end to take the time to summarize and thank the audience.
- Practice, practice, practice. The more time you invest in preparation, the more competent and confident to judges.