Design Challenge Prizes - What Do You Want?

I'll be frank so that the feedback is, hopefully, useful (i.e. Don't Judge Me! ). I always evaluate the prize before I decide. Here's how I look at it: I'm going to be working on something whether or not I am enrolled in a design challenge. If I like the prize enough, I'll come up with an idea for the competition. I do, however, agree with the others, that being selected is a prize in itself. I prefer the challenges with the small amount of kit and the budget since I can be more creative. It feels more like engineering to me (i.e., do something on a fixed budget). I didn't apply for any of the recent design challenges.

I didn't apply for the Sudden Impact challenge because I was working on the In The Air challenge. Sudden Impact seemed like a HUGE commitment. For a challenge that big I would need to be a bachelor or part of a design team.

I didn't apply for either the Enchanted Objects or the SciFi Your Pi design challenge for two reasons: I wasn't interested in the prize enough to come up with a decent idea and I prefer to work forward in a design. What I mean is, I prefer to come up with the idea and then determine what I need to purchase to fulfill the requirements instead of having to make a product from a predetermined platform. Some people are really good at working from a kit and moving backwards to an idea, but not me.

Now, I'm not saying the prize is the only thing that gets me to apply. Like I said, I'm going to be working on something anyway. It's the prize that sways me to be interested in the design challenge as opposed to another project I am working on.

I'll be frank so that the feedback is, hopefully, useful (i.e. Don't Judge Me! ). I always evaluate the prize before I decide. Here's how I look at it: I'm going to be working on something whether or not I am enrolled in a design challenge. If I like the prize enough, I'll come up with an idea for the competition. I do, however, agree with the others, that being selected is a prize in itself. I prefer the challenges with the small amount of kit and the budget since I can be more creative. It feels more like engineering to me (i.e., do something on a fixed budget). I didn't apply for any of the recent design challenges.

I didn't apply for the Sudden Impact challenge because I was working on the In The Air challenge. Sudden Impact seemed like a HUGE commitment. For a challenge that big I would need to be a bachelor or part of a design team.

I didn't apply for either the Enchanted Objects or the SciFi Your Pi design challenge for two reasons: I wasn't interested in the prize enough to come up with a decent idea and I prefer to work forward in a design. What I mean is, I prefer to come up with the idea and then determine what I need to purchase to fulfill the requirements instead of having to make a product from a predetermined platform. Some people are really good at working from a kit and moving backwards to an idea, but not me.

Now, I'm not saying the prize is the only thing that gets me to apply. Like I said, I'm going to be working on something anyway. It's the prize that sways me to be interested in the design challenge as opposed to another project I am working on.