Recently my team won the Indian government organized Smart India Hackathon 2022 which is a nation wide initiative. Our problem statement belonged to the Smart Education Domain, Software Category wherein we developed a one-stop global ed-tech platform designed using user-centric approach which solves various challenges mentioned in the problem statement. The grand finale was the culmination of a roller-coaster trip that lasted more than six months, starting with an internal hackathon, moving through the preliminary round, and concluding with our finest efforts in those 36 hours.

In addition to making a technical contribution, I took on responsibilities of a leader effectively. I can attest that participating in hackathons helps you develop both technical and soft skills. This article will give deeper insights of what exactly is a hackathon, its goal and benefits.

So what exactly is your understanding of a hackathon? Is it the common misconception of competition for hackers? Or are you aware of the fact that hackathons are the technological competitions where you may demonstrate your knowledge of the topic at hand. The basic goal of a hackathon is to address problems that arise in daily life and offer a workable, marketable solution. Miracles happen at hackathons because you may examine content that is outside the scope of your academic studies and push yourself beyond your comfort zones.

Now that you have understood the concept of hackathon lets understand its aim

Hackathons typically have a central theme; this might be addressing a pressing issue, providing a chance to develop current technology, or providing a space where the unthinkable can become a reality. Depending on the area of interest, a group of people with similar passions get together to create a fully operational hardware or software solution. Although there is a competitive attitude because hackathons often last a few days of nonstop work, there is also a lot of creativity and something exceptional is almost certain to occur.

If you invest your time, energy and efforts there must be some returns too, Right?

The main benefits of participating in a hackathon are undoubtedly that you learn a lot, scavenge for resources, and ultimately hone your technical skills, but there are also intangible advantages, such as the interpersonal skills that you develop, the improvement of your critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, and the opportunity to work with new people to expand your network. You get to collaborate with individuals who share your interests, produce remarkable results, and broaden your knowledge base. Hackathons boost inspiration as well as productivity. In those hours of intense competition, you are exposed to questions you may have never considered and are compelled to think outside the box. If you want to win, you must be able to effectively communicate and have that uniqueness to stand out from the competition. The judges on the panel may be academians or industry experts. You must maintain your composure; after all, it's a game of the mind.

A tip that might give you advantage, try to selects problem statements belonging to trending domains such as Machin Learning/Artificial Intelligence which have a good future scope.

Let’s take a look at some important DOs and DON’Ts that need your attention

DO's

1. Ensure that all the members are on the same page in terms of commitment.

2. Have a cross-functional team.

3. Maintain transparency within team via clear communication.

4. Stay alert for any updates or additional registration requirements.

5. Make sure the problem statement belongs to your domain of interest and solves real-world concerns.

6. Determine expected solution based on problem description, try to read between the lines.

7. Identify your target audience and perform user-research to identify pain-points.

8. Consider expectations and research analysis while deciding the scope of project.

9. Think of possible functionlities which will give you competitive advantage.

10. Delegate tasks and keep track of time-line.

11. Prepare part of project in advance, usually it is not expected to work from scratch during actual hackathon.

12. Keep back-ups and prepare for the unexpected requirements and have plan a action.

13. If possible, have a business model for your solution and try to get industry insights.

14. Prepare the presentations in advance and practice to achieve command.

15. Stay calm and confident throughout the process.

DONT's

1. Thinking conventionally while approaching problem statement.

2. Planning to start from scratch during hackathon hours.

3. Underestimating other teams.

4. Panicking and making mistakes during panel rounds.

5. Lacking to incorporate suggestions given by judges.

So are you exciting to know our team secret formula used to win a hackathon ?

Finally the main secret formula of winning a hackathon! Neither it is technical expertise nor it is your domain knowledge, these are just the ingredients but the actual binding agent is that team work and the spirit to stay together irrespective the situation. As it is rightly said, “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” Until and unless everyone puts their best foot forward achieving success in such a team event like hackathon is impossible as teamwork divides tasks and multiplies success.

I hope you found this useful. This article will help you sail through not just SIH but also other similar hackathons. If you have any questions or suggestions/feedback to improve this article then feel free to contact me on email or on LinkedIn

Keep learning and keep participating!!