FullCodePress - judging over

I've just gotten home from judging the first FullCodePress competition (see the site for details, the winners, and all the action). Two teams - from NZ and Australia - worked for 24hrs straight to design & develop a complete Web site for two different (one each) not-for-profit organizations.

The judging covered 10 characteristics of a Web site:

• Purpose
• Visual Design
• Content
• User Experience
• Functionality
• Accessibility
• Standards-compliance
• Development
• Innovation
• Overall

I was judging the Purpose, Content, and User Experience categories (everyone puts in a score in the Overall category).

It was really, really interesting to see how the two teams approached their task, including the use of some very focused, tactical IA/UxD work. The NZ team appeared to be the more process-oriented of the two teams, producing thumbnail-sketch personas, wireframes, site map etc; the Australians worked in a more collaborative, iterative fashion, concentrating on site maps & wireframes.

Without users to interact with, both teams worked closely with their respective clients, relying on their knowledge & empathy with the audience groups to define appropriate site structures, content, functionality &etc.

I was very impressed with the quality of the end result from both teams: they should both feel proud of the work they've done this weekend.

Also, kudos to the organizers - WebStock & WIPA - for a great idea, and a really well-run event. The coverage was also awesome, incorporating live blogging, twitter, videos on youtube, and photos on flickr.