TutorialsBuild Your Own First Small Tool
Choose your own topic, fill the three lists, build it with Baidu Dumate, fix at least one problem, and use it for one real task.
This assignment runs the whole course once, with a topic you choose: pick the problem → fill the checklist → build it → check and fix at least once → use it for real. Submit four things, all required: the filled checklist, a working build, the check record, and your trial feedback. Publishing publicly is not required; local files are fine.
Goals
- Choose a topic from your own real annoyance instead of copying the in-class deduplication example;
- End up with something you can open and operate, not a design mockup or a demo video;
- Practise the order: write the acceptance standard first, then check.
Three parts
Part 1 · Choose the problem and fill the checklist
Pick one concrete problem from the past week at work, in study or at home, and fill all six questions in the Word checklist. With no topic in mind, work through the list-cleaning example first, then swap in your own requirement.
| Item | My answer |
|---|---|
| One-sentence requirement (who, in what situation, what problem) | |
| The single thing version one does | |
| What I explicitly will not build | |
| Product form and device | |
| The example I will test with | |
| What that example should produce |
Self-check: if your one sentence contains a second "and it could also", the scope is still too large. Cut back to one core feature before continuing.
Part 2 · Hand it to Baidu Dumate
Give it the filled checklist and the course prompt, and answer one question at a time. Each time you make a key choice, have it written back into the checklist.
| Item | My answer |
|---|---|
| Key questions it asked (at least three) | |
| My choice and reasoning | |
| Final product form | |
| How to open it (where the files are, how to run) |
It will add things you did not ask for — extra buttons, sample data, settings you do not need. When you see something outside the checklist, say plainly: "This is out of scope, please remove it."
Part 3 · Check it yourself and fix at least one problem
Work through the acceptance table and fill in the actual result and status. Record at least one complete debugging round: input, action, expected, actual.
| Check | My record |
|---|---|
| Core flow passes | |
| Prompts for empty or invalid input | |
| Taking the result (copy, download, retain) | |
| Problems found and what was changed | |
| Retest result after the fix | |
| Items still unresolved or untested |
Part 4 · Use it once for real
| Item | My answer |
|---|---|
| What task it completed | |
| Did it remove the original pain | |
| The single most worthwhile change for version two |
What to submit
| Category | What to hand in |
|---|---|
| Product basis | The filled checklist (screenshot or Word file) and the updated lists from the build |
| Working build | Runnable files or an access entry, plus one line on how to open and operate it |
| Checks | Acceptance results, known issues, at least one screenshot or a short screen recording |
| Real use | Feedback after using it, and the next most worthwhile change |
Grading
| Level | Standard |
|---|---|
| Pass | All four categories present; a concrete, scoped topic; the tool opens and the core flow works; the acceptance table has real results |
| Good | On top of pass: the checklist and the build agree; one complete debug-and-fix round; untested items honestly marked |
| Excellent | On top of good: used once for real with a clear direction for the next version; rule-based features checked against known answers; material anonymised and reproducible by others |
Topics, visual style and feature count do not need to match the class example. Only four things are graded: how concrete the problem is, how reasonable the scope is, whether the build works, and whether the verification is real.
Pre-submission checklist
- I can state in one sentence who this helps and with what
- I know what version one does and what it deliberately does not
- The features in the checklist match the final build
- I can open the tool myself and complete one core operation
- I checked the result with a concrete input, not just AI saying "done"
- I recorded untested items, failures and known limits honestly
- Shared material is anonymised and others can reproduce it
Submission
- Upload screenshots of the finished work on the course site;
- Pick the tool you are happiest with and post it in the course group so others can try your first version.