# A Journey from Hackathon to Production

DevFeed: [A Journey from Hackathon to Production](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/a-journey-from-hackathon-to-production-22778.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://medium.com/microsoft-mobile-engineering/a-journey-from-hackathon-to-production-fc0c5c4aca2?source=rss----87f10537e947---4>)

Author: Chirayu Asati

Published: 2023-11-29T14:22:33Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Android@Microsoft - Medium](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/android-microsoft-medium.md>)

Topics: [AdventureX 2025](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/adventurex2025.md>), [Microsoft Teams](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/microsoft-teams.md>), [Mobile](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/mobile.md>), [Product Management](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/product-management.md>), [Software Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software-engineering.md>)

Tags: [collaboration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/collaboration.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [events](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/events.md>), [hackathon](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hackathon.md>), [ideation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ideation.md>), [journey](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/journey.md>), [microsoft](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/microsoft.md>), [microsoft-teams](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/microsoft-teams.md>), [mobile](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mobile.md>), [product](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/product.md>), [product-management](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/product-management.md>), [production](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/production.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [software-engineer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineer.md>), [team](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/team.md>)

## AI overview

A Microsoft Teams Mobile software engineer describes how a hackathon idea to simplify scheduling meetings from group chats was developed into a production feature. The article covers the original user problem, reducing the process from more than eight steps to three, and collaboration among product management, design, and engineering using the RICE prioritization framework.

## Source excerpt

Hey there, I am Chirayu and I'm taking you on the journey of transforming a mere idea into a fully-fledged, efficient feature that requires a compelling tale of innovation. I'm a Software Engineer at Microsoft Teams Mobile and I had the privilege of being part of this remarkable journey from the beginning. This story is not just about the technical process but the innovation, collaboration, and dedication of the teams to overcome challenges creating incredible impact. It all started when I was feeling too lazy and frustrated to schedule a meeting with folks in my hackathon group chat because I had to go to the meeting scheduler and search everyone by name, add them one by one and then schedule the meeting. Too hectic, isn't it? Is being lazy bad? No way, see this quote from the Gates. So, whenever we are lazy, we have an opportunity to make things easy for ourselves and the world. The Idea As described above, if you want to schedule a meeting while chatting in a group, you would have to: User flow to schedule a meeting from chat in Teams Mobile beforeUser flow to schedule a meeting from chat in Teams Mobile after As you can see in the above image, scheduling a meeting from chat takes 8+ steps in Teams Mobile so the idea is to reduce this to just 3 simple steps: This streamlined approach would save valuable time and simplify the process. This concept sparked the beginning of our journey. About Microsoft Global Hackathon Hackathon is a great way for ideation, innovation, collaboration & fun and Microsoft is renowned for its commitment to hackathons, conducting events like CodeFunDo in colleges and the Microsoft Global Hackathon for its employees. After demonstrating the potential of our hack, it was time to go down the road to turn it into a fully-fledged product feature accessible to millions of people on the planet. R.I.C.E. The initial phase of transitioning from a hack to a production-ready feature involves discussions with the Product Management team to craft a c