Hack the Conversation: Designing Solutions to Address Changing Needs in the “New Normal”

A “new normal” has emerged in the face of Covid-19 crisis. We have seen dramatic shifts in consumer habits and ways of doing business. Arçelik’s priorities as well as Arçelik employees’ worklife have changed accordingly.

Between 22^nd and 24^th July, an online hackathon called “Hack the Conversation” was organized with the participation of young and talented university students. Students applied as groups or individuals and were selected by a committee.

A total of 39 students forming 16 separate teams participated in the 48-hour hackathon. They were asked to develop chatbot solutions within the “Hack the Conversation” framework that answered the changing needs and expectations of customers and employees (shared by Arçelik at the beginning of the event). A total of 20 mentors from Arçelik shared their feedback on the ideas of the competing groups and individuals.

Arçelik’s top management shared current trends and insights on the global agenda with the participants along with case studies. Students received one-to-one meetings with mentors and brief information on Arçelik’s working culture, as the main purpose of the Hackathon was to develop digital technologies at Arçelik while meeting the next generation of talents. At the end of 48 hours, the teams presented their collective work that covered various ideas such as implementing Virtual Reality (VR) into chatbots, expanding the shopping experience during COVID-19 period, implementing sentiment analytics based on e-commerce site reviews and ratings. As a result, three teams were selected by the jury and received the prize.

As Arçelik, we will continue hacking to create better digital solutions and products to accelerate the our digital transformation.