Demo Day: 5 Tips To Prevent Bugs And Blunders

Software is sensitive. Let's face it, one ">" could be the difference between looking like an expert, or wanting to immediately disappear from the face of the Earth. After years of developing and years of doing it professionally (for a living) with my face and name behind everything we produce, I've come to understand the theory of "when, not if, it breaks". via Brian Jackson Let me begin by saying this: there's no easy way to handle a catastrophic bug, or even a small-detail bug, on demo day. That piece of software you have been working on, will at some point, embarrass you. What matters is how you mitigate the chances of things blowing up in your face when you least need it. Based on our humble and insignificant experience, these are the steps we've taken throughout our processes than can help lower the chances of a complete bug-triggered meltdown on demo day. Recommended Reading: 15 Websites To Test Your Codes Online

To Start Off

If you will be the one doing the demo of the "final" software product to clients, potential investors or prospective users, you have to pay more attention than anyone else. At the end of the day, you'll be the one holding your hands to your face and sweating profusely when something goes wrong. The mindset should be, "No one cares as much as me." Even if your team is a bunch of rockstars, everyone should still be thinking that no one cares as much as they do.

1. Manage your deliverable schedule to your advantage

So, to the point, if your schedule says the client presentation is on Monday, write it down for the Wednesday befor [...]