Preparation and facilitation of the IFE Hackathon 2020

Context

In-Flight Entertainment is a fast-moving space where passenger expectations, connectivity technology, and cabin experience converge. For Thales, one of the global leaders in IFE systems, staying ahead of that curve requires more than strategic planning; it requires activating the innovation potential within its own teams.

In 2020, Thales IFE set out to do exactly that. The goal was to create a structured innovation event that would engage employees across the division, encourage cross-functional collaboration, and generate concrete ideas for the future of in-flight entertainment.

The Challenge

Running a meaningful innovation event is harder than it looks. Without the right structure, hackathons produce excitement but little substance (ideas that feel compelling in the room but lack the grounding to survive scrutiny or move forward). The challenge was to design a process rigorous enough to produce credible ideas, accessible enough for participants with no design thinking background, and engaging enough to sustain energy across two full days.

The COVID-19 pandemic added a significant layer of complexity. What had been conceived as an in-person event had to be reimagined as a fully virtual experience and expanded in scope. For the first time, Thales IFE opened the hackathon not just to its North American teams, but to employees in Europe and India as well. The event would need to work across time zones, cultures, and levels of familiarity with digital collaboration tools.

The Approach

The event was structured around a three-diamond design thinking process, a framework that guides participants through divergent and convergent thinking in three progressive phases: understanding the opportunity, generating ideas, and shaping a viable concept.

Before the event, the preparation work included:

• Designing the full two-day program and activity sequence
• Building all facilitation boards in Miro as structured canvases guiding each phase of the process
• Creating a design thinking guide for participants, including canvases to help teams structure their thinking at each stage
• Preparing guidance on how to use the digital tools for participants unfamiliar with virtual collaboration environments
• Coordinating the logistics of a multi-continent, fully virtual event across MS Teams and SharePoint

During the event, facilitation focused on keeping more than ten teams moving through the process simultaneously, maintaining momentum, supporting teams that were stuck, and ensuring the quality of thinking at each phase before teams advanced to the next.

The process culminated in a pitch session where each team presented their innovation concept: what it is, why it is relevant (supported by facts where possible), and why Thales should invest in it. A jury evaluated the pitches and an award ceremony recognized the strongest ideas.

What the Event Produced

More than ten teams participated across North America, Europe, and India, a scale and geographic reach that was unprecedented for this division. The structured process ensured that teams arrived at their pitches with ideas that were grounded, articulated, and defensible, not just creative sparks, but concepts with a clear rationale for investment.

The event demonstrated that meaningful innovation facilitation is possible at scale in a fully virtual environment — and that the right process structure can produce substantive output even when participants have no prior design thinking experience.

Deliverables

• Full two-day hackathon program design
• Facilitation boards and activity canvases in Miro
• Design thinking participant guide with structured canvases
• Live facilitation across all teams for the duration of the event
• Pitch session facilitation and award ceremony

Project period: September 2020 — November 2020
Event format: Two-day virtual hackathon
Participants: 10+ teams across North America, Europe, and India
Tools: Miro, MS Teams, MS Office, SharePoint
Language of work: English