UX Day Design Challenge

Abstract

Hackathons have become a popular method for group design ideation and conceptual development for practical design challenges in a variety of technology domains. Perhaps the most common is software development and a common application is for social entrepreneurship, as a way to assist worthy causes in a short amount of time and at low cost. Companies also use hackathons as a source of new ideas for challenging design objectives or to audition potential employees and contractors. One of the major benefits of the hackathon model is that they are exciting and engaging because of the time pressure, competitive environment, and often intrinsic motivation. This usabil-athon session will leverage each of these by assigning an unknown design challenge that solves a real-world problem, in a team-based challenge, with extreme time pressure, using rapid design ideation methods, with tangible rewards, among and against valued peers, and with a live audience. This session continues the model of User Experience Day to introduce new session formats to the HFES Annual Meeting and attract User Experience Practitioners who may not otherwise attend the annual meeting.

Design at hackathons: new opportunities for design research

“…Hackathons have only recently come into research focus (Trainer et al 2016). Studies have investigated the individual experiences of participants (Olesen, Hansen & Halskov 2018), the effect of expertise diversity in hackathon teams (Legardeur et al 2020) and the use of hackathons to solve problems (Artiles & LeVine 2015; Lewis et al 2015; Uffreduzzi 2017; Kos 2019), teach design (Fowler 2016; Nandi & Mandernach 2016; Page et al 2016; Gama et al 2019) and facilitate a design process (Artiles & Wallace 2013).…”

Learning by doing? The relationship between effort, learning effect and product quality during hackathons of novice teams

“…A literature review by Flus & Hurst (2021a) encompassing 39 studies on design research at hackathons revealed various themes in educational hackathon research, including the experiences of participants (Olesen, Hansen, & Halskov 2018) and the impact of interdisciplinary teams on team performance (Legardeur et al 2020). Furthermore, numerous papers have shared qualitative insights and anecdotes from hackathons as design educational formats (Artiles & Wallace 2013; Artiles & LeVine 2015; Lewis et al 2015; Fowler 2016; Nandi & Mandernach 2016; Page et al 2016; Gama et al 2018; Kos 2019). Remarkably, among the 39 papers examined, merely 10 employed quantitative methods, exposing a gap in the quantitative research of hackathons as educational formats.…”