Fully Beyond
Creating CSUF’s First Virtual Design Event
Product Design
An idea from 3 designers bloomed into a virtual designathon that fosters creativity, collaboration, and community while addressing real-world problems through UX/UI design.
Challenges
Challenge 1: Lack of Platform
Attending CSUF, we organizers believed designers deserved a platform where students could showcase their UX design skills and earn real-world experience.
Challenge 2: Accessibility & Beginner Friendly
Though other alternatives existed, such as hackathons and events from different schools, there wasn't an evident environment that focused on UX/UI design and tailored it for a beginner-friendly audience.
Challenge 3: Empowering students and the new generation
Creating an annual event that will become a staple to a designer's journey at CSUF and where they can reliably learn and lead.
Research
Addressing these challenges ahead of us, we diverted five phases to develop the guidance and structure we needed for an all-inclusive design experience:
Laying the foundation
Research key features, including workshops, video mentorship sessions, and keynote speakers, to streamline a successful designathon.
Inclusive Experience
Analyzing the effectiveness of each event we formulated the best of each designathon to make a beginner-friendly virtual designathon.
My Role & Contributions
Challenges Faced + solutions
Adapting to Virtual Dynamics
Worked to ensure participant engagement and smooth communication despite the challenges of an entirely virtual event.
Communicating and team meetings in person and virtually. Tackled the final event in person as a team.
Balancing Roles
Managed responsibilities across multiple areas while maintaining flexibility to assist leads with pressing needs.
We were kicked out of our campus library during our mentor hours, but the show must go on.
Skill Growth in Unfamiliar Areas
Learned new tools and workflows, such as Discord management or event logistics, to better support the team and participants.
Built the server from scratch with no experience, learned Devpost and Reddit for outreach.
Outcomes & Impact
Beginning this journey, I could have never imagined the success we had with our first launch of Fullybeyond. Creating an event that ensured each participant's positive experience and a new perspective to design, we are all entirely grateful for this opportunity to share this experience.
Key Insights & Reflection
Community Growth
Leaving an established foundation for CSUF's designathons and creating the platform for future events to sprout from FullyBeyond. Also, laying the groundwork for the new generation of organizers to make a high-impact event.
Fostering Open Communication
At each stage of the designathon, we allowed clear communication between mentor and student. Still, we failed to anticipate beginner teams' unease and forgot to encourage quieter team members to participate in critiques as a beneficial takeaway.
Sponsership and Marktetting Challenges
The early stages of FullyBeyond were focused on design rather than outreach, leading to not securing enough support to curate a prize pool for participants. Additionally, a few discrepancies with deadlines and mentor dropouts lead to last-minute changes and confusion moments before the main event.
Final Takeaways
FullyBeyond wasn’t just about organizing an event but about creating something meaningful for our community. This event was about executing tasks, creating something meaningful for the design community, and fostering a culture of creativity and inclusion.
This project taught us the importance of persistence, trust, and adaptability. Despite the challenges, we poured our hearts into this event, and the result was a legacy we hope will inspire future CSUF organizers and participants.
