How to attract more designers to your hackathon

My first hackathon brought me to the dev world. I was the only lady on the team of 6 and one of only two designers among 150 hackers that weekend.

Years later, when I switched from hacking to mentoring, I started asking designers about what convinced them to attend a hackathon despite their doubts and first-timer frictions.

As a result of my research, here are 11 things that you can do to attract more designers to your next event.

Adjust your marketing

1. Shift from using "developers" to "builders" or "makers" in your messaging.
2. Or, use "calling all developers, designers and tech enthusiasts". Whatever you write, place designers next to developers.
3. Highlight usability and aesthetics as judging criteria for projects.

Networking

4. Invite design mentors who are involved in design-community work or are well-connected to designers in some other way.
5. Give design mentors a few design-only passes to distribute among designers.
6. Post your invitation where the designers are — on their Discords, Slacks and other online spaces. If your main audience is developers, you may not reach enough designers by using your everyday channels.

Promise value

7. Tell why you need designers. Admit the lack of usability in Web3, the lack of accessible communication, the lack of appealing aesthetics. Design folks are like doctors — we don't like convincing you why you need us. But we'll come to heal you if you call for help.
8. Promise a referral. Or a connection. Referrals are our currency.
9. Create a job posting wall for them. This way, you'll help both sides:
   startups — they struggle to find a designer who shares our vision and can work shoulder-to-shoulder with devs;
   designers — they want to enter the DWeb or OSS world but don't know how to get in.
10. Alongside tech workshops for developers, offer workshops for designers before the hackathon. Something that is specific to the theme or industry of your hackathon. No one does it. You can be the first.
11. And, finally, try to make your website a little more visually appealing. It will signal that you value design. Otherwise, what's the point in attending an event where your type of craft is not considered at the very beginning?

Yours,
Ira