Feedback on competition

[naddy99]

I have to be honest that the way the polling issue and finalist announcement have been handled has been quite disappointing. There has been no clear announcement regarding the finalists, and participants are apparently expected to wait for an email without knowing when or how the results will be communicated. For a competition that aims to present itself professionally, I think this could have been handled with much better transparency and communication.

What is also frustrating is receiving emails promoting the next competition opportunities while the current competition has not even been properly concluded or explained. Honestly, participants who are still waiting for clarity on the current competition may not be particularly interested in receiving marketing for the next one.

If the organisers are unable to handle a larger competition properly despite positioning this as a beginner-friendly ideation competition, it does make me question the overall professionalism and credibility of the competition.

I also genuinely hope that the judging remains consistent with what was communicated in the competition slides, particularly the claim that this is a beginner ideation competition where a prototype is not required. If the eventual winners turn out to have fully developed prototypes or substantially more advanced outputs, while other participants followed the stated expectation of submitting an ideation concept without a prototype, then I would seriously question the fairness and consistency of the judging criteria.

At that point, I would honestly question what the purpose was of positioning this as a beginner-friendly ideation competition in the first place.

I hope the organisers can provide a clear update on the polling issue, finalist selection, judging criteria, and how and when finalists will be notified before promoting future competitions.

[naddy99]

Please do not include our team in your future marketing emails. I would also like to mention that our team maintained a steady and high voting performance throughout the competition. Although the judges’ evaluation was weighted at 70%, the public voting could still significantly influence the final outcome. This makes the selection process feel somewhat unclear, and I hope future competitions can provide greater transparency on how both components are balanced.

[admin]

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us. We truly value the commitment and effort that every participant has put into this competition.

As organisers, we also face challenges behind the scenes. With the overwhelming number of entries this year, the process has been more complex and has added additional pressure on our team. We acknowledge that communication could have been clearer, and we sincerely regret any frustration this may have caused.

To clarify, the final Top 10 results have already been announced in the latest forum update. We encourage you to review the forum for the official list of finalists.

Please do not be disappointed or upset with us, we are humans too, and while we strive to maintain professionalism, we are still learning and improving with each competition. Your feedback is important, and we will take it into account to ensure greater transparency and consistency in future events.

We also note your request not to be included in future marketing emails, and we will respect that preference but please reconsider.

Thank you again for your participation and for voicing your concerns. We remain committed to improving the competition experience for all participants.

Warm regards,
Kolaxus Support Team

[kilahyunos_]

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.