Last week, we were finally able to kick off our icapps for good hackathon! We say "finally" because we had to postpone it a few times due to the fact that we wouldn’t budge from a live edition. And wasn’t that a great decision!? We really enjoyed the event, the atmosphere, and working together as a team. In short, it was absolutely great!
After two days of brainstorming, developing, and designing, both teams delivered a well-thought-out proof of concept. They presented it to Patrick Dillen and Robby Devadder, the founders of Noblito, the organization that won our hackathon.
Let’s see how they experienced our first icapps for good hackathon.
Why did you decide to enter our hackathon giveaway in the first place?
Patrick: "I accidentally bumped into the hackathon Facebook post. When I read this post, I immediately felt addresses and warmed by this initiative. The fact that this hackathon focused on helping a good cause, helping people - all the things Noblito embraces - convinced me to apply. We really had nothing to lose."
How did you manage to collect 1063 votes for your project?
Patrick: "I must admit, it was quite a challenge. For starters, it was a little out of my comfort zone to campaign and recruit votes for my own initiative and to my own advantage. But once you get going, you realize that you don’t really have to beg for votes. An initiative that supports a good cause is luckily very warm welcomed so for most people, it felt only logical to give us that thumbs up. If there is one thing I can recommend to other organizations, it’s to come up with a plan and not to put all of your cards on the table at once."
Robby: "It was a pretty tensive period because the other nominee had a very strong project as well. Eventually, we won and of course, we were very happy with the outcome of this campaign. It gave Noblito a lot of visibility with people who normally wouldn’t really get in touch with us. And of course, the hackathon was more than worth the effort."
What was your overall impression of the first icapps for good hackathon?
Robby: "For me, it was the first time I attended a hackathon. And I found it very interesting to see how a group of people, a group that wasn’t really our target audience, was able to understand our needs that well. How they reacted to our project, how well it was received, confirmed once again that we're on to something wonderful with great impact."
Patrick: "We immediately felt that our project had a place in their hearts. Some of them even shared stories about their own grandparents. We were amazed by the professionalism icapps brought to the table. Not that we’d expect otherwise, but it’s always a bit of a surprise how these things eventually go."
Did the POC’s that both teams presented match your expectations? If you already had any.
Patrick: "Before the hackathon started, we were debating whether or not to already send both teams a list of features, requirements, … we had in mind. But in the end, we were glad we didn’t. It would have influenced the creative process, and the results would have been different. Not better or worse, but just less aligned with their own vision on the project."
Robby: "Indeed, it was a good decision to let them brainstorm about the concept without having a look at our ideas first. On the other hand, once they had a few concepts, we were able to give these concepts a score. Which helped them to choose a direction for their POC."
Patrick: "We also brought in some help from our target audience to review the concepts, because, eventually, they are the ones who will be using our application. This input was very valuable throughout the whole process. We were stunned by the results. The fact that both teams had such different ideas and outcomes, gave us the opportunity to look at our own project from yet another angle. And it’s just amazing how they were able to build such a beautiful proof of concept in such a short period of time."
Robby: "Absolutely! The POCs they created are very valuable to us and they’ll definitely make a difference in the process toward a digital product for Noblito."
As you can see, we didn’t only enjoy our live event, we were able to make a mark for Noblito. So we can’t wait to launch the next icapps for good hackathon giveaway. Make sure to stay tuned, and don’t forget to prepare your project. ;)
Check our aftermovies for the full recap experience:
Episode 1
Episode 2
