CHAPTER 32
“Nggak semua perjuangan harus diceritakan. Kadang, cukup biarkan hasilnya yang bicara. Because at some point, effort has to speak louder than words.”
Beberapa saat setelah pengumuman dari panitia terdengar di seluruh area Innovation Hub, suasana di sekitar booth Team Alpha perlahan berubah.
Sebelumnya, tempat itu masih dipenuhi suara mahasiswa yang saling bercanda, pengunjung yang bertanya tentang berbagai proyek, serta bunyi kamera yang sesekali terdengar dari sudut ruangan. Namun sekarang, ritme seluruh area pameran mulai berubah. Beberapa panitia berjalan lebih cepat sambil membawa tablet, sementara sebagian lainnya mulai memeriksa nomor booth dan memastikan setiap tim berada di tempat masing-masing.
Dari ujung lorong, beberapa orang yang mengenakan tanda pengenal khusus juri mulai memasuki area pameran.
Kael yang sedang memeriksa prototype di layar utama langsung menyadarinya. Ia berhenti sejenak, lalu melihat kepada Lucas, Elara, dan Celeste yang berada di dekat meja.
"Guys.... "
"Kayaknya mereka mulai keliling."
Lucas yang sedang membaca kembali dokumen evaluasi langsung menutup laptopnya.
"Finally."
Ia berdiri dan merapikan kemejanya.
"Jujur, dari tadi aku lebih tegang nunggu mereka datang daripada waktu kita presentasi kemarin."
Celeste tertawa kecil sambil merapikan beberapa lembar materi.
"Serius? Bukannya kemarin kamu bilang yang paling bikin kamu takut itu pertanyaan juri?"
"Itu beda," jawab Lucas cepat. "Kalau pertanyaan juri, kita masih bisa mikir dulu. Kalau mereka datang ke booth dan langsung pegang prototype, kita nggak bisa pura-pura semuanya sempurna."
Elara yang sedang memeriksa tablet ikut menyahut, "Ya memang nggak sempurna."
Lucas menoleh.
"Thanks banget atas support-nya."
Elara tertawa.
"Maksud aku bukan jelek. Justru karena kita tahu masih ada kekurangan, kita jadi nggak boleh panik kalau mereka nemuin sesuatu yang belum beres."
Kael tersenyum kecil.
"Elara benar."
Ia menatap layar prototype sekali lagi.
"Prototype kita memang belum sempurna. Tapi kita juga nggak datang ke sini buat pura-pura kalau semuanya sudah selesai."
Celeste mengangguk.
"Kita datang buat menunjukkan prosesnya."
"Exactly," jawab Kael.
Ia kemudian menarik napas panjang sebelum menatap ketiga rekannya.
"Whatever happens nanti, jangan ada yang langsung mikir kita gagal cuma karena ada satu pertanyaan yang nggak bisa kita jawab."
Lucas mengangguk.
"Kalau gue panik?"
"Kita bisa ngelakuin suatu hal yang namanya Act normal."
"Kalau gue nggak bisa act normal?"
Kael berpikir sebentar.
"Fake it."
Celeste langsung tertawa.
"That's actually terrible advice."
Kael ikut tertawa.
"Kenapa? Selama kelihatannya tenang, berarti berhasil."
Elara menggeleng.
"Masalahnya kalau Lucas pura-pura tenang, biasanya malah kelihatan lebih panik."
Lucas menunjuk dirinya sendiri.
"Excuse me?"
"Kemarin waktu presentasi kamu pegang pulpen sampai hampir patah."
"Itu bukan panik. Itu... konsentrasi."
"Pulpenkamu sampai bunyi."
"Ya karena pulpennya murah."
Celeste tertawa semakin keras.
Kael hanya menggeleng sambil tersenyum.
"Okay, guys. Fokus."
Ia menepuk meja pelan.
"Juri udah datang."
Tidak lama kemudian, rombongan juri akhirnya berhenti tepat di depan booth Team Alpha.
Beberapa pengunjung yang sebelumnya berdiri di sekitar booth perlahan memberikan ruang. Panitia yang mendampingi mereka kemudian memperkenalkan tim tersebut.
"Team Alpha from University College London."
"Project developed under the theme Smart Living for Sustainable Future."
Salah seorang juri mengangguk dan tersenyum.
"Good morning."
Kael maju satu langkah.
"Good morning, judges. Welcome to Team Alpha."
Ia tidak langsung memulai presentasi seperti presentasi formal di atas panggung. Sebaliknya, Kael menggeser tubuh sedikit ke samping dan memperlihatkan prototype yang terpampang pada layar.
"Before we explain the system, we'd like you to see the problem from the user's perspective first."
Salah seorang juri terlihat tertarik.
"Go ahead."
Kael memberikan isyarat kepada Elara. Tidak lama kemudian Elara maju sambil membawa tablet berisi hasil wawancara dan pengujian pengguna.
"Based on our interviews and testing, we found something quite interesting."
Ia membuka beberapa data.
"Most people actually know that they should live more sustainably. They know they should save energy, reduce unnecessary consumption, manage waste better, and build healthier habits."
Ia berhenti sebentar sebelum melanjutkan.
"But knowing something is important doesn't automatically mean people will actually do it."
Salah seorang juri mengangguk pelan. Kemudian Elara melanjutkan dengan nada yang lebih santai namun tetap percaya diri.
