Be a Lifesaver Hackathon for RNLI in collaboration with Facebook, Ladies that UX London and GeekGirl Meetup

Last Saturday I joined 130 women in tech for a lifesaving charity hackathon. Held at Facebook Headquarters in London, the event brought together designers, developers and content strategists to address a challenge set by the Royal National Lifeboat Association.

The RNLI team, who had travelled up from their HQ in Poole, gave an introduction and overview of the RNLI’s challenges to help keep people safe. We were surprised by the facts and stats and that the biggest cause of accidental drowning is people who slip or fall whilst walking or running along the region’s coastlines. The big challenge set for the day was to find ways to reduce accidental drowning as part of people’s daily activity.

Women from Facebook, Ladies that UX London and GeekGirl Meetup researched, ideated, designed and prototyped in 20 teams with the RNLI team on hand to answer any questions. A variety of concepts were produced and included the use of augmented reality, native apps, wearable tech and viral campaigns. The day was so inspiring with a lot of very talented people taking part and I felt honoured to be on the panel of judges. All twenty concepts were unique and incredibly well thought through. Each group gave a 2-minute presentation walking us through their thought processes and demonstrating the concepts with prototypes or videos they had made to bring their ideas to life.

It was incredibly difficult to decide but the winning concept focused on using augmented reality to prevent people from getting cut off by tides.

Thanks to Facebook for hosting, feeding and watering us, to RNLI for setting the challenge and to all those who took part.