Since launching DEV Challenges this Spring, we're taking the next step to make them even better - by inviting the community to help judge!
Community members who participate as volunteer judges will not only help shape these challenges but also earn exclusive judge badges, creating a visible network of community members who contribute their technical expertise.
The volunteer judge role is designed to be flexible and low-commitment. When a challenge ends, judges will receive an email with a list of valid submissions. Those available can simply fill out a quick form with their top picks. We trust judges to self-select based on their expertise - participating only in challenges that align with their technical experience.
While final winner selections are made internally, the community's collective feedback will provide crucial insights in identifying outstanding submissions.
Did we mention you’ll get a badge each time you participate as a judge?
Volunteer DEV Judge Application
If you’re interested, here are some finer points:
- Judges cannot submit entries to challenges they're evaluating
- Judges will receive an email when submissions are ready for review
- Response window: will depend on the challenge but generally a 48hr turnaround
- All judge feedback is confidential
- Final winner selections are made by the DEV team alongside sponsoring companies and additional guest judges (if applicable)
Application Process
- We’ll be accepting applications on a rolling basis
- You’ll know you qualified if you receive an email the next time we need help with judging
- Our ability to process and update the qualified judges list will depend on our volume of applications
- We anticipate this will be a competitive volunteer role, so please don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear from us! We are a tiny team and apologize in advance for not being able to respond to every single applicant.
If you’ve read this far, thank you! We hope introducing community involvement helps ensure challenges remain fair, high-quality, and valuable for everyone.
Ready to earn your first judge badge? Fill out our Volunteer DEV Judge Application!
Top comments (8)
While I appreciate the initiative to involve the community in judging, I’m curious about the mechanisms in place to ensure the integrity of the judging process. Given that judges are self-selecting based on their expertise, how do you plan to prevent potential biases, especially if a judge has a personal or professional stake in a submission? Additionally, could you elaborate on how the feedback collected from judges will be integrated into the final decision-making process? I believe transparency in these areas will not only enhance trust in the community but also contribute to the overall quality and fairness of the challenges....
Hey @shafayeat, we will not take a judge's feedback into consideration if they have participated in the challenge they are attempting to judge.
Our team at DEV will continue to judge each submission and are reviewing overall feedback from community judges as a quality signal, not a determinator.
Thanks, @jess ! That makes a lot of sense. It’s reassuring to know that DEV’s team still oversees the final call while using community feedback as a quality check.
Suppose a person submits an entry for a challenge. Automatically, they can't be chosen as a judge for that challenge. Is that correct?
@sarahokolo that's correct -- judge recommendations won't be considered if they have also submitted to the associated challenge!
This sounds great. I've just submitted my application and look forward to it.
I know the work load is heavy for Dev and as such, more hands needed but, someway, somehow, I'm seeing favoritism coming into play from the side of volunteer judges. I might not be participating in a challenge, but my good paddy might be participating and favoritism is more likely to play a role in the review process, than actual factual review. Or, the sound of my name and where I'm coming from, might be the deciding factor than my actual work.
Hard to spend 40+hrs on a project and submit, knowing very well it won't be reviewed first hand by Dev team or the organizing company but rather volunteers that probably have their own marking schemes.
I kindly appeal to Dev to look into this. I prefer challenges having longer review periods with a small team, than this approach.
Hey @akiwams, our team at DEV will continue to judge each submission and are reviewing overall feedback from community judges as a quality signal, not a determinator.
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