How can you explain software development to a non-technical interviewer?

Software development is like painting a mural of the size of a stadium on the ground with thousands of painters and artists, with only a high level description of what it needs to depict, but needs a very high resolution painting. And you have to make sure nobody tramples on what the other painted. And finally you need it finished yesterday :-).

A software is like a Katana, software development is the rigorous and painstaking yet fulfilling process of making a katana. Imagine that you ever wanted to a Katana made by a master swordsmith who has years of experience, uses the highest quality materials, and very keen to every detail of the process. The produced sword will be durable, balanced, effective in battle, beautiful and valuable, reflecting the skill and craftsmanship that went into its creation. The quality of the final product - whether it's a samurai sword or a piece of software - is directly related to the skill, experience, and keen eyes of a person or team crafting it. McConnell's essay on "The Art, Science, and Engineering of Software Development" still applies today.

Software Development is just like cooking a perfect dish, it needs right Kitchen equipments, perfect ingrediants in right quality and quantity and most important a time critical thinking to act on upcoming challenges.

One way of easily explaining software development to an a non technical interviewer is by using the analogy of crafting a puzzle. You have to first look at the big picture of the puzzle , plan and organize your puzzle pieces like how one would analyze requirements. The code represents the individual pieces of the puzzle, developers assemble them to form a coherent picture like a program, debugging is fixing any pieces that don't quite fit. Updates are like adding new pieces to enhance the overall end product.

I often simplified complex concepts for non-technical people by illustrating them with basic and simple diagrams. example like demonstrated the flow between clients, servers, and databases, different type of modern web technologies like Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Client-Side Rendering (CSR)

Avoid jargon and acronyms. Use simple, straightforward language. If you must use a technical term, immediately provide a plain-language explanation. Utilize charts, graphs, and visual representations to illustrate concepts. Visual aids can simplify complex ideas and make them easier to understand. After explaining a technical concept, summarize it in simple terms. This reinforces understanding and allows for any necessary clarifications.

This is a great chance to display some very useful skills! Being able to explain what you do in simple terms means you understand it in depth. It also means you have communication skills. Practice expressing yourself in a manner that is easy to follow and hard to misunderstand, and that will prove to be a great asset in life as well as work.

Learning to simplify goes a long way, it can help you explain certain topics to people in your team who might not be familiar with them. One thing that has worked for me is to ask the person if they have any questions and adjust accordingly.

I completely agree with this approach. When explaining software development to someone non-technical, the 'baby explanation' method can be surprisingly effective. Complex jargon and technicalities often don't impress but rather overwhelm a non-technical audience. They can induce anxiety and even boredom. The key is to demystify the process by breaking it down into simpler, more relatable terms. Just like you wouldn't use complex language with a baby, you shouldn't bombard a non-technical interviewer with jargon. This not only ensures clarity but also keeps the conversation engaging and interactive. By simplifying complex concepts, you're more likely to capture and retain the interviewer's interest.

There are multiple examples of different softwares on our daily lives: from appliances like washing machine, dishwasher and tv, to the software on your car or the apps on your phone. For every one of them there is a paradigm, a tool or a different language applied in order to provide a solution. That can be used to illustrate different forms of development.

Imagine you have a magical recipe book that tells you how to create something amazing, like a giant castle out of building blocks. Software development is a bit like that magical recipe book, but instead of building castles with blocks, we use special instructions (like secret codes) that we write for computers. These instructions are called code. Just like how you follow a recipe step-by-step to make your favorite cake, software developers write these instructions (code) to make computer programs. These programs can be games you play on your tablet, apps on your parents' phones, or even websites where you can learn new things or watch funny videos.

Visuals speak louder than words in tech. I'd bring a quick portfolio on my tablet snapshots of UIs we've optimized, graphs showing performance boosts, or a 30 second video of a game changing feature. One glance at how we slashed load times by 40% or boosted user engagement by 25% tells the whole story. These aren't just projects; they're business wins. Let's set up a brief show and tell. I'll demonstrate how our tech directly impacts your ROI

Use analogies to explain hard to understand concepts. Add comparison derived from the product the interviewers' company is working on. They are most likely familiar with the features and would understand the impact.

