Apple App Showcase User Guide

: October 27, 2023
: Apple

Table of Contents

Apple App Showcase
App Showcase
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

Apple App Showcase

App Showcase

Celebrate Ingenuity

Designing apps is great way to work together to solve challenges you care about. And by hosting an in-person or virtual app showcase, you give aspiring coders a chance to celebrate their ingenuity as they present their ideas and share their solutions with peers, families and the community.
After participants work together through the app design process, they’ll create a presentation and pitch it to a panel of judges during the showcase. The event concludes with recognition and a celebration of all participants.
This guide is a companion to Apple’s coding curriculum and resources. It’s designed to help you get started planning and preparing for an app showcase event. You’ll find information on showcase formats to suit your environment, tips on inviting and preparing judges, a downloadable rubric and certificate, and more.

What’s in This Guide

For each stage of organizing and hosting an app showcase, you’ll find resources and customizable materials designed to make it easy to implement an inspiring showcase event.

Prepare

Create a 3-minute pitch

Plan

Showcase format
Judging the showcase
Invitations and promotion
Recognition

Share

Share your showcase
Things to consider

Prepare

To participate in the showcase, participants will need to work through the app design process and create a presentation for the event. Participants work independently or in small teams, developing critical- and creative-thinking skills as they go.
Get started with app design using Keynote:
Download the Everyone Can Code App Design Journal >
Go further awith more in-depth exercises and coding challenges:
Download the Develop in Swift App Design Workbook >

Create a 3-minute pitch
During the showcase, participants will deliver a 3-minute pitch presentation of their app ideas. Presentations should include:

The problem their app is solving
Who their app is designed for and what its impact will be
Description of their app design process
How their app will be used, including a demo of the prototype
Demonstration of the user interface, user experience and coding concepts in the prototype

Share the judging rubric with participants to help them get ready to pitch their projects.

Plan

Showcase format
Your showcase can be small or large, in-person or virtual. Consider the resources you already have and who might be able to provide support. Try to identify how and where you’ll hold the event as soon as possible. It can be in a classroom, at the library or a community centre. Or you can hold it online through a video conference system — anywhere participants can show off their apps!

We’ve provided three sample ideas for formats — an app fair, a main stage and a virtual showcase — to spark ideas for an event that best fits your participants and community.

App fair
Like a science fair, an app fair lets guests and participants explore at their own pace, visiting each team’s station to view prototypes and hear their pitches.

Main stage
In a main stage event, teams take turns presenting their app ideas to a panel of judges in front of a live audience. The tone is more formal, and the format gives participants the opportunity to practice public speaking from a stage.
In this format, judges sit on or near the stage so they can pose questions to the teams following their pitches.

Virtual showcase
A virtual showcase gives teams the opportunity to present their app pitches online using a video conferencing tool. It can be a fun way to celebrate participants in any learning environment.
Consider a rehearsal with participants before the event to help them become familiar with the format and practice their pitches. On the day of the showcase, create a celebratory feel with welcome music and an enthusiastic emcee.
If judges are unable to join a video conference, consider sharing screen recordings. Judges can provide video or written feedback to participants.

Judging the showcase

Including judges is a great way to provide participants with feedback on their ideas. Judges don’t need to be experts in coding. Consider inviting local business people and community leaders to be judges. Hosting a virtual app showcase also allows for inviting judges from near and far — don’t be afraid to ask.

Tips for judging

Review the scoring rubric with judges. Let them know the types of awards and recognition you’re planning.
Encourage judges to ask the participants questions and provide feedback.
Provide a quiet space for judges to convene and discuss scoring.
For virtual showcases, judges can meet on a separate call or video conference.

Invitations and promotion

Here are some ideas to help you build excitement and encourage your community to attend the showcase event:

Send invitations to special guests, like family members, peers and community leaders.
Encourage presenters to invite their friends and family.
Promote the event on your organization website, on social media and in your newsletter.

Recognition
All participants should receive a certificate of achievement for participating in the showcase. Also, friendly competition can be a great motivator. Consider recognizing participants for their strengths in app design with awards like:

Best Innovation
Best Design
Best Pitch

You can also encourage audience participation with a People’s Choice award. Download and modify this certificate template for different awards.

Share your showcase
By hosting an app showcase, you join a community that’s supporting innovators of the future. Follow @AppleEDU on Twitter and show us what’s happening in your app showcase events by tagging #EveryoneCanCode and #DevelopInSwift.

Things to consider

Remember to consult your organization’s social media guidelines and acceptable-use policy.
Be sure you have parental consent to share participants’ work.
Help participants protect their intellectual property and respect copyrights held by others.

Evaluation Rubric

Download

Category| Novice (1 point)| Intermediate (2 points)| Proﬁcient (3 points)| Mastered (4 points)| Points
---|---|---|---|---|---
Pitch Content| Shares basic information, such as purpose and target audience| Gives clear explanation of the app’s purpose and design, and how it addresses user needs| Presents clear and compelling explanation of the problem they’re trying to solve, market demand, audience and how the app was designed to meet user needs| Makes a persuasive pitch backed by evidence that shows how the app meets, exceeds

or redefines user needs

|
Pitch Delivery| Informational; one team member presents| Confident, enthusiastic; more than one team member presents| Engaging, good use of visuals to support story; team highlights contributions of each member| Creative, memorable storytelling; engaging visual support; smooth transitions between team members|
User Interface| Consistent screens that support app’s purpose| Clear, functional design with familiar elements; prototype supports basic user tasks| Elegant, concise, pleasing design with thoughtful use of colour, layout and readability; prototype gives user a sense of place within navigation| Design empowers the user to interact with content; prototype uses animation, colour and layout to create a seamless, engaging experience|
User Experience| Clear intent; users can accomplish one or more goals| Consistent and standard navigation; intuitive path through app content| Adaptable to user needs; addresses accessibility, privacy and security| Innovative, surprising and delightful; gives users a new kind of experience that sets it apart from competitors|
Coding Concepts| Some connection between app functionality and underlying code| Explanation of how general coding concepts like data types, conditional logic or touch events relate to the app| Description of specific coding tasks necessary to build their app; demonstration of how that code powers the app’s functionality| Explanation of the app’s architecture, data structure, algorithms and features; discussion of decision-making in developing this approach|
Technical Review (Optional) For functional app prototypes in Xcode. Judges should be familiar with Swift and iOS development best practices.| Swift code runs in speciﬁc examples; code is basic with no abstraction| Code runs without error in all cases; code is basic with some evidence of abstraction| Code is organised with clear Swift naming conventions; high evidence of abstraction; follows iOS guidelines| Code is well documented with comments; eﬀective use of Swift features; employs organisation, such as Model- View-Controller|
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