Designing a design-a-hack-a-thon: augmenting hackathons with human-centered design

Human-centered design (HCD) is championed as a means to better understand the activities, goals, and interactions of people with technology, toward designing solutions grounded in the right problem or need. We sought to explore how HCD could be integrated into events that focus on tackling complex problems but currently have a limited user perspective. We focused specifically on hackathons, as they provide excellent forums for mobilizing and leveraging technical skills toward a shared purpose, but often lack critical capacities drawn from HCD. Solutions developed at hackathons, while technologically impressive, may lack deep understanding of the problems that users encounter, or may be unfit for the communities they intend to serve. Design-a-hack-a-thons are intensive design events that integrate HCD components into the typical hackathon model, giving teams methods for focusing on the needs of people in real-world challenges while they develop technical solutions.