Week 19: Simplicity is Key

What I Did

This week, I continued improving the Rank Judge module based on Dr. Shawn’s feedback. Several enhancements were made, including adding thumbs up/down buttons for quicker ranking adjustments, completing the comment system, and refining the layout by rearranging the icons and adjusting their sizes for better usability.

During our weekly meeting, Dr. Shawn reviewed the interface and suggested simplifying the design to make it more user-friendly. He recommended reusing the comment interaction from the existing standard judging system, reducing unnecessary icons, improving the behaviour of the thumbs up/down buttons, exploring swipe gestures for ranking, and ensuring the drag-and-drop functionality works smoothly even when using only a laptop touchpad.

Besides development, I also attended my LI Presentation with my faculty supervisor and Dr. Shawn. I am grateful that Dr. Shawn took the time to attend and provide his support. Additionally, I helped set up new devices for an upcoming event, making sure to be more careful than before.

Challenge This Week

One challenge this week was balancing usability with functionality. While implementing new features for the Rank Judge module, I realised that adding more controls does not always improve the user experience. Designing an interface that is both simple and efficient required continuous iteration based on feedback.

Another challenge was managing my time between internship tasks and preparing for my LI Presentation.

Solution

After the review session, I noted all of Dr. Shawn’s suggestions and planned improvements step by step instead of trying to implement everything at once. I also reminded myself to use AI as a learning tool rather than relying on it blindly, ensuring I understand every solution before applying it.

Reflection

This week reinforced that good software is not only about implementing features but also about creating an intuitive user experience. Receiving design feedback helped me appreciate the importance of thinking from the user’s perspective rather than just focusing on functionality.

I was also reminded that continuous learning and understanding the code are more valuable than simply generating solutions quickly. These lessons will help me become a more thoughtful and responsible software engineer.

Looking Ahead

Next week, I plan to continue refining both the Rank Judge and Rank Emcee modules based on the latest feedback. At the same time, I will focus on completing my internship report before the submission deadline while maintaining steady progress on the project.