Cracking the Poster Dilemma with AI

After "Purple Elf" was shortlisted for the national finals, the pressure was relentless. As the head of design, I scoured Canva for templates, yet none could capture the "soul" of our project. With the deadline looming, anxiety set in. Then, a bold idea struck: as a developer, why not just build a webpage tailored to my logic and export it as a PDF? What started as a "what if" became an incredibly efficient solution. In just one hour, a poster that balanced sophisticated design with clear logic was born. This "dimensionality reduction" approach—applying a developer's mindset to design—bought us invaluable time for final preparations. You can click here to see the poster.

Strategy on the Competition Floor

Our first night in Shanghai was a blur of intense rehearsals. The next morning was the poster presentation, where we pitched to youth juries in three separate rounds. In the first round, lacking experience, we talked for 8 minutes, leaving only 2 minutes for Q&A. Taking feedback from the second round, we pivoted instantly, tightening our pitch to 5 minutes to prioritize interaction.

The afternoon expert defense was the "real battlefield": an 8-minute PPT presentation followed by a 6-minute interrogation. During the presentation, my teammate’s segment ran over, sending my heart racing. In that split second, I made the call to cut my own part on the fly to stay within the time limit. Surprisingly, the Q&A became our strongest suit—since we built every line of code ourselves, we answered the experts' most grueling technical questions with absolute confidence and ease.

A Collision of Curiosity and Inspiration

On the second day, we stepped out of our booth for the "Curiosity Fair." Many contestants expressed genuine admiration that we had successfully launched our app on the App Store. Meanwhile, I was captivated by others' creativity. I was particularly impressed by a smart cushion designed for sedentary office workers; it used a 45-minute vibration reminder and a competitive ranking system to turn "healthy habits" into a game. Their keen insight into user pain points gave me a fresh perspective on product design.

The Rollercoaster Award Ceremony

The award ceremony was the most agonizing yet unforgettable moment of the entire journey. Third prize winners were announced—our name wasn't there. I told myself, "Maybe we got second." When the second prize list was finalized and "Purple Elf" still hadn't been called, my heart sank. I felt a complex mix of emotions—happy for my friends who won second, but deeply disappointed for us, given how much I believed in our project.

"The only possibility left is first prize... but is that even possible?" I whispered to myself. Suddenly, our name flashed on the giant screen. The shock far outweighed the joy in that instant! First Prize! From a mere spark of code to the highest national honor, all the sweat and those sleepless, anxious nights had finally transformed into the most incredible reality.