Our team was made up of a group of friends/peers that are part of the Las Vegas UX/UI Meetup group, of which I serve as a co-organizer. We had a wide variety of disciplines represented, which included developers, visual designers, product designers, product managers, presenters, and of course user experience practitioners.

– Brady Bolyard – Product Owner / UX
– John Balboa –  UI Design / Branding / Prototyping
– Jonathan Parra – Product Owner / UX Lead
– Crystal Facchinetti – UX Researcher
– Jose Figueroa – Full-stack Developer
– Amanda Cecil – Visual Design / Interaction Design
– Anissa Tran – Front-end Developer
– COLE – Back-end Developer

LANDSCAPE

HackHLTH was the premier hackathon for the health ecosystem, bringing together the most passionate developers, designers, and entrepreneurs with the most forward-thinking sponsors, to solve the industry’s toughest problems. We had 36 hours to collaborate and create meaningful solutions, with the 8 most impactful projects sharing more than $80,000 in prizes.

DELIVERABLES

• Task flow diagrams
• Wireframes/sketches
• Prototypes and mockups using Figma
• Online survey via SurveyGizmo
• Functioning high-fidelity prototype
• Working code that implemented the FHIR API via Microsoft’s Azure to simulate communication with the medical hospitals to access personal health records.

CHALLENGES

Honestly, it would be quicker and easier to list wasn’t a challenge than what was. First off, minus a couple of the developers, we were all totally new to working with each other. Compounding this complication was also the fact that only one had ever participated in a co-located hackathon before. Oh and of course there was the expectation of creating a polished product, along with an effective business plan, and engaging 2-minute presentation, all within 36hrs!

The two most impactful challenges that we faced would be two constraints imposed on us by the governing committee the night prior to the start of the competition. The first centered on each of the event sponsors and how each would have a specific requirement that must be met for a team to qualify to pitch to and potentially win their votes and their prizes. The second of the more impactful challenges that we faced involved the rule of only allowing 5 members to a team, which we had closer to 9 members at the time of learning this.

RESULTS

• As a testament to the various team members hard work, dedication, and intelligence I am proud to report that both teams made it to the semi-finals of the competition.
• Each person has echoed the opinion that the event was wonderful in providing a glimpse into the different areas of expertise necessary to move from concept to finished product.
• We were able to accomplish the majority of the goals we initially hoped to achieve.
  – design and build portions of our product as a high-fidelity, working prototype
  – create backend code to support what we were attempting to build
  – progress past the initial round of the competition
  – validate our theories regarding the value of the concept
  – define a business model that could support the project

REFLECTION

As I stated in the Results section, this event was extremely valuable in the sense that it provided a crash course in what is needed to evolve a potential business idea from concept to product, and then potentially to market. The event also provided a front seat to not only witness but the experience just how easily scope creep and churn can derail your process and progress.

That being said, there isn’t anything I didn’t learn through this experience that hasn’t made me a better UX designer, a better leader, and a better teammate. I’m anxiously waiting for the next opportunity like this again!