The second in-house hackathon was held by PayPay developers on November 24 and 25, 2022, with 17 teams and a total of more than 60 members from PayPay’s Product Division participating in a hybrid online/offline format.
Let’s take a sneak peek into this fun occasion!
About PayPay Hackathon
PayPay Hackathon is an event where Product members work in teams to quickly create a practical service prototype within 48 hours. Participants leverage their skills and collaborate with teammates against a time limit to develop a variety of services from scratch.
This year, PayPay Hackathon was held under the following rules:
- 5 members in 1 team at max
- Develop a working prototype in 2 days
- Give a presentation and demo within 180 seconds
Afterwards, all participating teams were evaluated by PayPay’s management. Nonetheless, the most important thing about the PayPay Hackathon was to “find joy in creating.” Let us introduce to you the prize winners!
Winning Teams
CEO Award
Team: Famica
Comments by team members:
We are amazed we got the CEO Award! As a team, we discussed around the principal idea of how we can impact people, and developed from there. During our conversation, we realized that we wanted a feature that would enable all family members to use PayPay together, and came up with “Famica.” Family-oriented services have great potential for further growth of the number of PayPay users, so thankfully, we were given the CEO Award from Nakayama-san, our president.
We had a lot of fun in the PayPay Hackathon. All of the teams gave great presentations and showcased awesome ideas, so weI felt really lucky to have won this award. At the same time, We are very happy that my attitude of trying to create something impactful was recognized.
Business Head Award
Team: The Three Bears
Comments by team members:
We decided to begin with the idea of using the latest AI technology to play around to our heart’s content. To be honest, at the beginning, we weren’t even sure if it would work. However, we think tapping into each other’s strengths was the key to fighting the uncertainties and time limit. We realized once again that the most exciting and innovative ideas lead to creating top-notch products when multiple people’s perspectives and expertise are synthesized.
Business Head Award
Team: PayPay FAST
Comments by team members:
We definitely wanted to win an award (laughs) and we worked hard for that. We are also very happy that my hard work paid off!
The idea itself started from a very personal desire to solve a problem we all have experienced. And then we channeled that desire to develop a product that would solve our users’ problems by finding issues that everyone can relate to, and providing a more convenient experience. We think this perspective led to us winning the award.
Also, we had a great experience in the last hackathon and knew how PayPay members can come up with wonderful ideas, so we were really looking forward to participating again this time. Plus, it’s also a great opportunity for team bonding!
Most Popular Award (voted by participants)
Team: Pandas
Comments by team members:
We didn’t win the award last time, but we still wanted to participate, so we took up the challenge again this year. The thing is, you can gain experience and get exposed to the creativity of other members, plus you also have the opportunity to present in front of PayPay’s executives. It goes without saying that via the hackathon you get a chance to have your ideas reflected in PayPay’s products, and it also is a great opportunity for us to get away from our usual work mindset and be inspired. We would say this is one of PayPay’s best events and the company has done a great job of organizing it!
Special Hack Award
Team: OpsPixie
Comments by team members:
We are a team that usually focuses on Ops support, not product development, so we never thought we would win an award!
As the point of contact for every team in the company, we receive similar questions and requests every day, so we started discussing ideas by asking ourselves, “What can we create to make our work easier?” We were very happy to be acknowledged, not just from the development perspective, but even from the business viewpoint of cost and productivity.
Comments by First-time PayPay Hackathon Participants
This year’s PayPay Hackathon saw many members who have only been with the company for a short time. Alexandre, a product manager who joined PayPay in October, was one of them.
Comment by Alexandre:
It was a great opportunity to make connections and expand my internal network. I also strongly felt that I would like to continue participating in the future, as having the chance to take on challenges outside of my usual work potentially could lead to new ideas.
Finally
Of course, we must not forget the people who contributed the most to this PayPay Hackathon, Tapan (backend engineer on the P2P Team) and Arysa (project manager on the PMO Team), who worked hard behind the scenes to organize the event.
Comment by Tapan:
I participated in the last hackathon as an engineer, but this time I was the organizer. I was able to view the hackathon as an event manager, and see how much attention and effort the teams put into making various decisions, even to the small details. I also gained an understanding of how difficult it is to prepare for the unexpected, imagining all possible scenarios, and smoothly running the hackathon which came with a time limit. All this was a great learning experience, as I got to participate in the event from a different perspective.
Comment by Arysa:
I got to meet face to face with people from different teams, which is not easy to do when working remotely. It was fun to see and be a part of so many people bonding and having fun together.
These were a few snippets from the event and of everyone’s comments, but we hope you enjoyed reading it.
PayPay Hackathon is a festival for PayPay developers where you can find joy in creating. We look forward to seeing you in the next PayPay Hackathon!
Special Thanks: Hackathon Participants / Editor: Grace / Author: PayPay Inside-Out Editorial Team / Photographer: Hinako
*Employees’ affiliations are as of the time of the interview.
