Disappointed - My opinion

From what design challenge did you drop out? Where else are there design challenges like these ones?

Took me a while to find it in my old email, but I managed to get a press release about the winner: Press Release|NXP

Back then there were a number of places with design challenges / contests. Mostly manufacturers (I did contests from NXP / mbed, Cypress, Silabs, EnergyMicro, and did actually win some prices :-), but also magazines (I remember EEWeb). But this seems to have died out a little bit - or they are all moving their contests over to E14, as this might give even better reach with less effort for them...

Thanks for checking it out. I just started doing roadtests (so far I got a single one), and they provide me a great opportunity to access items that otherwise I would not be able to afford as I live in a country with a minimum salary of ~400 USD, where importing  stuff can increase its price up to more than 100%. To me the roadtests and competitions are a win-win situation, I get access to interesting stuff, learn a lot, can teach others, and also help companies by advertising their products. I've found that hackster.io does competitions, but I didn't know semiconductor companies also do. I'll keep an eye on their competitions and challenges too!

I have done a few road tests. one a long time ago was Ti MSP430 launchpads and Ararn RF stuff sounded cool but the problem was that the MSP430 had an SMT part and it should have been a dip.  Call it a disaster.

the other was a project of the month "Back to Analog" where I got a "care" package! could not finish as I ended up in a forced move (I'm still unpacking)

So what does that mean: Stuff happens in real life and that must be taken into account! The problem isn't the fact they never started, what you are calling prize grabbing.

So before you condemn the member to the abyss, then you have to find out what happened,  maybe the member should return the prize? who knows.

I personly have more than a few projects going at the same time. currently:

• Appointments at the VA
• Trying to start a house flipping business
• Sending some CVs out, at my age LOL but they want what I got.

• Converting NexGen RSS to Java (WIP)
• Getting NexGen RSS slaves working (WIP)
• Hiraga Preamp (WIP) When I find It.
• Putting stuff up for sale on eBay and Poshmark.
• UNPACKING!  BTW I have yet to find my Wire-Wrap Gun or my Soldering Station or my 18v Drill (motor)

Hi Rod (and Dale and Dixon),

Thank you very much for the tips and words of encouragement!

Although my primary focus at this point in time is employment at the place where i have a full time engagement until the end of October, i still use every opportunity to pursue and extend my knowledge and experience within my fields of interest (electronics, programming, making). I moved in May and that has also had a great impact on the time i have had available for these endeavors, but order is gradually evolving out of the chaos and optimism about being able to pursue my interests again privately is returning to me. Last weekend i finally managed to find time to repair and calibrate my 3D printer which was dropped in the stairwell during the move. Then i printed some parts i needed for an automated wire cutting system that i am making to save me some time at work (automating the boring stuff if and when possible is always fun).

Regards,

raymond

Great post Phil.

Are there any analytics on length of membership, participation and failure to complete? I'm thinking of predictors that your team can use to determine risk.

If the failures can be linked to membership length, then maybe a quarantine period with activity monitor is needed to ready potential candidates.

You invest in removing those individuals that are gaming the process. Some will over promise, under deliver and fail. That is an known learning path. The gamers (i.e. looking to manipulate the system) are the primary target.

Your teams task is not much different than the moderators for RoadTests. What is an acceptable failure to complete rate? Once you have reached that point any other effort provides diminished returns.

Sean

What is an appropriate membership exercise for failure, that respects the participant but helps others develop knowledge to understanding?

Maybe a post project review/lessons learned is warranted to enable a participant to redeem themselves, lick their wounds so to speak and provide a consequence of action to the membership.

I just realized, the writer in me thinks this is an easy out. Go figure.

Sean

Hey Sean,

Ooof this is an old thread to suddenly resurrect! 

In response to some of your questions:

"failures can be linked to membership length" -

Not always, as above, sometimes we are let down by some long running members, they don't "ghost" us but life gets in the way, we can't hold that against people.  Finisher prizes and the application process are our main way of weeding people who are not fully committed.  My thought is that they have spent all the time to apply and come up with a project that resonates with me then give up, they are missing out on a finisher prize (which is usually quite good)

"You invest in removing those individuals that are gaming the process"

We certainly track and remember people who have taken advantage.

"What is an acceptable failure to complete rate?"

We try to not have one, although different kits cost different amounts, if we are giving away a £5 or a £500 Dev board we work to minimize people pulling out.  Every lost kit is a lost project and a lost story, never mind the money wasted.

Now for the good news:

We found a large contributor to the issue and seemed to have hit the nail on the head, and had much much better numbers over the past few challenges.  Firstly we changed a bunch of the copy/text and made challengers obligations more obvious, this has helped new and existing members to understand the challenges.

Then we found a problem with how we were advertising these challenges and the targeting used in our social media.

For those not aware of modern online marketing tools, you can choose a "type" of person (not individuals or specific groups), for example, Facebook, would push the advert to.

The way we had set up the targeting had brought lots of visits to the page, which sounds great, but the "quality" of person arriving on the page was very low, we were getting numbers and applicants and it really felt like a success until we went through the challenge and the audience were let down either early on or after we sent the kit.

I am happy to say we have changed the "audiences" and "targeting" for any external pushes for new challengers. These have brought us Challenge winners and new members who have stayed and contributed greatly.

I feel we are in a much better place and have a few shake ups incoming soon! Keep your eyes peeled for the next design challenge!

-Phil