CU Design-a-thon is a three-day, virtual event that brings student designers together to build innovative, user-centered solutions.

Students will create a prototype of an app or website (no coding required!) that addresses a specific problem. During the design-a-thon, students will have the opportunity to attend beginner-friendly workshops from industry professionals and meet student designers from all across the country.

We hope to help designers grow both soft and hard skills in empathizing with users, defining a set of goals and needs, developing products, and improving confidence and creativity as a designer.

Requirements

What to Build

Students will create a prototype of an app or website that addresses the prompt.

What to Submit

Please include the following in your submission:

  1. A 2-minute video demo
    Showcase your final prototype and walk us through the user experience and key features. This should be a playable walkthrough, not just a slideshow or static design.

  2. Link to your playable prototype
    Share a link to your interactive prototype. Make sure it’s publicly accessible and not just a Figma file unless it has interaction flows built in.

  3. Project overview (max 150 words)
    Briefly explain what your project is, who it's for, and the problem it solves.

  4. Research process & findings (max 300 words)
    Describe how you approached your research. If you ran surveys or interviews, include links to the forms/questions. If you used secondary sources, link those too.

  5. Key design decisions (max 300 words)
    What were the most impactful decisions you made and why? Explain how your research or testing led to these choices.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

5 non-cash prizes
1st Place
1 winner

4th gen AirPods + Mentorship session with judge of choice

2nd Place
1 winner

Digital Cameras + Mentorship session with judge of choice

3rd Place
1 winner

JBL Speaker + Mentorship session with judge of choice

Accessibility Track
1 winner

Figma and Perplexity merchandise

Newbie Track
1 winner

Figma and Perplexity merchandise

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Kelly Dern

Kelly Dern
Google

Shana Sanford
Uber

Branden Thornton

Branden Thornton
Reddit

Emily Romero

Emily Romero
Microsoft

Judging Criteria

  • Problem-Solving & Impact
    Does the design effectively address the challenge and provide real value?
  • Innovation
    Does the design introduce a unique or creative solution?
  • Visual Design
    Is the interface aesthetically pleasing and well-structured?
  • User Research
    Did the team conduct research to understand user needs and validate their solution?
  • Prototype/Execution
    Is there a working prototype or mockup that demonstrates the idea?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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