The Excitement of a UX Designer:
Memories from Hackathon 2022

My first UX hackathon experience

If someone were to ask me about the most unforgettable experience in 2022, I would undoubtedly mention the Hackathon. When I first learned about the concept of a Hackathon, it always seemed challenging to me. The idea of solving a problem within a limited time frame with colleagues sounded interesting. Moreover, it provided a good opportunity, as expressing my thoughts and driving my ideas can be difficult in normal work situations.

Gmarket had been holding hackathons every year, and some of my colleagues had impressively won prizes. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hackathon could not be held for several years. Fortunately, the pandemic situation in 2022 was getting better than in the past few years, so the hackathon could be held again.
Not only me, but many of my colleagues also seemed to be waiting for the hackathon. Upon receiving the announcement email about the upcoming Hackathon, I received numerous messages from colleagues in other departments, mostly from developers. Since the number of designers was less than that of developers, the entire team was facing a shortage of designers. Luckily, this situation allowed me to make a team consisting of talented developers and other designers.

Make a 'smile' widget!

We chose to focus on 'Smile Club,' Gmarket's membership service offering various daily life benefits for a fee. While the array of benefits available to members was extensive, we noticed some inconvenience in accessing them due to the complexity of the process to check and utilize these perks.
Therefore, we thought about integrating these scattered benefits. In the current Smile Home—a page showcasing member benefits—diverse information was presented broadly, targeting all Smile Club users. We thought about transforming this content into a widget, that could allow users to selectively view the information they want, catering to the preferences of smart consumers who are particularly interested in benefits.

I categorized benefits and assessed their suitability for widget usage. The primary criterion was determining whether the utility of each benefit would be higher when extracted as a system widget rather than remaining as mere content within the application. My focus was on organizing benefits that could function independently within the widget system, without relying on the context of existing pages.

Blocks, Blocks,Blocks!

The benefits were divided into different categories. The first category is 'Enjoyable and Convenient.' Users can easily download daily coupons for Smile Club members and instantly check hidden stamp events on the coupon/check-in page. Additionally, I planned to introduce interesting events easily achievable in daily life, such as step challenges, to enhance user engagement and add a fun element.
The next category is 'Proximity.' I improved the feature that notifies users about the benefits they can avail of through notifications. The widget includes events like today's special deals updated at midnight, limited-time sales exclusively for club members at specific times, and Live schedules that users wish to be reminded of.
The final category was 'Delicacy.' Users faced certain challenges throughout the entire shopping process, such as organizing the shopping list and tracking their shipping. It would be a more effective widget system if it can offer not only benefits but also useful tools for successful shopping.
Furthermore, Smile Widget can seamlessly synchronize between the iPhone system and the Gmarket application, enabling effortless editing. Similar to system widgets, users can easily add or remove it on the home screen within the application. All widgets within the app are customizable, allowing users to add or remove them according to their preferences. Changes made in the application can be applied to the phone's system widgets.

Won the Fourth Grade, Well Done!

The 3-day, 4-night hackathon journey was a lot of fun, but it had its tough moments too. Since we had to brainstorm ideas, design, and implement the development within a limited timeframe, time was always running short. As the team leader, I also had to handle the presentation, and by the last day, everyone was shouting, 'Stop!' due to the workload. Despite the challenges, our team proudly secured 4th place overall. Considering that less than 20% of the teams made it to the finals, it was quite an amazing outcome.
The best part was having amazing teammates. Because of our busy daily routines, this hackathon felt like a positive shift. If someone asks me about joining a hackathon, I'd totally recommend it. It's like a festival for developers, and it made me think about what I, as a UX designer, can bring to the table. Thanks to all my teammates who were with me!