What I learnt from my first hackathon
Recently, I participated in my first hackathon where I work at, and I’ve learnt a lot. Not just learning more about technology, but also soft skills and seeing the benefits of having a hackathon.
So in this post, I wanted to share my thoughts on my first hackathon.
I don’t want to go into too much detail on what the hackathon was about or what I worked on.
What is a hackathon, anyway?
A hackathon is an event where people participate in rapid and collaborative engineering in a short period of time. The goal of a hackathon is to create a piece of functional software by the end of the event. Hackathons tend to have a specific focus which can be a specific programming language, or problem.
People are given freedom to choose to form a team for a project or join an existing project. It’s important to allow for creative freedom as it drives problem solving and collaboration.
At the end of the hackathon, each group gives a presentation of what they achieved. Sometimes, there are prizes which are awarded by a panel of judges.
Who takes part in a hackathon? Anyone can! This is one of the strongest points of the hackathon in my view (which I’ll explain later)
In the hackathon I participated in, it lasted for three days (two days hacking, one day for presentations)
How did it go?
I think my first hackathon event went quite well! The project I was part of was great, we produced something that was very impressive and the presentation was well received.
I immensely enjoyed it, I was able to get a hands on experience with some new technology and work with people who I don’t work with often.
Our project progressed very smoothly, and it allowed us to explore and learn more about the technology we were working with. I think we all gained a deeper understanding, appreciation and thoughts on the technology we worked with during the Hackathon.
We did have regular catch-ups before the hackathon to ensure that our group was prepared, and I think that hugely helped us. From understanding what we wanted to achieve to setting up our development environments, so on the first day we were ready to go. By preparing, it gave us more time to work on the project itself.
The presentations shown by the other groups at the end were also fantastic. It showed what was possible in a small amount of time.
What are the benefits of a hackathon?
Hackathons are a great opportunity for anyone in a company to learn something new, meet new people and gain insight into software development. And are a good way for anyone, in any role, to make a contribution to a project and learn from others. I'm a big believer in giving people opportunities, and hackathon's provide a great space for anyone to come and gain experience in something.
Hackathons are also great for teams to come together, explore ways to solve problems and get an opportunity to work on new technologies. Plus, these events are a great way to discover new requirements, and an opportunity to involve product owners to gain interest in new technologies.
The project I was in grew from one idea, to many ideas. All it took was working on the project and collaborating to discover what else we could do. From conversations, to messages on slack, the hackathon allowed the project to grow to find new problems we could solve.
Not everything from a hackathon will be used in a feature in production, but it could lead to inspiration for future ideas. Think of it as an opportunity for rapid prototyping or perhaps creating a product roadmap.
Another benefit I found is that hackathons are a good way to practice soft skills from communicating to scrum methodology. Since the work is low risk and not in production, it’s the best environment to find which way of working is best.
Hackathon’s are a great way to improve a culture in a team, by bringing a team together and giving them the time and space to create something has tremendous benefits on communication, motivation and passion for work.
Should everyone take part in and run a hackathon?
In my view, yes. Spending a few days to participate in a project gives tremendous benefits and allows a business to see what their teams can achieve in a few days.
You don’t need development experience to take part in a hackathon. Anyone in a business can definitely take part in one, and make a contribution. Plus, taking the time and seeing what software development is like can be inspiring.
Hackathon’s are a great opportunity to come together, and see what can be built in a small amount of time. Plus, you can discover new opportunities within the business that may have never been thought of before.
If you've never run a hackathon before, check out this post on running one.
I also did an interview for the podcast that is run by the company I work for about the hackathon, so keep an eye out for that early next year!