"That's actually where we started. At first, we thought people needed more information. We thought maybe if we gave them more data, more statistics, more recommendations, they would understand the importance of sustainable living."
Ia tersenyum tipis.
"But after talking to real users, we realized something."
"Our question shouldn't be, 'How can we give people more information?'"
Elara menatap para juri.
"It should be.... "
"'How can we make sustainable habits easier for people to actually practice in their everyday lives?'"
Beberapa juri mulai mencatat.
Kael kemudian mengambil alih.
"And that's why we redesigned our concept."
Ia menunjuk layar prototype.
"We don't want users to feel like they're being lectured by an application."
"We don't want the system to constantly tell them that they're doing something wrong."
Kael menunjuk beberapa fitur pada layar.
"We want the application to feel more like a companion. Something that understands the user's habits, gives realistic suggestions, and allows them to see their progress without making the whole process feel overwhelming."
Salah seorang juri menyela.
"So you're focusing on behavioral change?"
Kael mengangguk.
"Yes. But we're not claiming that an application alone can completely change someone's lifestyle."
Ia tersenyum kecil.
"That's unrealistic."
"Instead, we see the application as a tool that makes small changes easier to start and easier to maintain."
Lucas kemudian maju membawa penjelasan dari sisi bisnis.
"Our system is also designed to be scalable."
Ia membuka salah satu grafik.
"Our initial model doesn't depend on expensive infrastructure. We're focusing on behavioral data, adaptive recommendations, and partnerships with institutions."
Ia menunjuk bagian grafik berikutnya.
"For example, we could start within a university environment. Universities already have communities, facilities, and a large number of users who can participate in testing."
"Once the system becomes more stable, the same concept could potentially be adapted for residential communities or other public spaces."
Salah seorang juri langsung bertanya,
"Potentially?"
Lucas mengangguk.
"Yes."
Ia tidak mencoba menghindari kata tersebut.
"Because we're not here to claim that our current prototype can solve everything."
Ia tersenyum kecil.
"Right now, we're still testing. We're still collecting data. We're still trying to understand what actually works and what doesn't."
Lucas kemudian menatap layar.
"What we're presenting today is not the final answer."
"It's a realistic starting point that we believe can be developed further."
Juri tersebut mengangguk pelan.
"That's a more reasonable approach."
Lucas tersenyum.
"We'd rather be honest about where we are than make the project sound bigger than it actually is."
Dari samping, Elara melirik Lucas dan tersenyum kecil. Sementara Kael mengangguk setuju. Kemudian perhatian para juri beralih kepada Celeste.
Celeste berdiri di samping layar utama dengan beberapa contoh desain komunikasi yang sebelumnya dibuat bersama Aurora.
Ia membuka slide pertama.
"Technology won't mean much if people don't understand why they should use it."
Ia menunjuk beberapa desain.
"That's why our communication strategy focuses on making sustainability feel relatable."
"Instead of telling people, 'You need to change your lifestyle,' we want the message to feel much more personal."
Ia menampilkan contoh kampanye.
"Start small."
"Track your progress."
"Understand your impact."
"And then keep going."
Salah seorang juri memperhatikan desain tersebut cukup lama.
"Who designed this communication system?"
Celeste menjawab dengan tenang.
"Our team."
Kemudian ia melirik Aurora yang berdiri beberapa langkah di belakang.
"And we also received visual support from our media collaborator, Aurora."
Beberapa juri menoleh kepada Aurora.
Aurora terlihat sedikit terkejut karena tiba-tiba mendapat perhatian, tetapi ia tetap tersenyum dan mengangguk sopan.
Salah seorang juri kembali menatap Celeste.
"Your communication doesn't feel like traditional environmental campaigning."
Celeste tersenyum.
"Because we don't want it to feel like a campaign."
Juri itu mengangkat alis.
"Then what do you want it to feel like?"
Celeste berpikir sejenak sebelum menjawab.
"A conversation."
Ia kemudian melanjutkan.
"People already hear a lot of messages about climate change and sustainability. Sometimes so much that they become tired of hearing the same thing again and again."
"So instead of saying, 'You have to do this because the planet needs it,' we want to say, 'Here's something you can actually do today.'"
Celeste menunjuk salah satu desain.
"Something small. Something measurable. Something that doesn't make people feel guilty when they fail."
Ia tersenyum.
"Because if people feel judged every time they make a mistake, eventually they'll stop trying."
Juri tersebut kembali mencatat sesuatu.
"I like that."
Celeste mengangguk.
"Thank you."
Setelah seluruh penjelasan selesai, salah seorang juri kembali memperhatikan prototype.
"Can we try it ourselves?"
Kael langsung mengangguk.
"Absolutely."
Tablet kemudian diserahkan kepada juri tersebut.
Ia mencoba memasukkan beberapa data sederhana. Sistem kemudian memberikan rekomendasi berdasarkan kebiasaan pengguna. Juri tersebut mencoba fitur lain. Kemudian kembali ke halaman utama.
"Hmm.... "
Ia menggeser layar beberapa kali.
"This is much simpler than your previous version."
Kael tersenyum.
"Yes."
"That was intentional."
"Why did you decide to simplify it?"
Kael menarik napas kecil.
"Because during our first evaluation, we realized we were trying too hard to impress people."
Lucas langsung tertawa kecil.
"That's probably the most accurate description of our first version."