IDEA
- Knowledge of something, notion.
- Plan to be accomplished.
- A method used to solve problems
- Creation or discovery of something concrete or abstract.
There are many definitions, but they all head in the same direction: understanding a need, thinking, planning and creating something different. And with this mindset, we had our first hackathon. There were 11 intense days for the more than 240 participants to complete 25 projects during the competition.
And the challenge couldn’t have been different, could it? We asked for projects to discover how technology can help sales at Natura shops after Covid-19. We know that the pandemic greatly accelerated e-commerce and this changed the consumer profile. So, how to get people back to physical stores?
Natura’s main objective is to offer the best experience in using its products, whether in its own stores or franchises. That’s why we chose them as our partners for this hackathon. Professionals from both companies offered mentoring to the participants during the challenge period. To give you an idea, we exchanged more than 1000 messages on the Discord platform.
Who won?
Well, it was a hard task to decide who would be the winner. The ideas and projects were amazing, it’s even worth taking a look hereand check the description of all the projects to get inspired.
The 1st place went to the Entalhes team, formed by Rodolfo Diniz, Adonay Puszczynski, Filipe Cercal and Giovanne Bressam, who proposed a very special project to customize the packaging of Natura’s refill products using laser engraving. The idea is to be able to make “packaging with feeling”. And with the Internet of Things this is possible and the team was able to prove it.
With the Entalhes app, when buying your gift in the store, you have access to a tablet that gives you many customization options. But don’t think it’s just engraving a name. Can you imagine being able to get your fingerprint, heartbeat or your voice and turn it all into a symbol?
So, this symbol is immediately printed and engraved on the packaging, and whoever receives the gift can read it through the Natura app – as if they were reading a normal QR Code. And that’s it! The person can receive your message in a super personalized and unique way.
Golden Tips
We will have other challenges like this very soon, keep an eye out. And in the meantime, take a look at the Entalhes team’s tips to win first place:
- Focus on the idea! It sounds obvious, but it isn’t. Being able to focus on the project is only possible when you know that technology will make everything easier. EUGENIO here was fundamental, especially because of all the documentation, which is quite clear and assertive – ckeck out here.
- Listen to everyone in the team! The best ideas are formed and emerge from several previous ideas. So, talk!
- Leverage the content of the hackathon itself! We produced a lot of content during the Challenge Hub, focused on the entire process. Keeping an eye out for live streamings, for example, is one of the best ways to stay informed about what’s going on and, who knows, come up with inspiring ideas for the challenge.
- Get your head on the deadline! In hackathons, the main race is against time. For that reason, we decided to give 11 days for the participants to be able to mature the idea and develop the best projects. But don’t think it’s a lot, if don’t have all the steps clear in your mind, you can lose track in the end.
- Learn during the process! Of course, everyone wants to win, but it’s important to enjoy the entire trajectory of the hackathon. It has a lot of interesting information and access to professional mentoring professionals.
