Increasing Developer Productivity During Hackathons

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OVERVIEW

This idea is majorly based and applicable for big hackathons, that usually take place for at least 2 weeks, but could be applied to smaller hacakthons alike. I'll be explaining the current scenario of a typical hackathon taking place on Devpost, the problems that occur due to that, personal experiences and my proposed solution to overcome that.

CURRENT SCENARIO

So, the way hackathons take place right now is as follows:-

1. A person would need to mostly register on Devpost, if the organizers don't have any other registration platforms.
2. Then they can read the prompt of the hackathon, read the rules and figure out on what to build. Additionally, there may be few channels and resources that are put on the to-do list, which is great to point out the important things.
3. After getting accustomed to the hackathon themes, the user would form teams using team-building page or at their personal level, or go solo and complete their project.
4. They can ask the organizers as well as the Devpost staff if they get stuck anywhere, and then submit the project and wait while the results are out.

PROBLEMS IN THE CURRENT SCENARIO

Now, although this user flow is amazing, but there are few problems that could occur while following these steps. The problems are:-

1. The user might be really confused on what to build. There could always be an ambiguity with their ideas, such as if the idea is feasible and is that exactly what the organisers are seeking. This ambiguity could also be on a whole team level which would definitely slow down the development process.

2. Now the second issue that is faced by the developers is lack of consistency. It is actually very difficult to put in consistent efforts through the course of the hackathon, especially in hackathons with longer duration (over weeks). This inconsistency also leads to confusion and last minute work which is hectic and would certainly have many issues and unfinished features.

3. For people that are new on Devpost, it could be quite intriguing to create teams, basically the learning curve is a little bit tough in my opinion. And also, once they create team, they don't know how to make it official, like how to show it on the project unless they try it out. The first step of the project creation itself is selecting team members, but that sort of remains like a mystery until a person actually starts creating a project.

USER PERSONAS

I've been using Devpost since early 2021 and have used it to participate in a number of hackathons. I've participated in big and small hackathons alike. I've worked on projects that are diverse in their implementation, from UI/UX projects to Web development projects, from mobile app development project to creative projects like making lens, and more.

SOLUTIONS/IDEAS

Each of the problems that I discussed above are pretty much solvable, and they won't change the whole look or the UX flow of the platform, which is crucial for old users. Let us discuss solution to each problems one by one.

1. MENTORING SESSIONS TO FINALISE UPON IDEAS

BRIEF

This solution is honestly to give a better idea to the developers on what to create. I feel like every big hackathon should have a dedicated tab where they can discuss their idea and get feedback and insights from the hackathon organizers.

NEED

This would definitely remove most of the ambiguity with the idea for the project and would also encourage the hackers to work forward in the direction of their idea with more confidence.

FLOW OF IMPLEMENTATION

The implementation is fairly simple. There would be a section in My Projects tab where the participants can pitch their ideas and seek feedback from hackathon organizers.

UI/UX

2. NEW TO-DO LIST TAB

BRIEF

A new to-do tab should be implemented for each user per hackathon, where they'll have some default entries and could modify them and add more entries.

NEED

This is very much needed because what happens is that if someone would keep the to-dos in their normal to-do app or somewhere, there is a possibility of it getting lost or basically just not getting paid the attention it needs. If there would be a to-do tab in the hackathon dashboard itself, it'll be very feasible for the developers to write down their tasks over there, and tick them off accordingly. I feel that this would help on the procrastination part and make the process of completing tasks efficient.

FLOW OF IMPLEMENTATION

The to-do tab would be an addition to the existing tabs already there (Overview, My Projects, Participants), etc. The user would be given a very basic filled template which could include the prompts given by hackathon organisers, and it would be totally modifiable by the developers. They can add all sorts of hackathon tasks in their, like fixing that screen freezing bug, or completing the demo video or proofreading the write-up.

UI/UX

3. IMPROVING TEAM CREATION UX

BRIEF

This would be a one step process to accomplish. The UX needs to be made better at the project creating page.

NEED

This is very much needed to avoid any confusion amongst the developers on how to officially form teams in devpost hackathon projects and would also encourage them to create better teams.

FLOW OF IMPLEMENTATION

At the project creation page, there are two button - "Start Project" and "Find Teammates". There should be a little modification in this step. There should be instead three buttons - "Start Solo Project", "Start Team Project" and "Find Teammates". The only difference between starting solo and in team is that in the starting solo flow, the first step would not be there where you have to add teammates using the link. That step would only be visible while starting a team project. This would make the things so simple to understand by the developers.

UI/UX

CONCLUSION

So, I would like to simply conclude by saying that these small changes would be very effective in sorting and easing the doubts and the general confusion of the developers and would also eventually help in boosting submissions and increasing submissions/participants ratio.

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