Hackathon

Defy Gravity 00

Powered by

First flight hours for shared ideas.

At the first wayys Hackathon event of the series: „Defy Gravity“, we brought together a diverse group of people from the HR and recruiting world and showed that even complex HR and recruiting challenges can be translated into tangible solutions in the shortest possible time.

The ability to use these tools independently, bringing innovation directly into everyday work and overcoming outdated ways of thinking, is the impulse we want to set. Because if you ask us, everyone can learn to fly! All of this decorated with some fresh new shirts, stickers, notebooks, pens, ideas, as well as plenty of fun and good vibes.

Process

As a structural foundation, we used a pragmatic version of Design Thinking to clearly define problems and then focus on moving into the solution space. There, we applied Vibe Coding for intense rapid prototyping in teams. Definitely an entry-level format, but effective enough to get a sense of the bigger picture.

Specifically, this time we worked with Lovable, a tool that makes it possible to develop functional prototypes in no time using simple language. Thanks to Lovable, all participants had the opportunity to work directly with their own accounts during the event and to continue using the tool for one month free of charge after the hackathon.

At the center were pressing questions from HR and recruiting – from fair application processes to successful onboarding to the analysis of job postings.

Image-01
Image-02
Image-03
Image-04
Image-05
Image-06
Image-07
Image-08
Image-09
Image-10
Image-11
Image-12
Image-13
Image-14
Image-15
Image-16
Image-17
Image-18

Goals

  1. Is our format relevant for the HR community?
  2. Can we develop functional prototypes in such a short time?
  3. And above all: can we enable participants to practically build solutions themselves using AI and Vibe Coding?

From our perspective, we can answer these questions with yes. Much more important, however, are the impressions of the participants. In addition, we provide an evaluation in which we share our own learnings and give an outlook on how we want to further develop the format.

Coaching Team

Dave took on the role of moderator and guided the participants step by step through the design process. Bastian, as an HR specialist, moderated complex problem statements and ensured a coherent problem clustering. Pati provided the groups with valuable impulses from her UX/UI perspective during the ideation phase. Jan, as an experienced full-stack developer, brought in a technological depth that helped to think of ideas not only creatively but also practically implementable. Together, we wanted to create a framework that fosters creativity, encourages exchange, and gives the courage to embrace something new.

Karin Geisendörfer

Customer Success Team Lead

Nico Wittig

HR- & Management Consultant

Joy Grohe

Talent Acquisition Expert

Tiago Portela de Oliveira

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Tabea Hasters

Teamlead Talent Acquisition

Ralf Kuncser

Chief Executive Officer

Nina Jelic

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Karin Geisendörfer

Customer Success Team Lead

Nico Wittig

HR- & Management Consultant

Joy Grohe

Talent Acquisition Expert

Tiago Portela de Oliveira

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Tabea Hasters

Teamlead Talent Acquisition

Ralf Kuncser

Chief Executive Officer

Nina Jelic

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Karin Geisendörfer

Customer Success Team Lead

Nico Wittig

HR- & Management Consultant

Joy Grohe

Talent Acquisition Expert

Tiago Portela de Oliveira

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Tabea Hasters

Teamlead Talent Acquisition

Ralf Kuncser

Chief Executive Officer

Nina Jelic

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Results

Three functional Prototypes in 120 Minutes

Fair Talent
Promote a fair and transparent hiring process by creating personas to find the talent that truly fits your company.

Day One
Make the first day for new employees as smooth as possible by providing them with all the necessary information and resources.

Job Ad Control
Optimize the entire job ad process by ensuring that your postings are engaging, informative, and targeted.

You can test and freely use the prototypes. In our free community on Substack, you have the opportunity to connect with other recruiting and HR experts, co-develop ideas, and gain access to the source code.

Interested?

Get updates on events & tools for recruiting and HR

Our email list regularly sends invitations to our events and provides compact summaries of our workshop results (e.g., tools). Nothing more, nothing less. No advertising, no spam, and no sales events.

We use Substack as our community tool — this field will redirect you to our Substack newsletter.

Feedback

Event Insights

Interactive visualization of 10 anonymized feedback responses from our participants, helping us improve our events to get the most out of them.

Participants

10/18

Provided feedback

Personal Benefit

90%

9 of 10

Recommendation

100%

10 of 10

Willingness to Pay

70%

Ø 357€ per person

Information Section

9.0/ 10

Problem Space

9.0/ 10

Solution Space

8.0/ 10

Vibe Coding

7.7/ 10

Overall Rating

Average rating of all participants

4.4/ 5 Stars

Participant Demographics

Composition of our workshop participants

Age Groups

18-24 Years0
25-34 Years3
35-44 Years5
45-54 Years2
55+ Years0

Companies

Size

SME10

Type of Employment

employed7
self-employed3

Prior Knowledge

6

Without Knowledge

4

With Knowledge

Knowledge in Detail

Design
2
Development
2
Vibe Coding
3

What We Learned

Based on your feedback, we continuously strive to improve

1

Audience & Formats

What We Noticed

Participants with different levels of experience engaged with the format in their own way. The fundamentals provided a strong foundation, while advanced participants were eager to explore Vibe Coding and the solution space in more depth.

