Design at hackathons: new opportunities for design research

Abstract

Hackathons are short-term events at which participants work in small groups to ideate, develop and present a solution to a problem. Despite their popularity, and significant relevance to design research, they have only recently come into research focus. This study presents a review of the existing literature on the characteristics of designing at hackathons. Hackathon participants are found to follow typical divergence–convergence patterns in their design process throughout the hackathon. Unique features include the initial effort to form teams and the significant emphasis on preparing and delivering a solution demo at the final pitch. Therefore, hackathons present themselves as a unique setting in which design is conducted and learned, and by extension, can be studied. Overall, the review provides a foundation to inform future research on design at hackathons. Methodological limitations of current studies on hackathons are discussed and the feasibility of more systematic studies of design in these types of settings is assessed. Further, we explore how the unique nature of the hackathon format and the diverse profiles of hackathon participants with regards to subject matter knowledge, design expertise and prior hackathon experience may affect design cognition and behaviour at each stage of the design process in distinctive ways.

Experiences of Design at Hackathons: Initial Findings From an Interview Study

“…While hackathons are a rich and authentic environment in which people design, the activity of designing in this setting has not yet been comprehensively studied. In our recently completed literature review on design activity at hackathons (Flus and Hurst, 2021), we gained some insight on (1) the design process participants tend to follow during a hackathon, (2) the ways in which hackathon organizers can encourage a design process by how they structure a hackathon event, and (3) the pedagogical potential of hackathons for design teaching and learning. The main conclusion of our review was that while hackathons are a popular setting in which people design, studies of design cognition and behaviour at hackathons are limited, and thus, our understanding of how design transpires at hackathons is fragmented and incomplete.…”

“…On the other hand, the hackathon setting places the designer in a state of increased uncertainty (Ball and Christensen, 2019), which would require more careful and deliberate -or "slow"designing. We therefore identified the need to understand how designers overcome high levels of uncertainty quickly during hackathons (Flus and Hurst, 2021). Third, participants' activity at a hackathon is also influenced by their own characteristics, including area and extent of expertise, previous experiences, and past participation in hackathons.…”

“…Our synthesis of the literature in Flus and Hurst (2021) led us to propose that design at hackathons follows what we termed an "altered" Double Diamond Design Process (Figure 1). We argued that the steps participants appear to follow during hackathons roughly align with the Discover-Define-Develop-Deliver stages of the Double Diamond Design Process (The Design Council, 2005); however, three main differences emerge: (1) increased emphasis on team formation, (2) decreased emphasis on problem definition, and (3) increased emphasis on delivery.…”

“…In what follows, we present a summary of the hackathon design processes as described by our study participants, organized according to the phases of the altered Double Diamond Design Process proposed in Flus and Hurst (2021).…”

“…In the fourth and final phase, Deliver, designers evaluate and finalize their solution. The altered Double Diamond process extends this phase to emphasize the pitch portion of hackathons (Flus and Hurst, 2021), represented as an extra arrow in Figure 1 to accurately represent the significant time and resources dedicated to this activity. Hackathons are defined by competition, with top placements often awarded financial prizes from corporate sponsors.…”