What Does a Good Hackathon Submission Look Like?
Source: Dev.to
Introduction
You’ve spent hours (maybe days) building something you’re proud of. But a strong project doesn’t guarantee a strong submission. The way you present your work matters just as much as the work itself. Judges review dozens—or even hundreds—of submissions, and the ones that stand out are clear, complete, and easy to evaluate.
This guide covers what separates winning submissions from forgettable ones.
0️⃣ Before Everything, Read the Requirements Carefully
This sounds obvious, but it’s where many hackers stumble. Before you start writing your submission, read the hackathon’s submission requirements thoroughly. Understand what’s mandatory, what’s optional, and what format is expected.
- This step ensures your submission is eligible for initial review before actual judging even begins.
- Missing a required field, exceeding a word limit, or submitting in the wrong format can disqualify you before a judge ever sees your work.
Reading carefully saves time for both you and the organizers—and prevents the frustration of being eliminated on a technicality.
Example of Submission Requirements (AWS AI Vibe Coding Hackathon)
(Insert the actual requirement list here if you have it.)
1️⃣ Show the Work, Not the Hype
A clear presentation of your project is essential. Judges want to understand:
- What you built
- Why it matters
- How it works
If you’re unsure what to write, try the 3W1H model:
| Question | Prompt |
|---|---|
| What | What is the problem you want to solve? |
| Why | Why does it matter? |
| Who | Who is it for? |
| How | How does it work? |
Answer these questions directly and concisely. You can also use a question‑answer format to structure your submission around the key things judges need to know.
Want some examples? Explore winner projects on dorahacks.io from the AWS Vibe Coding Hackathon and the Somnia Data Stream Hackathon.
Avoid buzzwords
Don’t stuff your submission with empty, grandiose claims like “this is a revolutionary application of AI” or “a paradigm‑shifting solution.” Whether your project is revolutionary is for users, the market, and the judges to decide. Let your work speak for itself:
- Describe what you actually built.
- Explain the problem it solves.
- Highlight what makes your approach interesting.
Substance beats buzzwords every time.
Bad example: “Our AI platform will change the world by automating everything.”
Good example: “We built a chatbot that reduces customer‑support ticket volume by 30 % using a fine‑tuned BERT model.”
2️⃣ Highlight What Makes Your Project Stand Out
Judges see many submissions tackling similar problems. What makes yours different? Don’t bury your most innovative or useful features in a wall of text—lead with them.
- Identify the core insight or approach that sets your project apart (e.g., a clever technical solution, an underserved use case, an unusually polished UI).
- Make this insight prominent in the first two paragraphs; if a judge only reads that far, they should already understand why your project deserves attention.
Think like a judge: After reviewing fifty submissions, what will they remember about yours? Give them something specific to hold onto.
3️⃣ Make Your Eligibility Obvious, Especially for Sponsor Prizes
Many hackathons require participants to use specific technologies, tools, APIs, or platforms. If the rules mandate using a particular sponsor’s API or building on a specific blockchain, state clearly in your submission how you’re using it.
Why this matters
- Sponsors often offer separate prize pools for the best projects that showcase their technology.
- Judges won’t dig through your code to verify eligibility; you must spell it out.
How to do it
- Create a dedicated “Sponsor Integration” section.
- Explain what you used, how you used it, and why it was essential.
- Include screenshots, code snippets, or documentation showing the required technology in action.
Case Study: ForestGuard Agent (AWS Global Vibe Coding Hackathon 2025)
- Clear opening: “The system detects, verifies, and reports deforestation events in real time using satellite imagery, drone data, and community‑submitted photos.”
- Agent breakdown: Vision, Verifier, Geolocation, Packager, Notification—each with a defined function.
- Sponsor tool usage: “Amazon Q Developer + Kiro IDE for agent orchestration.”
- Tech stack list: React.js & Tailwind (frontend), FastAPI & Celery (backend), PostgreSQL (DB), PyTorch (ML).
Lesson: Specificity builds credibility. When judges can trace exactly how your system works, they trust that you actually built it.
4️⃣ Make Everything You Submit Functional
Some hackers submit every required detail but forget to verify that those details actually work.
- GitHub repository: Ensure it’s public (or the link works for reviewers) and that the code builds/runs.
- Demo video or live demo: Test the link beforehand; include a short, captioned walkthrough.
- Documentation: Provide clear setup instructions, required environment variables, and any credentials (use placeholders if needed).
A non‑functional repo or broken demo can instantly disqualify an otherwise brilliant idea.
Quick Checklist
| ✅ Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Read requirements | Verify mandatory fields, word limits, format. |
| Clear problem statement | Use 3W1H or Q&A format. |
| Show, don’t hype | Focus on concrete work and results. |
| Highlight uniqueness | Lead with your most compelling feature. |
| Sponsor eligibility | Explicitly state integration; add evidence. |
| Functional assets | Public repo, working demo, clear docs. |
| Polish | Proofread, remove typos, keep language concise. |
Follow these guidelines, and your submission will stand out for the right reasons. Good luck!
Verify Your Submission Details
Your demo website throws an error. Your video link is broken. The social‑media account you listed has been suspended. The email address has a typo.
These accidents happen, but they’re entirely avoidable. Before you hit submit, verify everything:
- Is your repository public or accessible to reviewers?
- Does your demo site load correctly?
- Do all your links work?
- Is your video viewable without special permissions?
- Are your contact details accurate and active?
Judges can only evaluate what they can see. A broken link or inaccessible repo doesn’t just make you look careless — it might mean your project never gets reviewed at all. Take ten minutes to test every link and asset before submitting.
5. Embrace the Outcome and Keep Building
Hackathons are competitions, and competitions have winners and losers. You might pour your heart into a project and walk away with nothing. It stings, but it’s completely normal.
What separates successful hackers from frustrated ones is how they respond. If you don’t win, ask yourself what you learned:
- Did you gain new skills?
- Did you make interesting connections?
- Did you identify weaknesses in your project you can fix?
If your idea makes sense, keep building. Many successful projects didn’t win their first hackathon but improved through iteration and eventually found their moment. On platforms like DoraHacks, new hackathons launch regularly, and you can easily enter with an existing project that you’ve continued to develop.
- Sharpen your skills.
- Keep updating your work.
- Don’t lose sight of why you’re building in the first place.
If you’re solving a real problem and making consistent progress, opportunities will find you.
About DoraHacks
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