First Designer and Developer Hackathon at Figma X GitHub Hacks, powered by Ingressive & MEST

Figma and GitHub teamed up with MEST and Ingressive to present one of the first hackathons that featured both designers and developers as part of the tech team.

Over 90 developers and designers competed in the Lagos and Accra hackathons. The first event took place at MEST Africa’s Lagos campus, and the second hack took place at MEST Africa’s Accra location.

Figma X Github Hackathons encouraged teams of designers and developers to brainstorm ideas that solve social, economic or environmental problems then develop them into functioning products in 24 hours. Participants practiced new skills, reviewed projects with mentors, presented their work and got feedback from a panel of judges in the industry.

The Hackathons focused on Figma’s initiative to increase exposure to design’s role in tech while also working with Github and Ingressive to push technical skills training and resources across the continent.

As technology continues to eat the world and the barrier to developing tech decreases, it is design that truly differentiates a product. Design includes everything from how the product works to the experience using the product to what it looks like: the buttons, the colors, the themes. The importance of design is booming globally, and more and more high-paying jobs are being created in the space. There’s currently a shortage of qualified designers to fill them.

At its core, design is about problem solving. Good designers can come from anywhere, given the right skills and training. Designers can come from any background: back-end or front-end engineers as much as former makeup artists and even sketch artists. Anyone interested can get involved with Figma Africa group in Lagos and around the continent to meet other designers and get started.

Figma is looking to build a Global Community connecting high potential designers and those interested in the space who could fill these roles.