How We Plan to Improve

Defy Gravity will continue to serve as our compact introductory experience – a focused way to learn the essentials of Design Thinking, problem and solution spaces, and Vibe Coding as a creative crash course. Building on that, we’re developing advanced programs designed to go deeper and start from a higher level. Our belief remains: strong fundamentals are the key to great results – even as AI and automation make creation faster and easier.

2

Team Dynamics

What We Noticed

Teams collaborated closely and learned from one another. We also saw that smaller groups create stronger connections and give everyone more space to contribute.

How We Plan to Improve

Future sessions will form teams of four to five people. This encourages richer discussions, balanced participation, and focused progress. More coaches will join to guide teams closely, ensuring meaningful collaboration and high-quality outcomes.

3

Collective vs. Individual

What We Noticed

Working collectively sparked creativity and shared learning. At the same time, some participants expressed a desire for more personal guidance on their individual goals.

How We Plan to Improve

We’re introducing more opportunities for one-to-one coaching within or alongside group work. Our goal is to find the right balance between group energy and individual development. Coaches will act as partners and facilitators, helping participants learn by doing and focus on practical, hands-on outcomes.

4

Tailored Experiences

What We Noticed

Our open formats focus on principles and methods that can be applied broadly. Some participants are looking for experiences that speak directly to their own organizational challenges.

How We Plan to Improve

Wayys workshops are now available as customized in-house formats. Each session is designed around your team’s goals and challenges, bringing in the right experts to move your projects forward and deliver impact that lasts beyond the workshop.

5

Monetization

What We Noticed

The enthusiasm and recognized value show that Defy Gravity is appreciated as a meaningful learning experience.

How We Plan to Improve

We aim to keep Defy Gravity accessible and free whenever possible – supported by partners and sponsors who share our mission to empower people and reshape recruiting. Advanced formats will eventually be offered as paid sessions, focusing on deeper topics and measurable value delivered through expert collaboration.

Useful Knowledge

FAQ

A full day where you turn your own idea into a working mini app – step by step, guided by coaches and modern AI tools. You don’t need any technical knowledge – just curiosity, an open mind, and maybe a problem from your everyday work you’d like to solve.

No, not at all. We’ll show you how to work with No-Code and AI tools that make technology visual and simple. If you can write text or make presentations, you’ll do just fine. We start from zero – but you’ll leave with a real wow moment.

No – you don’t need to know anything beforehand. Design Thinking is a creative way to better understand and frame problems before developing solutions. We’ll guide you step by step on how to identify a real problem, understand it from the users’ perspective, and then use tools like v0, Lovable, ChatGPT, or n8n to build a solution. You’ll learn by doing, not from books or slides. After the hackathon, you’ll have a better grasp of Design Thinking—because you experienced it firsthand. Think of it as a door opener for your creativity and innovation.

Vibe Coding is our way of showing that coding doesn’t require code. Using tools like v0.dev or Lovable.app, you create real prototypes just by describing what you want – and the AI brings it to life. Instead of typing complex commands, you work with prompts, design suggestions, and drag-and-drop. It’s creative, visual, and instantly rewarding.

You can join alone or with colleagues, get matched into a small team, and work together on your idea. From first sketch to working app, you’ll use tools like v0, Lovable, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or n8n – all explained in simple terms. By the end of the day, you’ll have something that actually works.

You’ll experience how fun technology can be when you’re in control. You’ll learn how to turn ideas into solutions, how to collaborate with AI, and how to make digital tools work for you – not the other way around. And you’ll go home thinking: “I built that – with my own ideas.”

A lot! We’ll show you how to use AI and automation tools to simplify application processes, make onboarding more digital, or build small dashboards and matching tools. All without programming knowledge – but with real, measurable value for your team.

It’s not a lecture or seminar – it’s a day where you actually build something. We call it ‘hands-on’: experimenting, clicking, failing, laughing, learning. By the end, you don’t have a concept on paper – you have a working prototype.

It’s simple: you describe what you want to build – for example, “an app that sorts job applications” – and tools like Lovable, v0, ChatGPT, or Perplexity create it visually or functionally. With tools like n8n, you can even automate workflows and connect data – all visually, no code required.

Perfect. You can go deeper into tools, APIs, or automation and even become a coach for others. We’re also building advanced formats for those who want to scale or professionalize their projects.

Because we believe innovation should be accessible to everyone. Our hackathons are funded by partners and sponsors who want to rethink recruiting and HR together with us. If you or your company would like to support that mission – we’d love to have you onboard.

Yes! We also offer Defy Gravity as an in-house workshop – tailored to your company, your processes, and your challenges. We bring the coaches, tools, and methods – you bring your team. One day. One solution. Real impact.

Because it’s about turning off the gravity in your mind. That little “this won’t work” should become “why not?”. Once you experience that, your perspective on work, technology, and creativity will never be the same.

Just sign up, show up, and start. We take care of everything – tools, coaches, snacks, and good vibes. All you need to bring is curiosity and your idea.

Defy Gravity 00 | wayys