Blogging_Joes

Week 18 was all about the final exam, baby! I studied hard the night before—I read all the modules given to us. I felt confident, but still, I gave it my best in this exam! As a result, I got a passing grade, and I was really happy. Also… that hair and headband? Honestly, what an abomination. Zesty ah homeless haircut.

Week 17 was all about presenting our website’s 70% functionality, but things didn’t go as smoothly as expected. During our first presentation, the database malfunctioned, and we couldn’t properly demonstrate the full capabilities of our website. So, we ended up presenting only a portion of it and returned two days later to present the fixed version and have it graded.

This week, we had another quiz—part two of the previously mentioned miracle online quiz. After that, we continued with our lessons, and the topic was Data Visualization. It focused on making data not only look good but also make sense. The challenge wasn’t just about randomly putting numbers on graphs—we had to ensure everything was visible, clear, and appropriate for the purpose of the presentation. It also had to be easy for people to understand and follow. This really drove home the idea that good data visuals aren’t about just looking cool—they’re about making sure anyone can understand the message, or at the very least, have their attention caught by what the data is trying to say.

Week 15 was the time we sought consultation with our instructor. We presented our initial frontend design, and we were glad to hear that he found it nice and visually appealing. He also gave us several suggestions regarding the structure and flow of the design, which were very informative and helpful. Additionally, we presented our manuscript and had it checked by our instructor for corrections and suggestions.

This week, our instructor invited us to join his presentation session about Software Development and Design Thinking. It was an honor for us to be part of that online discussion, and it was heartwarming to witness that the topics discussed in the presentation were first introduced to us. It was also something to be proud of to see that others were genuinely interested in the discussion.

This week is one I will look back on and say, 'I wish time could stop here.' I was able to relax and relieve some stress through sightseeing. Although nothing major happened this week in terms of academic activities, our instructor only gave us an advanced task to work on, and it wasn't too heavy.

On March 28, we presented our Figma UI design for our website. While we received some criticism regarding our design choices, we also got reassurance that our website is heading in the right direction, which I see as a win. We'll take the feedback and use it to enhance our design even further. Regardless, we gave it our best effort, and I’m grateful—at least, I am—that we pushed through and delivered our presentation. More power in the future!

On March 20, we took our midterm exam. I had thoroughly reviewed all the modules and topics, feeling prepared and ready. I focused on understanding the diagram process and hoped to pass the exam. While I still faced some challenges, I was relieved that the questions were familiar, and I believe I managed to answer most of them

On March 8, we had our Figma UI/UX InfoTorial, an event that introduced us to the basics of Figma, along with tips and tricks for creating our own UI designs. It was very informative, and the atmosphere was both relaxed and interactive. I hope to see more events like this in the future!

On February 29, we played a mini-game to wake our brains up. Then, Topic 4 was discussed in preparation for our UI/UX work in Figma. We needed to learn how to differentiate between good and bad designs. After that, we had an activity where we were tasked with identifying problems or bad designs and improving them to create good designs. This is an essential skill as we move forward in our web development journey.

On February 19, we first start with a reporting about the topic we didn't finish. Then, topic 3 was discussed in preparation for the diagrams we have to make in our website system. Also, our empathy map activity was returned to us by that day.

On February 12, we had our first quiz in Software Design and Engineering. The quiz consisted of two parts. We took Part 1 on our school's own version of Google Classroom, called USTEP. Part 1 was multiple-choice, while Part 2 consisted of identification, enumeration, and essay-type questions. Still, I didn't expect the questions to be so difficult, and as a result, I got a low score. Better be prepared for the next quiz!

On February 5, we had an activity to create an empathy map for effective interview questions using the design thinking process. We also worked on Chapter 1 of our system, which is somewhat like a capstone research project. There were many activities to complete, but we powered through them. In the end, we managed to submit both the activity and Chapter 1 on time.

On January 21 we proposed our idea for our system to our instructor, the idea we conducted an interview with junk shop owners. The system is all about how junk shop owners can post their products and buy products from customers who can also post their second-hand or junk things like plastic bottles, cans, etc. This would help the owners and the customers to have an easier and smoother transaction process. Luckily our proposal got approved with some additional features to enhance our system and we are ready to take this on!

Our first week of our SDE journey, which began on January 15, 2025, was filled with passion and eagerness to explore this subject. On January 18, 2025, we focused on validating the existence of the problem or idea we had in mind so that we could develop a suitable solution. To achieve this, we conducted several interviews with junk shop owners to gather their perspectives and insights on the problem or idea we had.