Showcasing your work often

🕐 2 min read

Designing and building software is pretty important, but it's essential to showcase value regularly

Present and celebrate as a cross-functional team. Just don't forget the snacks, and cater for all tastes. I like to get non-alcoholic sparkling wine and also regular ol' bubbles ;)

Sure, shipping is important. But regularly showcasing your work in progress is equally important!

A couple of ways to do this

Walk around the office

No better way to get quick feedback but also evangelise design and share what you're working on than to go find random folks in your office for a quick sanity check. Or buy a box of donuts and setup by the front door and grab people on their way in!

Team demo work to each other — Regular demo's with colleagues in product and design or around the building is great to quickly validate a concept

Reviewing a prototype with a colleague — To get some quick feedback especially on a new interaction pattern or visual treatment, show some random folks in the office, or even the CPO!

Host a casual showcase one afternoon

Ideallt at the end of your sprint, or at a specific point of your project it's great to have the whole team host other teams, stakeholders or business leaders. Put on some food or snacks, keep it short and succinct and demonstrate the value delivered.

Team corner — Host your showcase where your team is located. Put up key information, designs, insights and data as a reference point

Showcasing our work — Invite people to your co-location space, put on some food or snacks and do a quick share out

Host a huge showcase at lunch

This is great fun. You can present it in front of folks or make it interactive! Much like our Hackers Marketplace, by allowing people to walk around and see what everyone is presenting.

Best of all, even if people can only spare 10-15 minutes at lunch, they can grab some food and still wander around to see what they can as opposed to the time suck of a formal presentation.

People gather around laptop — Let people ask questions and foster a more intimate setting for both testing mobile prototypes and conversations

Room full of people and energy — The marketplace format allows for much more interactivity, less formality and a focus on meeting with new people.

Take every opportunity to showcase!

A few years ago I was prompted unannounced to come before Rupert Murdoch and the News Corp leadership. Despite wearing airmax and a questionable tshirt I didn't hesitate.

Presenting to the big dawgs — Presenting some of our REA hacks to Rupert Murdoch and News Corp executives