1. Introduction: The Prompt is You!

Welcome to the WUD Africa 2025 Hackathon! Our vision is to shift the narrative “From Fear to Acceleration.” This hackathon is not just about building a product; it’s about transforming how we build, integrating AI as a partner in our development workflow.

Our theme, “The Prompt is You!,” emphasises that human talent, vision, and expertise are the driving force. AI is the tool that accelerates your ideas.

These guidelines are created to ensure every submission is evaluated fairly and transparently. They are designed to reward teams for their problem-solving, usability, and technical skill, with a special emphasis on how they leverage AI in both their product and their process.

2. Submission Requirements (What to Submit)

To be eligible for judging, all teams must submit the following by the final deadline (November 10th, 2025):

1. Functional MVP: A link to a publicly accessible, functional Minimum Viable Product. This can be a live web app, a mobile app build, or a similar testable solution.
2. Code Repository: A link to your source code repository (e.g., GitHub, GitLab).
3. Demo Video (Max 3 Minutes): A short video that:
   • Clearly explains the problem you are solving.
   • Demonstrates the core features of your MVP.
   • Explains who your target user is.
4. The “AI Acceleration Report” (Critical): A README.md file in your repository (or a separate text document) that answers the following:
   • AI in your Process: Which AI tools (e.g., Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) did your team use for coding, debugging, design, and/or project management?
   • Impact on Workflow: How did these tools help you build faster, overcome challenges, or achieve a better result?
   • AI in your Product (If applicable): If your product itself uses AI, briefly explain what it does and which models/APIs you used.

A submission that fails to include these four components will be considered incomplete and may be disqualified.

3. The Judging Criteria (How You’ll Be Scored)

Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges across five key categories. Each category will be scored on a scale of 1 to 5 points.

Category 1: Impact & Problem Definition (Max 5 Points)

This category evaluates the “why” behind your project.

• 1 (Needs Improvement): The problem is unclear, trivial, or not well-defined.
• 3 (Good): The project solves a clear and valid problem for a specific group of users.
• 5 (Exceptional): The project tackles a significant, urgent, and/or wide-reaching problem. The potential for positive social or business impact is massive.

Category 2: Usability & Design (Max 5 Points)

As this is World Usability Day, this category is essential. It evaluates the “how it feels” for the user.

• 1 (Needs Improvement): The MVP is confusing, difficult to navigate, or broken.
• 3 (Good): The MVP is functional and understandable. A user can complete the main tasks without significant friction.
• 5 (Exceptional): The MVP is intuitive, accessible, and a pleasure to use. The design is polished, thoughtful, and demonstrates a deep understanding of the target user.

Category 3: Innovation & AI Integration (Max 5 Points)

This category evaluates the novelty of your solution and, if applicable, the use of AI within the product.

• 1 (Needs Improvement): The solution is a common clone with no new ideas. If AI is used in the product, it’s a minor gimmick.
• 3 (Good): The project offers a new take on an existing problem or integrates a third-party AI API in a functional way.
• 5 (Exceptional): The solution is highly innovative. If AI is used in the product, it is core to the value proposition and implemented in a deep, meaningful, or creative way.

Category 4: Technical Feasibility & Implementation (Max 5 Points)

This category evaluates how well the MVP is built and if it is functional.

• 1 (Needs Improvement): The project is not functional, is riddled with bugs, or is built on a shaky/unsuitable technical foundation.
• 3 (Good): The MVP is functional and built with a sensible, standard tech stack. It works as demonstrated.
• 5 (Exceptional): The MVP is not only functional but polished, well-architected, and technically impressive for the short timeframe. The code quality is high.

Category 5: Business/Impact Scalability (Max 5 Points)

This category evaluates the project’s business model and path to scaling.

• 1 (Needs Improvement): The business/impact model is unclear, not viable, or has very limited growth potential.
• 3 (Good): The concept has a clear, viable model for growth and adoption (e.g., a clear target market, a path to revenue or user acquisition).
• 5 (Exceptional): The project demonstrates a highly scalable and intelligent business/impact model (e.g., high-growth potential, network effects, low marginal costs, a “like Uber” smart model).

Category 6: AI-Accelerated Development (Max 5 Points)

This category is unique to our theme. It evaluates how you built, based on your “AI Acceleration Report” and code repository.

• 1 (Needs Improvement): The team shows no evidence of using AI tools in their development workflow.
• 3 (Good): The team clearly used AI tools (e.g., Copilot, ChatGPT) to assist with coding, debugging, or content generation, as detailed in their report.
• 5 (Exceptional): The team provides outstanding evidence of mastering AI tools in their process. They demonstrably used AI to accelerate development, solve complex problems, and punch above their weight, perfectly embodying the “From Fear to Acceleration” vision.

4. The Judging Process

Our judging process is divided into two phases to ensure fairness and transparency:

1. Initial Review (Nov 8th – 9th):
   • All complete submissions will be reviewed and scored by multiple judges using the 5-point rubric above.
   • The scores will be averaged to determine a total score for each team.
2. Finalist Selection (Nov 10th):
   • The 10 teams with the highest scores will be announced and will advance to the Grand Finale.
3. Grand Finale Pitch (Nov 15th):
   • The Top 10 teams will present a live pitch and demo to a final panel of judges.
   • The final winners will be determined by a combination of their initial submission score and the quality, clarity, and persuasiveness of their live pitch.

5. Rules & Fair Play

To ensure a fair and exciting competition for everyone, all participants must adhere to the following rules:

• Team Formation: Teams must consist of at least three (3) members. Teams can be pre-formed, or you can find new members in our official Slack workspace.
• Project Originality: All projects must be built from scratch during the official hackathon sprint (October 21st – November 7th, 2025) or have clear features built during the hackathon sprint. Using pre-existing projects or code written before the hackathon start date is strictly prohibited and could lead to disqualification. Your code repository’s commit history will be used to verify this.
• Use of Open-Source: You are permitted to use publicly available, open-source libraries, frameworks, and APIs. You are not permitted to use private or pre-written codebases from your team, company, or previous projects.
• Code of Conduct: All participants must adhere to the event’s Code of Conduct (a separate document will be provided). We have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment, discrimination, or any form of disrespectful behaviour.
• Grounds for Disqualification: Teams may be disqualified at the judges’ discretion for:

• Violating the “Project Originality” rule.
• Violating the Code of Conduct.
• Any form of plagiarism or intellectual property theft.

6. Guiding Principles for All

• Participants: Be bold! This is your chance to learn and build. Use the AI workshops and mentors. Your “AI Acceleration Report” is just as important as your demo, so take it seriously.
• Judges: You are guardians of the event’s vision. Score fairly based on the rubric, reward creative and practical use of AI, and provide constructive feedback where possible.
• Organisers: We are committed to providing a fair, transparent, and supportive environment for all participants to do their best work.

Good luck, and we can’t wait to see what you build!