One thing I found easy while explaining to non technical people is that they understand in detail when we give an example of existing applications in market like shopping sites or apps to order food etc, as they are more related to them and when we explain they can visualise it. Also listing few technical terms in abbreviations, will also provide a knowledge on technology used which they can use it in future for their own purposes.

Value is first, this should be at the forefront of all discussions with any nontechnical stakeholders. Nobody cares if the button they clicked is powered by react, angular or java or rails, or that you use MVC or micro-services, they don't even care about the button itself. At the end of the day the button is the way they solve their problem. Keeping this in the back of your mind, will improve your overall communication, and also help you have more meaningful conversations.

non-technical people don't care about programmers' rants about used technologies, languages and the like. just like a listener of music doesn't care what kind of guitar strings a guitarist uses. software solutions should serve to facilitate, speed up and simplify everyday tasks, and that's how they should be explained to non-technical people.

When discussing your work, highlight how software development is a problem solving process that directly impacts key business outcomes. For instance, explain how a feature you implemented helped reduce operational costs by automating tasks, or how an improvement in the user interface boosted customer retention. Software is often a tool for enhancing efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction. Illustrating these business centric results can shift the conversation from the technical to how your work drives tangible value for the company.

It is equally beneficial for both technical and non-technical stakeholders to understand the software in terms of users, products, features and processes. This provides a background of what the software system does, how it helps improve certain business processes or user experience, how it generates value and eventually how that leads to a positive ROI.

Frame technical information within a narrative or story. Stories engage and help convey ideas in a more accessible way. Emphasize the benefits and outcomes rather than the technical details. Explain how a particular technology or solution will solve a problem or improve efficiency. Focus on the impact of a technology or solution on the business, operations, or specific goals. Management is often more interested in outcomes than technical intricacies.

First of all it is communication, it is not monologue. It is very useful to get a feedback, to track if you are on the same page, if you start talking same language. Asking question during explanation is the best you could do if it is small talk or meeting, however you should avoid it when you presenter on the conferences.

Extracting requirements from clients is often like drawing water from a deep well—it requires patience and persistence. Assuming that developers inherently know what the customer needs can be a fatal mistake; understanding and extracting their true needs is key.

Encourage dialogue by asking questions to gauge the interviewer's understanding and tailor your explanations accordingly. For example, ask if they've used any apps or software recently and relate those experiences to software development concepts.

Engage the interviewer by asking about their experiences with software. For example, "Do you use any apps on your phone? That's software development in action." Use their responses to tailor your explanation and make it more relatable. This approach also demonstrates your communication skills and ability to explain complex topics interactively.

Metaphors are great. But if you simplify something too much the person you are talking to may underestimate the level of complexity in what you are trying to convey. So consider which metaphor to use with an eye on keeping the complexity of a task but in an example that'd be easier to wrap someone else's head around.

If you have to explain software development to an interviewer - this is likely not the job you want to take. It means organization did not invest enough effort (or understood the value) of prepping first touch point for a potential candidate.

It’s important to communicate that software requires constant care and maintenance. I sometimes compare software to creatures living in fictional universe, with some species evolving and thriving because they have features and capabilities that make them most likely to survive. And some other species of software having short life spans, because they have not been cared for, or because environment around them changed drastically.

Lots of good comments here, but at the end of the day I think you need to consider the intent; what are you trying to achieve? If you meet someone in line at the supermarket and the conversation leads to the classic '...and what do you do?', you can use a few analogies and describe the impact of your work in a way that resonates with something they know - something like 'I write the software that allows the elevator to navigate successfully to the floor you selected and stop there gently, rather than attempting to achieve escape velocity as it crashes through the roof of the building', but if your hope is to explain it well enough that someone not trained in it can fix bugs or add features, you probably need to adjust your expectations.

In my experience, it’s always better to explain with an example to understand easily. I will show the surroundings with manual process and how much time it is taking and there by automation how it helps and improves productivity.