Introduction

In the world of Web3, hackathons are among the favourite ways of companies or projects to connect with developers, encourage collaboration and driving innovation. The ETH Global hackathons are a prime example, drawing in thousands of developers globally.

TLDR: Companies join these events not only to gain visibility but also expand their developer ecosystems, building with their technology or take their product to the next level.

Approach

From June to December 2023, UXBoost worked with Cartesi to conduct user research with the hackers who joined the Cartesi track in ETH global events. We conducted 4 rounds of research, focusing on understanding the journey of hackers from awareness, learning, building, and adoption.

⚠️ Study limitation
It is important to note some limitations upfront. Our participant pool varied across rounds due to a limited number of participants. There are also slight changes in research questions and methodologies that may affect direct data comparability.

1. Exploratory interview: Interviewed 8 participants across different ETH global events to have priminaly understanding about the expereince to craft future studies.

2. Semi-structured interview: Interviewed 6 participants on ETH Paris experience.

3. Mixed method research: We use a mixed-method approach during the ETH Global New York
   event aimed to engage a wider audience but did not yield the anticipated results. Received 7 usable survey responses for analysis. We then followed up with interviews with 3 participants.

4. Post hackathon survey: Opted for post hackathon survey for the last round of research, aiming to make the research more lean. Received a total of 11 survey responses.

Key learnings

1. Awareness
   Many projects like Cartesi are constantly working on raising awareness to onboard more developers, including attracting hackers to join their tracks. Our research showed that awareness of the Cartesi track varies. Many hackers knew Cartesi’s track before the ETH global event through participation in previous events, word of mouth, or online. There are also participants knew Cartesi through engagement at the booth during the event.

Recommendation:

• Ensure Cartesi information is easily accessible before and during events.

• Showcase live demos to highlight Cartesi’s capabilities and attract interest.

2. Learning
   Learning new technology is not easy, especially during the time-sensitive hackathon where you must learn and build something. Most participants predominantly engage with Cartesi technology during the hackathon.

Recommendation:

• Host informative workshops to equip hackers with the necessary knowledge.

• Make essential materials or repositories easily accessible to all.

• Provide resources that are not only comprehensive but easy to navigate.

• Enhance documentation with visuals, practical examples, and exercises to aid learning.

“When you are in a hackathon, you don’t sleep well, under stress conditions, you are very pushed to accomplish your goals. In that case, there is never good documentation… because is it very difficult to find exactly what you need and you are kind of desperate. But the Cartesi people is there. I mean, with the documentation alone it’s almost impossible, but with the help of the staff it’s easy because they point to you which example you should take to solve the challenge. They give you directions because they are more clear with the documentation.” Participant 5 (Explorative interview)

3. Building

Hackers exhibited diverse approaches to building, with many submitting projects to multiple tracks for increased prize potential. Technical challenges, particularly with the Docker setup, were prevalent and often necessitated support from the Cartesi team.

Recommendation:

• Offer accessible in-person support and regular check-ins throughout the event.

• Cartesi nailed the exceptional in-person support during the hackathon!

• Establish clear communication channels for hackers to reach out for guidance and clarification on project approaches before investing significant time and effort.

• Communicate presentation schedules and locations clearly so hackers can plan their time wisely on submission day.

“The team was pretty chill, actually. Like, whatever we asked them at whatever discussion we had, they were quite positive, which is why we built with them the first place.” Participant 1 (ETH Global New York)

4. Adoption

Post-hackathon, motivated teams sought to advance their projects. Cartesi should actively follow up with the teams, supporting their journey to advance projects. For projects that don’t fit the requirements, the Cartesi team can invite them to explore other opportunities or build with Cartesi technology again in the future.

Recommendation:

• Provide clear and easily accessible grant program requirements.

• Provide a comprehensive proposal template is beneficial for application when planning and structuring the project.

• Establish a public, transparent discussion about the project to boost engagement.

• Offer a comprehensive review of the project ideas and regular support.

Little experiment: Interactive interview using customer journey map

I pivoted a simplified version of customer journey map and used it as an as interactive board during the interviews and have no regret! The board helps to enhance engagement during interviews with hackers and enables real-time validation of data and emotions. It was fun!