Design-a-thon
About
FAQ
Schedule
2020 Design at UCI
Mindfulness & Productivity
Design-a-thon is 3 day long event where you or a team design a product focused on the theme: mindfulness and productivity.
It takes place on November 20, starting at 5:30 pm and ends Nov 22, 7:35 pm PST.
Design at UCI is the premier student-run organization at UCI for anything graphic design, UI/UX design, product design, and more. Started in 2016, It has amassed many relationships in the Design community of OC and SoCal.
Through Designathon, our goal is to challenge and hone your design thinking process by introducing you to a real-life social issue that you—an aspiring designer—need to address and solve. We hope that this experience can help you acquire and grow both your soft and hard skills in empathizing with your users, defining a set of goals and needs, developing your product, and improving your confidence and creativity as a human-centric designer.
Francesco Bertocci
Design Advocate & Ambassador at Sketch
Jane Chang
Product Design Lead at Google
Elena Searcy
Design Lead at Twitch
Lisa Law
UX Designer at Amazon
Jane Chang
Product Design Lead at Google
Yonius Saritoh
Product Designer at Amazon
Best Overall
Each member of the winning team will receive a $50 US gift card. Prize will be emailed as a link.
A 1-on-1 remote meeting with a Googler. You can utilize this session for portfolio reviews, career conversation, etc.
A free Sketch license for each member of the winning team
A spot on the Design at UCI website
Honorable Mention
A 1-on-1 remote meeting with a Googler. You can utilize this session for portfolio reviews, career conversation, etc.
A spot on the Design at UCI website
Raffle
Two lucky participants will receive a free Sketch license. Those who submit a working prototype according to the submission requirement and prompt will automatically be entered. The raffle will be drawn on the last day.
Why should I join?
Creating an aesthetically pleasing, functional product is not only what a designer does; it is to listen to what our world needs, empathize people’s gain and pain points, and produce a solution that specifically targets what our world is lacking. We hope that this event can be a platform where you can start practicing your design thinking—a process of ideation, research, analysis, developing, and testing—to provide a better means to our world.
Who can attend?
Any United States college student (with an associated institutional .edu email) is able to sign-up and attend.
How much does it cost?
Nothing! Designathon at UCI 2020 requires no cost to attend. All you need is a working device with Zoom and an open mind.
I don’t have prior knowledge in design. Can I still attend?
Of course! Design is all around us. We will provide workshops for beginners to get started.
How do I prepare?
During the event, we will be hosting Workshops for anyone new to Design thinking or the Design process.
We highly encourage getting the hang of Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or the prototyping tool of your choice.
You are also free to look through our
resources page for extra information.
When is the application deadline?
Our Application form will close at November 13, 2020 at 11:59pm (PST)
How do teams work?
You can organize teams of up to 3 people by requesting individuals to be partnered with in our sign-up Application form.
What if I don’t have a team?
We will provide a Discord channel specifically for anyone looking for a team at our Designathon. Solo participants are also allowed.
Where do I submit my project?
Friday Night, November 20
5:30 pm↓
Opening
Join us on our
Zoom. Led by President of Design at UCI, Jody.
5:35↓
Judges Introduction
Judges share their design background and journey. Introducing our judges: Yonius Saritoh, Lisa Law, Jane Chang, Elena Searcy.
6:40↓
Workshop 2
Led by Jane Chang
Topic: An Introduction to User Research
7:25↓
Challenge Brief and Q&A
Announcing Challenge Brief and opening Q&A.
7:55↓8:00
Closing
President of Design at UCI, Jody, ends the events for the night.
Saturday, November 21
All Day
Continue Work on Projects
Any further questions related to the prompt, rubric, etc. can be asked on our
Discord channel. Saturday will be dedicated to continued work on your projects.
Sunday Morning, November 22
8:00 am
Submission Deadline
3:00 pm
Announcing 10 finalists
Our team will reach out to the email provided in the Submission Form to let the team know. These teams will move forward to and present their case study during the final round of the judging panel.
3:00↓5:30
Work on Case Study
For all the 10 finalists, make sure to prepare your presentation so that it clearly elaborates your target user base, user research, and decision making process. Please refer to the rubric or ask questions on our
Discord channel for more information and clarification.
5:30↓
Finale Opening
Led by President of Design at UCI, Jody.
5:35↓
Presentations
Each finalist—there will be 10 in total—will have 8 minutes to present their user research findings and analysis.
7:00↓
Judging Panel
Speakers judge and decide on the Best Overall and Honorable Mention.
7:15↓
Ceremony
President of Design at UCI, Jody, announces the winners and asks them to share their experience.
7:25↓7:30
Raffle Draw and Closing
Led by President of Design at UCI, Jody.
Two random attendees will be given a free Sketch license. Following that, Jody will ask each person how they feel and how their experience is.
Good luck!
We can't wait to see what you create