Feedback Regarding the URIIS Challenge Selection Process
I would like to provide some honest feedback regarding the URIIS Challenge selection process. I hope this feedback can be taken seriously, as these issues significantly affected my experience as a participant.
1. Lack of notification regarding the selection
It would be greatly appreciated if participants who are selected for the next stage could receive an official notification via email. In my case, I only found out about the selection today after personally contacting Kolaxus Support through email.
It is quite concerning to have to contact the support team just to find out whether we were selected. A simple email notification would make the process much clearer and ensure that participants do not miss important information or deadlines.
2. Difficulty accessing the forum
I also experienced an issue with accessing the challenge forum. When attempting to access it through my dashboard, I received the following message:
“You are not registered with the forum yet. Please register with a challenge first.”
However, I had already registered for the challenge. As a result, I could not access the forum directly through the dashboard and had to obtain a separate link to access it.
This was quite confusing, especially when the system itself indicates that I have not registered even though I had already done so. I hope this can be properly fixed in future competitions, or at least that clearer instructions are provided to participants.
3. Concerns regarding the polling system
The polling system is probably my biggest concern.
Allowing participants and audiences to rate competing teams creates an environment where people can simply give other teams a one-star rating because they see them as competitors. There is no meaningful way to determine whether a low rating represents genuine feedback or an attempt to sabotage another participant.
As a participant, it is honestly quite frustrating to put significant effort into creating a project and then see it receive one-star ratings simply because we are competing against one another.
Competition is supposed to encourage participants to showcase their best work and learn from one another. However, this type of voting system can instead encourage unhealthy competition and negativity.
I strongly suggest reconsidering or abolishing this type of polling system in future competitions. If public voting is necessary, there should at least be safeguards to prevent participants from deliberately manipulating the ratings of other competitors.
4. Positive feedback regarding Kolaxus Support
On a positive note, I would like to acknowledge that Kolaxus Support was very responsive. After I contacted the support team regarding the selection and forum issue, I received a response quite quickly.
5. Lack of clarity regarding the voting system
Lastly, I believe there should have been much clearer information regarding how the polling system works.
For example, participants should be informed beforehand about:
Whether there is a maximum number of votes or ratings a person can give.
Whether participants are allowed to vote for competing teams.
How the public votes contribute to the overall selection.
Whether one-star ratings are considered in the final evaluation.
What measures are in place to prevent voting manipulation.
Without this information being clearly communicated, the polling system can easily give participants the impression that the main objective is simply to increase website traffic and user engagement, rather than serving as a fair and transparent component of the competition.
I understand that platforms may use competitions to test and improve the systems, but participants are also investing their time, effort, and creativity into these challenges. Therefore, the competition process should be transparent enough that participants understand exactly what they are participating in and how they are being evaluated.
Overall, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the URIIS Challenge, but I hope these issues will be seriously considered for future competitions. Better communication, clearer guidelines, and a fairer evaluation system would significantly improve the experience for participants.
Thank you to the organizers and especially the Kolaxus Support team for their assistance.
