On May 4th and 5th, I participated in the Brainstation 24-hour hackathon with a team consisting of four software engineers and two UX designers. Our task was to conceptualize and pitch an idea for UKG by leveraging AI/ML to bring people centric Human Capital Management offerings to the market.
Pre-meeting
Wednesday May 3rd, 09:00
During our brief coffee meeting, we introduced ourselves, shared personal anecdotes, and engaged in speculation about the type of challenge we would encounter the next day.
At that point, all we were told was that the company that would be hosting the challenge was UKG, so we just decided to research more about the company!
The Set Up
Thursday May 4th, 16:00
It all began with a one-hour introduction led by the UKG team. They provided us with valuable insights into the challenges we were about to tackle, introduced potential problem spaces, and discussed important considerations for the competition. They also shared logistical information to ensure smooth operations throughout the event.
Additionally, we received a toolkit that outlined the goals, deliverables, and offered helpful tips to guide us. The UKG team wished us the best of luck, setting the stage for an exciting experience.
Collaboration
Although our team never previously worked together, we recognized the importance of collaboration and decided to come together to brainstorm ideas. We believed that pooling our diverse perspectives and skills would lead to innovative solutions. As a team, we engaged in an open brainstorming session, sharing our thoughts and ideas out loud. Through this collaborative process, we generated a range of potential topics to explore.
Photo by fauxels
Preliminary Research
After considering our options, we narrowed down our choices and decided to delve into three main areas:
By conducting thorough research, we aimed to gather valuable insights and data that would inform our final solutions and recommendations.
Chosen Topic
After much deliberation, we choose to develop a system in which companies could propose team-building activities. We would then collect survey data from these activities and utilize an AI-powered recommendation engine to analyze and predict additional event suggestions based on the data. As the system gathers more data about a user, it continually incorporates that information to enhance its accuracy over time.
UX Team Responsibilities
Our roles were not strictly assigned, and we all participated in the initial research efforts (as previously mentioned), but we quickly acknowledged and embraced each other's strengths, leading us to operate naturally within those realms.
We shared responsibilities, with each member contributing in specific areas:
- Marvin took the lead in creating the task flow, redlining wireframes/prototypes, and handling branding elements.
- I focused on sketching, conducting surveys, developing personas, and gathering research materials to craft a compelling storytelling for the presentation.
SE Team Responsibilities
- Lucas took charge of leading the SE team.
- Alfredo, drawing from his previous experience in HR, provided valuable insights and shared best practices.
- Natasha offered grounded perspectives, ensuring processes remained centered, while also posing critical questions.
- Brenda contributed creative ideas, adding a fresh and innovative approach.
By the time we were to leave the school premises at 10 pm on the Thursday, our work was far from over: in fact, it had only just begun: with a clearer understanding of the direction we intended to pursue, the next pivotal phase required us to focus on implementing our plans.
D day
Friday, May 5th
A lot happened overnight: The UX Team (Marvin and I) successfully were able to prepare a comprehensive set of documents to hand out to developers, including:
- Sketches and task flow
- Wireframes and Hi-Fi prototype
- Redlined prototype
- Survey content
- Branding color guide
- Typography files for downloads
Prototype Demo
With these materials ready, our next steps involved redefining the interactive prototype on Figma, creating assets (including the persona) + gather and organize the research for the presentation for UKG. Here's a quick video walking you through the prototype (1min20s):
Lastly, we created the presentation slides and presented them to UKG on Friday afternoon.
Images by William t. Foncham
Images by William t. Foncham
Images by William t. Foncham
Presentation
Here are the final slides:
We Won!
After a brief deliberation that should have taken only 5 minutes, our team was chosen as the winners among the 9 participating teams. In addition to the accolades, we were also rewarded with complimentary classes at BrainStation!
Last words
This was such an amazing/intense experience for all of us and I learned a lot about myself and the process of working efficiently as a team.
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and applaud the efforts of all the other teams of software engineers and UI-UX designers who participated. I have no doubt that they worked just as hard as we did on their respective projects, so kudos to everyone! As Giannis Antetokounmpo: "There are no failures, just steps towards success.”
Merci!
Merci!
Work with me!
