Using Interactive Audio to Enhance Learning & Engagement #405

Mixed feelings about this. Advance notice leads to a competition to be the first to post and win the most clicks and comments. Late-comers often get overlooked in the crowd.

No. Ruins the intrigue.

YES!

Yeah, my slow brain needs the time to scrounge up ideas.

I'm not quite sure... 10 demos and 45 comments 2 hours after the start, it seems to me that this is the result of the challenge... of the previous week. Mark's point is right: it takes time to do good things, and the masterpieces already posted today deserve to be given time. I hope that such speed does not discourage slow creators and beginners. Maybe some challenges need a week's head start to get done, maybe others should focus on instant creativity, tricks to be fast, short completion. This is just my feeling this morning.

Nopes! I think it distracts a bit like I just dug my archives for one of floating button interaction I used earlier. I suggest to keep one theme in perspective.

It’s 5AM here and the kids are sleeping, so I have some time to give this some thought. Please do take my comments with a grain of salt as I’m not a morning person 😅. I can appreciate that moment of surprise that existed in the past as we eagerly waited Friday afternoons to see what the next challenge will be. It often served as a jolt to get the creative juices flowing over the weekend. I can also accept that some folks are in a position where they can dedicate time over the weekend to giving the prompt serious thought and even begin developing their entry, thus giving them a “head start” - not to mention those who have “archives” or “banks” of pre-built content from which to draw from. That being said, I hope folks- both newcomers and longtime contributors alike - don’t see these challenges as a race to see who can post first. I think that mindset detracts from what I believe these challenges are meant to be: a community laboratory of sorts where one can experiment with ideas, assess their growing skills, and receive constructive feedback on areas for improvement - not necessarily a space where one promotes their best content (we have places like LinkedIn and personal online portfolios for that).

Personally, I'm ambivalent about it. I haven't spent any longer working on my demos than I would have done if I hadn't known the topic in advance. I've always aimed to post my demo in the first 24hrs, otherwise it would spill into my working week. So my routine hasn't really changed.

I've already built next week's demo, in the same amount of time I would have if the topic was announced on the day.

But I appreciate all the points raised here - I don't think this will change the character of the challenges, just the tempo. I for one will make a better effort to pop back throughout the week to check out later submissions.

I've been really enjoying it. It gives me the weekend to think about it and the week to work on it. I know we can submit at any time but posting within the first day or so feels exciting and like I'm in the mix of activity. I'm newer to posting so maybe that is part of it for me.

I definitely think knowing in advance helps, gives me more time to think on a topic and not feel it is too late after I percolate.