My first hackahon experience

I joined my first hackathon a month ago.

Hackathon Overview

The hackathon was organized by a company called Wake Career, a Japanese company that supports women in the IT field.

Only women and LGBTQ+ individuals were allowed to join solo, but men could participate if they were part of a team that included women.

The theme was to create a product to solve social problems using generative AI.

The development period lasted a month, and since most participants were working professionals, time was limited.

All meetings were held online, but the final presentations took place offline.

Motivation for Joining

I joined to improve my skills as a frontend developer. I wanted to use modern frameworks like React. Additionally, I had never used generative AI at work, so I wanted to explore that as well.

I also hoped to connect with IT professionals in Japan since I’m new to this industry and wanted to expand my network.

Project Experience

Our team created a web app to help children study independently. We believed that although AI is a useful tool for children, it's important for them to learn the correct way to use it. We were concerned that they might rely on AI to get answers without thinking. Therefore, they could ask this app questions about their studies, but the app would teach them how to solve the problem or how to think, rather than providing the answer itself.

We used Gemine for AI and JavaScript (React) and Python for coding. Our team members didn't have any experience with generative AI, so it was challenging at first, but we managed to develop it in time.

Final Outcome

We were praised for completing a product that worked without errors, but the judges mentioned that we could develop a more advanced product. The problem and solution were good, but there was room for improvement in the technical aspects.

To enhance this app, we considered adding features like a sharing function so parents could see their children's progress, or limited social functions where children could see how others are studying.

Unfortunately, we couldn't proceed to the final presentation, but I was glad we completed the hackathon. I didn't think I could join a hackathon so casually, and working with people who shared the same motivation was inspiring. I would definitely join another one again.