Design Challenge Prizes - What Do You Want?

Nicole

Thanks for the very interesting question.

It appears that a highly valued prize do make more people sign up, but whether that gets a better outcome is debatable, and we've had conversations regarding prizes awarded to those not sticking to the rules.

For some of the Design Challenges the product and budget is a prize on its own, and in many cases it is necessary due to the wide range of applicants and their financial standing.

It is unfortunate that despite all the offering 100% completion is not always achieved for one reason or another.

I am very pleased with the Nexus Tablet I received, but going forward I think vouchers/credit for your local element14 store might be better.

If the sponsors wanted to offer their product, then again a voucher for the winner to choose products he/she is interested in might be more appropriate.

element14 is a global arena, so meeting and spending a day might be hard to organise  ... nice idea but limited application.

Some of the design Challenges have been quite advanced, and while it has tackled some very interesting problems, it has a rather narrow application.

Having more generalised challenges that are applicable to more of the xxx,000 members and using some of the more common hardware could give a much wider audience.

It also needs to use products that are available across the globe. The Forget Me Not was great, but the EnOcean modules aren't readily available, so it is of limited use.

Mark

Nicole

Thanks for the very interesting question.

It appears that a highly valued prize do make more people sign up, but whether that gets a better outcome is debatable, and we've had conversations regarding prizes awarded to those not sticking to the rules.

For some of the Design Challenges the product and budget is a prize on its own, and in many cases it is necessary due to the wide range of applicants and their financial standing.

It is unfortunate that despite all the offering 100% completion is not always achieved for one reason or another.

I am very pleased with the Nexus Tablet I received, but going forward I think vouchers/credit for your local element14 store might be better.

If the sponsors wanted to offer their product, then again a voucher for the winner to choose products he/she is interested in might be more appropriate.

element14 is a global arena, so meeting and spending a day might be hard to organise  ... nice idea but limited application.

Some of the design Challenges have been quite advanced, and while it has tackled some very interesting problems, it has a rather narrow application.

Having more generalised challenges that are applicable to more of the xxx,000 members and using some of the more common hardware could give a much wider audience.

It also needs to use products that are available across the globe. The Forget Me Not was great, but the EnOcean modules aren't readily available, so it is of limited use.

Mark

Edit ...opps it looks like when element14 froze it saved both entries ...sorry.

Perhaps another question to ask is: how many prizes ?

Having more chances to win something may motivate competitors more to actually complete the challenge. For example, the Sudden Impact challenges has massive grand prizes (MDO3000, MacBook Air, Home HD Sensor), but no 2nd or 3rd place prizes. In The Air was more balanced: a MacBook Pro for 1st place, a MacBook Air for 2nd place. I also liked what was done for the Holiday Lights and Sudden Impact: everyone who finishes gets a little something. If there's only one grand prize and competitors see someone being ahead, they may think they no longer have a shot at the grand prize and give up/drop out.

Personally, I think it would be better to have proper prizes for the top 3 competitors that finished the challenge (and followed the rules).

As for the prizes themselves: I like Mark's idea of vouchers as it lets you pick something you really want/need. But a trip sounds fun also!

Going to Electronica in Munich last year was fun, and I got to meet Christian (after more than a year of exchanging emails) and a whole bunch of other element14 people there. A trip to the US/UK offices doesn't sound bad either, meeting people like Nicole, Dave, etc ... . Or perhaps even meeting Ben Heck?

Frederick

I second that!

Dragan

I have to confess that I joined the Enchanted Objects challenge based on the nature of the challenge rather than the prize. I spotted the prize after deciding to apply.

It's interesting that the prizes don't seem to be a motivational factor in keeping people going through the challenges. Perhaps E14 could do a post part way through the challenge describing the prizes in more detail?

Prizes that would interest me:

Interesting trips / unique experiences, test equipment, training material.

Having started a challenge this year, I can't imagine doing another in the near future. It is really hard work! So perhaps one of those chairs that allows you to put your feet up.

Frederick Vandenbosch wrote:

 

Personally, I think it would be better to have proper prizes for the top 3 competitors that finished the challenge (and followed the rules).

I would also agree with this statement. That way everybody has a goal - it doesn't need to be much of a prize.

I completely agree with Frederic and mark...

One more point I like to add regarding community choice prize...

As I have seen lobbying in community choice prize..and it not good for healthy competition..

So I suggest peer choice prize in which competitors can vote each other but can't vote their own project..

Andwhile choosing winner community choice and peer choice both can be considered in proper proportion, this may help reduce effect of lobbying while selecting winner.

Hi Nicole,

Because of amount of effort involved in these challenges, I generally only look at the ones that line up with projects I already have an interest in working on. To make that even more difficult, those interests change over time

Right now I would be more likely to sign up for challenges involving drones/quad-copters or robotics in terms of robot arms and rovers.

Of course, if I'm really busy with other things, I will still pass, with much sadness   (ps, that's why I've been MIA for the last 4 or 5 months).

In terms of prizes (as well as the challenge kits and budgets), I have been motivated by prizes that match what I happen to need - like the iMac 5k in December, and the macBooks - or if they match my current interests of things I want to try out.

I agree with the others in terms of number of prizes and who should be eligible (completed projects, and more than just one or two winners). Maybe also add a prize for someone drawn from all those who complete what was promised who didn't already win?

-Nico

Hi Nicole,

I usually do not look very much at the prizes as I do the aspects of the challenge and the opportunity to do something interesting with the components provided.

I understand that some challenges entail a lot more work than others, so I agree that the prizes should reflect a good reward for the effort expended.

To entice more participants, you might want to add more ancillary prizes so that even the people who do not win get some value for their time and effort.

A better reward structure might get more recipients to actually follow through and blog through the challenge.

DAB

Thanks all for taking the time to share your thoughts - I am so glad to hear that so many of you are motivated by the challenge itself and not so much the prize at the end of it - although I'm sure a physical "prize" is the nice "cherry on top" for all the hard work!  

I also can appreciate that the investment of time to compete in a Design Challenge is quite substantial as well - I'm also hearing that many of you feel some kind of "finishers" prize would be a good idea to keep people from losing interest and motivation along the way.   I also like the idea of the top winners being able to pick their prize.  i.e. the first place winner would get dibs and so on...

I'll be sure to pass along these ideas to our Design Challenge Program Manager; and please feel free to keep the conversation and ideas going in the meantime if you think of anything else as well.

Thanks!