Specing out Challenges

Hackathons are a great way to move a project forward with new minds on the challenge and a big push over a few days, but it takes some skill to get what you need out of that push. The first step to getting the solutions you need is to make sure that your challenges are well written and well spec’d out. GWOB and AT&T are sponsoring a session to review some challenges and help you make sure that yours will work the way you want. We’ll review your specifications and explain exactly how they might play out at an upcoming hackathon.

Want to have your challenge reviewed in the session? Submit your challenge at this form by October 23rd, 2012. Include as full a specification as possible, including wireframes. You will also need to be on the call – you can register here.

If you need some help thinking through your specification, take a look at some of the challenges that have already been started on our Get Involved page. Have questions? Post a comment on the Get Involved page or this entry. We’ll keep an eye on good questions to ask people when submitting challenges for better future engagement.

Want to help review other people’s specs? Join us for our virtual unconference and working party via Google Hangout on Friday October 26th at 10:30am West Coast time (I’ll add people in by the email address they used to register, so make sure they sync!). We need people who do work flow, UX, backend, front end, telephony, etc. If our group is large enough, we can break out into separate challenges. Sign up here.

Once we have the reviewed and improved spec’s, we’ll bring them to AT&T hackathons and attaching a prize to each one. You’ll also be able to post your specifications to Random Hacks of Kindness for inclusion in RHoK’s semi-annual international simultaneous hackathon events attended by hundreds of developers, designers and subject matter experts worldwide.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.