How to throw a design-friendly hackathon | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Hackathons have traditionally centered on engineers, but design is now essential to building successful technology products. To attract and retain designers, organizers must deliberately recruit them, communicate the event’s creative value, make applications inclusive, and provide design-focused support. Hack@Brown’s experience shows that these efforts can raise designer participation to roughly one-fifth of attendees.

Why Hackathons Need Designers

• Early hackathons were created around programming and engineering, reinforcing the idea that they were primarily for coders.
• As design became a major product differentiator, hackathons began seeking stronger collaboration between designers and engineers.
• Hack@Brown, Brown University’s annual event with more than 500 participants, experimented with different approaches and reached about 20% designer participation by 2017.

Recruit Designers Directly

• Designers often do not encounter hackathon promotions through computer-science networks.
• Organizers should contact:
  • University art departments
  • Campus design clubs and social groups
  • Local art and design schools
• Hack@Brown reached out to institutions including RISD, Parsons, and Northeastern’s design club, Scout.
• Organizers with personal connections to design communities have an advantage, but broader outreach is necessary to build awareness.

Market the Creative Opportunity

• Generic messaging such as “24 hours” and “loads of prizes” may not appeal to designers.
• Promotional materials should demonstrate strong visual design and involve artists or visual thinkers on the organizing team.
• Hack@Brown replaced conventional hacker-focused messaging with “Make, play, learn,” emphasizing creativity, collaboration, and experimentation.
• The goal is to show designers that they can make meaningful contributions to hackathon teams.

Create an Inclusive Application Process

• Application systems can unintentionally favor experienced engineers or exclude candidates from nontraditional backgrounds.
• Organizers can use:
  • A lottery system with reserved designer spaces
  • A separate evaluation process for design applicants
  • Design experts to help review applications
• Hack@Brown received about 3,000 applications for 500 places and used representation targets, including at least 15% designers, 50% women, and 20–30% first-time hackathon participants.
• Broader participation produced more varied and innovative projects.

Build a Design-Friendly Event

• Recruiting designers is not enough; the event must also support their needs and make them feel included.
• Useful initiatives include:
  • Design workshops before or during the hackathon
  • UX/UI introductions for participants unfamiliar with design
  • Designer mixers to help attendees build community
  • Design mentors, especially those with coding experience
  • Design recruiters offering job and internship opportunities
• Hack@Brown scheduled its event shortly after Brown and RISD career fairs so recruiters could meet many potential candidates efficiently.

Recognize Designers

• The article begins a section on rewarding designers to encourage them to return and recommend the event to others, but the provided text ends before describing the specific reward strategies.

A design-friendly hackathon requires intentional outreach, inclusive selection, relevant programming, and visible support for design participants. Treating designers as equal contributors—not as an afterthought—helps create stronger teams and more innovative projects.