A successful hackathon project starts with the right team. Initially, we had two official members: a project manager and one developer. However, as we planned our approach, we realized that an additional developer would strengthen our ability to execute efficiently.
Finding the right person required networking—we reached out to fellow students, attended pre-hackathon events, and posted in developer communities. Eventually, we found a developer whose skills complemented ours, completing our team.
Once our team was set, we needed an efficient way to collaborate. Setting up a GitHub organization provided a structured environment for managing our code and tracking progress.
- We created a private repository to centralize our development.
- Established branching and commit conventions to keep our workflow smooth.
- Used GitHub Projects to assign tasks and track progress.
This setup helped us stay organized and maintain clean, well-documented code throughout the hackathon.
Setting Up Cloud Architecture
Since our project required a scalable backend, we dedicated time to setting up a reliable cloud infrastructure before the event. Our stack included:
- AWS (EC2, S3) for hosting and storage.
- MySQL (RDS) for a managed, scalable database.
- Next.js for an optimized frontend experience.
- CI/CD pipeline for seamless deployments.
This early investment in infrastructure minimized last-minute technical issues and allowed us to focus on building features.
Working with Students and Administrators for Testing
A key part of our preparation was user testing. Since our web app was built for students and administrators, we engaged both groups early to validate our ideas.
We conducted small usability tests, gathering feedback on:
- User interface intuitiveness
- Feature usefulness
- Performance and reliability
This helped us refine our application, ensuring that it was both functional and user-friendly before the hackathon began.
Final Thoughts
Hackathon success isn’t just about coding—it’s about teamwork, organization, and validation. By assembling the right team, structuring our collaboration through GitHub, setting up robust cloud architecture, and working with real users, we laid a strong foundation for the Sandbox Hackathon.
If you're gearing up for a hackathon, investing time in these preparations will pay off when the event kicks off. A solid plan allows you to focus on innovation rather than scrambling to fix preventable issues.