So, after recently announcing my personal desire to offer free mentoring to the participants of the KendoReact Free Components Challenge, I've been getting questions that are very similar in nature, and so, I thought I would share THREE basic tips/guidelines that I believe would be helpful to anyone that is competing.
Thanks to my very own experiences in past hackathons and contests, I'm now able to draw upon those experiences to hopefully help you succeed.
1. Having a Clear, Focused Demonstration
One of the first things that I had to learn during my early days of entering into development-related contests is that clarity plays a big part in whether or not I stand a chance to win. Before we begin building whatever it is that we are thinking of building, we must first ask ourselves, "What problem am I trying to solve?"
Make sure that the answer to that question is focused. Having a vague problem will only end up distracting our energy when it comes to what we're trying to build.
Another way to look at this is to ask yourself a simple question, "When the judges are looking at your demo/app, can they immediately understand what you are building?"
2. Remember: This is a PRODUCT-DRIVEN Contest.
One of the first things that contestants forget quickly is that this is a product-driven contest. To tell you the truth, I first participated in hackathons and competitions because I hoped to win the free licenses that were offered as part of the winner's prize. Back then, software licenses were way too expensive for a software developer to even afford. So, as someone that refused to use pirated copies, I would enter into various competitions that would offer the software that I desired as part of the prize.
Matter of fact, I didn't always win when I first started out. It took me a couple of tries before I finally won the consolation prizes and eventually, I would win the top prizes.
So, what did I manage to gather from those experiences??
I had to remind myself of the goal/objective of the hackathon/contest that I was participating in. In this very case, this is a KendoReact Free Components Challenge. Therefore, it is your mission/objective to figure out how you can effectively apply what is available to your demo/app.
IMPORTANT NOTE: During my past experiences, I have come across developers and teams who waste a lot of their time and energy trying to demonstrate their skillfulness instead of demonstrating their use of the product (or straying from the objectives). Put it bluntly, they were more concerned with trying to show-off their skills & talents.
3. Quality over Quantity
One of the most misleading ideas that participants in hackathons and competitions would have is thinking that they need to build a full-fledged application/demo. While it would certainly be impressive if you or your team can deliver a full-fledged project, 95% of the time, it's usually a poor demonstration of their understanding of the objectives and what they are trying to build.
Most of the time, competitions and hackathons don't last very long. Therefore, it is not usually possible to deliver a high-quality, full-fledged application.
This is also something that took me a while to understand. After numerous failures of my own, I quickly learned that the most effective way to winning any contests/hackathons is to focus on building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
That means focusing on the core features/functionalities of your idea/solution. Which part of your solution is central to the idea that you're trying to build?
Another way to think about this is to ask yourself, "When a potential user is using this app, what sort of primary tasks are they trying to perform?"
Then focus in on that.
Final Thoughts
Finally, don't make the mistake of getting carried away. Trust me, this can be quite tempting some times. It is so important to always remind yourself of your goal/objective in this competition. Keep your focus clear, front and center. And don't make the mistake of just diving straight into the development work itself. Devs often make that mistake (including myself). Putting some thought into what you are building will always pay off eventually. If your idea doesn't win this time around, don't give up. In my experience, my first consolation prize actually was a project idea that I had submitted and reused for previous contests where I had lost before. I just took the feedback and kept improving on it. The first time I won a top prize, guess what, the project idea had been used in past consolation and runner-up submissions too.
Mentoring Hours
As I'm providing free mentoring to the contestants, I also want to point out the hours that I am available for hourly consults during the days leading up to the final submission:
Mon - Wed, Fri & Sat: 9am to 12pm, 4pm to 6pm
(Timezone: GMT +8)
So, what are you planning to build for this KendoReact challenge? Have you given some thought to it? Are you already in the midst of building it?
Top comments (2)
Completely mind blowing article. Thanks for sharing .
Thanks for the compliment. Glad you found the article useful.