ICS 414 is a class that revolves around supplying a product which is a web application to a customer. We were split up into groups of around 8 people to come up with different products. Our web application had to inventory stock that the customer had. In this class, there were 6 milestones where we had to make progress on our web application to show to the customers and the professor. During this time I learned many things. I am going to write about the two things I learned in this class that I will probably use all my life.
I have never worked as a team this big before. The most people I worked with were about 4 people. On this project there was double that amount. There are a lot of skills I picked up when working in a group this big. Working with a group this big made me learn how to communicate with them to get things done. Communication is very important when working in a team. This is because it is important to talk openly and honestly about your group members about responsibilities and expectations they need to fulfill. Also, working in a group made me learn how to manage time well. This is because when our group had deadlines, we had to manage our time so that everyone was doing their part and we had to make sure we met up with one another when one of us had a problem. Working in a group this big made me develop skills I will need in the future and I learned many things while working with this many people.
In this class I never really worked with a customer that had a need and gave feedback on what needed to be changed. It was a very new experience for me. I learned that sometimes, the customer does not know what they really want so you have to brainstorm some ideas so that you can fulfill the needs of the customers. I gained skills in how to t5ake feedback and make your product even better for the customer. When meeting up with the customer, you learn many things about your product and how to make it better to use for people who may not be as tech savvy. When working with a customer, I realize that I can get tunnel visioned when brainstorming and making a product that may be hard to understand to use. That is why I think having a second opinion like a customer will help build your products to be better overall. These were some of the many things I learned when working with a customer.
Overall, I learned many skills and things in this class that I will use throughout my career. I am grateful for this class because these skills are necessary when I am working out in the real world. This class gave me experience that I will need to succeed in working with other people.