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Portfolio Development Experience Blog

In year 2 semester 2, in collaboration with OCBC banking, I attended the Portfolio Development module which allows us students  to have a chance to work on real world problem statements that OCBC face in a real life scenario. For this module, we had to think of a solution that answers the problem statement, "What would you build to allow both the applicant and the Bank's operations staff to update, process, and track the application status for the Digital Securities account and product". Before hopping into the channel for this problem statement, I was excited to be introduced to this new module, but slightly concerned as I was unsure if I was ready enough for the requirements of the upcoming assignment for this module.

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01

Reflection on the Preparation

As I hopped into the channel to opt for my challenge statement, I was quite excited as I had never worked on a real world problem statement presented by a big company like OCBC. On the other hand, I was slightly concerned as I was unsure if the current skills I had would allow me to present the best solution. 

Upon reading the challenge statement during the preparation stage, my first thoughts was just confusion as I was unsure what was the best solution to be implemented for this problem statement. Furthermore, I felt slightly awkward and stressed during the group formation activity as I was partnered with unknown classmates whom I have never met before. I was also slightly concerned about not forming a group with my friends as I felt that I would work more comfortably with them instead of strangers. However, forming a group with new classmates opens up a window of opportunity for me as I was able to observe and learn the skills applied by my new team members. Knowing this, I introduced myself to my new team members, and get to know them more thoroughly. 

During the preparation stage, some difficulties my group faced include being unable to properly understand the given problem statement, resulting in us being unable to think of a valid solution to this real world problem. However, to overcome this, my group held regular meetings to dive into the problem statement deeper to better understand it to know what solution to implement and produce. We also asked relevant questions during the weekly meetings with our module teacher and OCBC mento.

As a result, my group was able to think of several solutions that could potentially solve this problem statement. For example, for better security features for the digital securities account and product, we decided to implement cloud technology using Amazon Web Services. Additionally, to allow applicants and OCBC staff to update, process and track their application status, we decided to go with C# Model View Controller, due to having prior knowledge on how to use C# programming language to code out webpages that suit different stakeholders needs. 

02

Reflection on the execution of Hackathon

During the execution of Hackathon, frustration was common as we faced several problems that forced us to change the direction of several solutions. For example, in regards to implanting cloud technology, the idea had to be scrapped due to the limitations AWS placed on student accounts. Because of this, some important features such as sending email notifications using AWS were affected as they could not be created with our student accounts during Hackathon. Another problem we faced also includes being unable to implement suitable records in our required database for our webpage features. Due to this problem, some webpages such as the member login page did not work the way we wanted it to be during the presentation.

However, despite all the downs we encountered, we as a group managed to code out many of the required implementations to present for the presentation at OCBC headquarters after the Hackathon.  Some completed implementations include the the application form required by OCBC staff or applicants, for viewing their application status for their Digital Securities account and product etc. 

To add on, some enjoyable moments of the Hackathon include being able to play with the Nintendo Switch and Nerf guns as a form of relaxation. The snacks and drinks also contributed tremendously as it was able to quench portions of our hunger or thirst during the long hours of coding. Being able to code with new friends and classmates was enjoyable in its own way as I was able to observe how they handle and solve their coding problems, and what kind of code they would implement to best fit the situation. A few team members were also able to contribute beyond their comfort zone. For example, within the short duration of the Hackathon before the presentation at the OCBC campus, several of us were able to code non-stop and produce a working forum that shows what needs to be seen by members and staff of OCBC.

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03

Reflection on the final sprints

Now that the Hackathon is over, I felt that my team's performance was well done in many areas, with some room for improvement. Some well done areas would include being able to think of new features to include in our application, and successfully implementing most if not all of them before the submission deadline for this assignment. Some completed features for sprint 2 include a chat bot for customers, and a webpage to view the different application status for customers' applications etc. Furthermore, some of my teammates were able to implement features outside their comfort zone, including hosting the website on cloud, and also being able to create an avatar creation page for the user. I was not only amazed by these features, it also motivates me to work harder and provide myself with more self-learning so that I can extraordinary features in future assignments. My Google Translation was also an idea resulting in me pushing myself further, as I was forced to think about local and non-local users of our solution, and the potential language barrier they might face.

However, there remains some room for improvement for the team. Firstly, not much communication was involved between the team members, as we mostly depended on an own time own target system. Because of this, any changes made to the application's code or database would be extremely sudden as other team members might not even know why or what changes were made to the respective areas. Despite being said, we did our best to overcome these problems by meeting each other online more often to discuss what were the changes made. 

The presentation our team made for Mr Chang was also well done, as we were able to successfully showcase the solution we have implemented to answer the problem statement. 

04

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, this module has been a challenge and a great eye opener for myself. Not only did it allow me to experience what it is like to work on a real world problem under a world renowned company such as OCBC, it allowed me to discover the different ways of thinking others have, in regards to the solutions they implemented for this problem statement. Furthermore, the Hackathon was also a great experience as it allowed me to work well with my other team members to implement the code and database required for the solution we have thought of. Lastly, being able to give a presentation at the OCBC campus about my team's solution allowed me to experience the thrill one would feel when giving a speech about a solution to the company's real world problem. The presentation and people at OCBC also piqued my interest in the OCBC company and the opportunities they can provide to me as a future intern, as I would be interning there for a 1 year internship. From this PFD module, I have also learnt to work better with my teammates, despite if they are friends or people I have never met before. I have also learn that even if my solution to a problem solves it successfully, it might not be the best solution as there might be other better ways of doing it that can provide more benefits such as less time consumption etc. I must constantly be improving myself to learn new things to execute and produce better results in any future assignments or tasks 

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