Hackathons/Wikimania 2016 Lessons Learned

These are lessons learned and feedback statistics from the 2016 Wikimania Hackathon which was part of the pre-conference days in Esino Lario.

This page is a combination of feedback from a survey sent to participants and ideas from the organizers.

Background on Feedback Survey

• This feedback about the Wikimania Hackathon 2016 was a section in the main Wikimania feedback survey which was shown only to respondents who indicated that they had attended the hackathon.
• rfarrand, Ginevra Sanvitale & Edward Galvez created the hackathon questions in the feedback survey
• The survey was first sent out on June 30, 2016
• 113 out of 496 people who responded to the Wikimania Feedback Survey indicated that they attended the hackathon.

Qualitative Feedback

This feedback is based on fill in the blank comments, grouped into similar themes, interoperated by rfarrand and listed in order of most-commented

The best

Opps, this question was not asked in the Wikimania feedback survey. However multiple people mentioned the hackathon on their top three overall sessions at Wikimania and there .

The worst

• Hacking space and 24 hour hacking room were to crowded and loud. Hard to find places to sit, hard to concentrate.
• Lunch should be closer to the hacking space, having it far away was disruptive
• Keep coffee in the 24hr room throughout the event

Suggested changes for next time

• Less cramped and crowded space
• Hackathon should be less distributed throughout the city
• Water, coffee and food available after 6pm each day
• More "tech-talk" style sessions
• Taller / better / more comfortable tables
• Have volunteers sign up for testing
• More welcoming for non-technical contributors
• Note taking during the opening

Ideas for better community wishlist support

• A physical board with ideas and owners
• Wishlist projects should have mentors assigned beforehand
• Clear understanding of who is working on what already
• Direction on where to start contributing on each topic, some of the wishlist items are huge
• A community wish list session or keynote run by the community tech team

Quantitate Feedback

These are the feedback survey statistics

Including this Hackathon, how many hackathons have you attended

Answer % Count

1 20.43% 19

2 20.43% 19

3 16.13% 15

4 11.83% 11

5 7.53% 7

6 or more 23.66% 22

Total 100% 93

How would you describe your experience as a developer? (Choose the option that best describes your experience level)

Answer % Count

No experience 12.77% 12

Novice 8.51% 8

Beginner 12.77% 12

Intermediate 22.34% 21

Advanced 28.72% 27

1Expert 14.89% 14

Total 100% 94

Were you able to meet any new contributors interested in similar topics as you?

Answer % Count

No 9.78% 9

Yes, a few 75.00% 69

Yes, many 15.22% 14

Total 100% 92

How satisfied were you with the selection of sessions offered during the hackathon?

Answer % Count

Not at all 1.18% 1

Slightly 8.24% 7

3 Moderately 25.88% 22

Mostly 50.59% 43

Completely 14.12% 12

Total 100% 85

What different tasks did you accomplish during your hackathon time? (Select all that apply)

Answer % Count

Wrote code for a new tool or project 9.16% 25

Added features to an existing tool 10.99% 30

Fixed bugs 15.38% 42

Packaged software 1.10% 3

Made updates to deployment tooling 0.73% 2

Deployed updates to live sites (operations) 2.56% 7

Added citations 0.73% 2

Created templates 2.20% 6

Answered research questions 4.76% 13

Pulled research data 4.03% 11

Ran statistical analyses 4.40% 12

Completed a demoable project 4.03% 11

Presented in the Hackathon Showcase 5.86% 16

Ran a session in a breakout room 3.66% 10

Discussed future work (RFC, specifications, etc.) 17.22% 47

Worked on or contributed to a project from the Community Wishlist 6.23% 17

Other: 6.96% 19

Total 100% 273

 How would you describe your overall experience at the Hackathon?

Answer % Count

Very Negative 0.00% 0

Negative 4.49% 4

Neither Negative nor Positive 14.61% 13

Positive 51.69% 46

Very Positive 29.21% 26

Total 100% 89

To what extent do you feel the Hackathon was worth your time spent?

Answer % Count

Very much 44.32% 39

Mostly 39.77% 35

Somewhat 6.82% 6

Slightly 7.95% 7

Not at all 1.14% 1

Total 100% 88

How satisfied were you with the following aspects of the Hackathon?

# Question Not at all - Somewhat - Moderately - Mostly - Completely

Venue: 11.11% 2 - 23.08% 9 - 21.15% 11 26.45% 41 19.12% 26

Snacks: 16.67% 3 - 25.64% 10 - 23.08% 12 - 18.06% 28 - 23.53% 32

WiFi: 44.44% 8 - 28.21% 11 - 25.00% 13 - 21.29% 33 - 17.65% 24

Help Desk: 11.11% 2 - 12.82% 5 - 7.69% 4 1- 0.97% 17 - 19.12% 26

Hacking space: 16.67% 3 - 10.26% 4 - 23.08% 12 - 23.23% 36 - 20.59% 28

Total 18 - Total 39 - Total 52 - Total 155 - Total 136

Would you want to attend the Hackathon if it was not connected with Wikimania?

Answer % Count

Yes, no matter where it is held 41.57% 37

Yes, if it were close to my home 32.58% 29

No 11.24% 10

Unsure 14.61% 13

Total 100% 89