Hackathon — Ironhack & Asobal (English)

A week ago I decided to face a new challenge, this time it was a Hackathon: 36 hours of hard work, a new project still unknown… but I was incredibly motivated and eager to start.
I had a great team by my side: María Villar as Product Designer and two Web Developers; Aarón López Barros and Carolina. The collaborative environment, the desire and dedication of the whole team have been key to develop the project, contribute ideas, shape it and reach those 36 hours with a solid MVP to defend and address in our presentation.

It was a hackathon organised by Ironhack and Asobal (professional handball league in Spain). The challenge was to find digital solutions to improve the product that Asobal offers: “Handball matches that take place in different sports facilities”.
We had three proposals from which we had to choose one. In our case we decided on “Designing a digital experience in sports halls”. The reason for the choice was that for this challenge we observed more design opportunities, greater possibilities for ideation and greater originality in our proposal.

The problem

We started from an initial problem that we defined as: “Attendees at handball matches have lost interest in the matches and the sport”. This encompasses the lack of attendance, lack of interest, lack of distractions during match time-outs and the lack of warmth and sense of comfort that attendees feel inside the halls. At this point we realised that we had a range of possibilities in front of us as this problem covered many fields and situations, therefore we had to study the case well and take advantage of the design opportunities we could offer.

Objetives:

Our objectives were the following:

• To increase attendance at handball matches.
• To retain a representative volume of attendees during non-game times.
• To increase interest in handball as a sport.
• To increase interest in the human context (the players).
• To improve the infrastructure at minimum cost.

Lean UX Canvas

We started by doing the Lean UX Canvas in order to analyse the problem and think of possible solutions and design opportunities. We spent some time trying to get a good understanding of the brief, as it is a very broad field and a proposal that covers many options and can be interpreted in different ways.

Brainstorming according to objectives

Once we were clear about the challenge we were facing, we carried out a brainstorming session, taking into account the objectives and analysing each one of them.

Affinity Diagram

Once the ideas are clear and in a certain order, we analyse each one of them, dividing them into positive aspects, difficulties, frustrations and motivations, and then we establish the solutions or HMW.

After analysing the problem and considering all possible solutions, we developed a product that encompassed all the user’s needs and solved this problem.

The solution

We realised that we had to solve several problems, so the solution was not a single idea or platform, but a set of strategies focused on the objectives I mentioned before. For this we differentiated three experiences; the “pre-match” experience, the “during match” experience and finally, the “post-match” experience.

Remembering the objectives we had to meet, we established the following solutions for each of them:

Prior to the match

The user will buy the physical or online ticket for the event. They can access the platform whether they are registered or not. If you access as a guest you will have content restrictions within it.

Before the match, attendees will be able to make a prediction, which requires registration or access to their personal account. This prediction, in case of success, will be charged in the form of tokens (the tokens will be redeemable for drinks inside the pavilion or tickets to future matches) once the match is over.

During the match

The user will arrive at the venue and scan a QR code that will ask for their ticket ID and indicate where their seat is located, so the user will feel more accompanied during the match experience.

By scanning the QR code, attendees can enjoy exclusive access to activities during the match and can interact with other attendees via live chat. It will also allow them to collect tokens.

In this way we can say that we have “Improved infrastructure at minimum cost”, one of the main objectives of this project.

During match breaks

Through the platform that is loaded by scanning the QR code, users will be able to entertain themselves through a Kahoot! During this activity the user will have to answer questions about the match and the players. On the other hand, attendees will be able to interact with others by accessing the “community” section, through a live chat where they can give their opinion and express themselves.

Thanks to this, the spectator will be more interested in the sport, will interact with it and will be more entertained during the time-outs of the match. This is another action that will be carried out in order for the user to obtain interchangeable tockens.

Through these solutions we achieve the following objectives: “To retain a representative volume of attendees during non-game times” and “To increase the interest in handball as a sport and the interest in the human context (the players)”.

Post-match

The user will have accumulated tockens during the match and time-outs.
These tockens can be exchanged for drinks in future matches or for discounts on tickets for future matches (both ways we encourage attendees to return and achieve the goal of “Increasing attendance at handball matches”).

We have called this experience “Asogame”. Asogame allows you to create an interactive, fun and innovative space for those attending handball matches. It is easy to use, will allow to learn more about the sport and will make these events an unforgettable experience for the users.

Here is the final prototype of Asogame:

Conclusions

I really enjoyed every minute of the Hackathon and I found it a very intense and satisfying experience. I felt that time was passing very quickly, that we were working against the clock and under enormous pressure, but at the same time I could see that ideas were emerging and solutions were appearing.

I would repeat this experience without hesitation, I’m ready for the next one! 💪🏽

Thanks to all of you who have made it this far, I hope you liked our project. Soon more and better ❤️

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