Journey Stories: Our Hackathon Experience
Our Action-Learning Journey
Document your team’s experiences, challenges, breakthroughs, and learnings throughout the CATS Hackathon.
Week-by-Week Reflections
Week 1: Discovery Phase
Dates: 15th - 22nd of November 2025
What we did:
- Identified the realities of Nigeria’s informal economy and mapped key stakeholder groups.
- Visited local markets and parks to understand how levies and revenues are collected.
- Conducted ground-truth interviews with traders, revenue collectors, and NGO volunteers.
- Defined the problem using real lived experiences rather than assumptions.
Key learnings:
- Manual cash-based revenue collection creates deep mistrust.
- Traders desperately want a way to prove their payment history.
- NGOs struggle with verification because there is no reliable identity system.
Challenges faced:
- Convincing some respondents to speak openly about corruption.
- Lack of formal records to compare interview statements with reality.
Highlights:
- One trader’s story (“I pay everyday but have nothing to show”) became the emotional anchor of the project.
- Clear validation that DID + transparent payments is a real community need.
Week 2: Research & Insights
Dates: 23rd to 29th November 2025
What we did:
- Analyzed all interview data to identify patterns and root causes.
- Grouped problems into three pillars: Identity Gap – Transparency Gap – Inclusion Gap
- Explored how Cardano, Atala PRISM, and blockchain metadata could solve these pain points.
- Built preliminary user personas for traders, revenue officers, and NGO auditors.
Key learnings:
- Financial exclusion is not caused by poverty alone, but by invisibility.
- Government mistrust is rooted in lack of receipts and audit trails.
- Aid fraud is a multi-layer problem requiring identity + verification.
Challenges faced:
- Narrowing a large societal problem into a hackathon-feasible MVP.
- Aligning different team perspectives into a single, unified direction.
Highlights:
- Discovering that verifiable credentials could empower cooperative associations to validate their members.
- The “Traceability Layer” concept became a core innovation moment.
Week 3: Solution Design
Dates: 30th of November - 6th of December
What we did:
- Created architecture sketches integrating DID, Cardano metadata, and mobile UI.
- Designed user flows for traders, officers, NGOs, and auditors.
- Developed the first low-fidelity wireframes for registration, payment, and verification.
- Prioritized features using Feasibility vs Impact scoring.
Key learnings:
- Simplicity is essential - many informal workers use low-cost smartphones.
- QR receipts are a powerful bridge between Web2 familiarity and Web3 transparency.
- Identity onboarding must be frictionless to drive adoption.
Challenges faced:
- Balancing technical ambition with hackathon time constraints.
- Avoiding feature overload while still addressing all pain points.
Highlights:
- The “QR-verifiable receipt” feature was selected as a core MVP output.
- Team alignment finally solidified around one unified solution path - CivicChain.
Week 4: Building & Testing
Dates: 7th to 13th December 2025
What we did:
- Built frontend using Next.js and backend with Node.js.
- Learning to integrate Cardano blockchain using available SDKs for metadata writing.
- Learning to create the DID flow using Atala PRISM’s identity model.
Key learnings:
- Users want “proof” more than anything else - receipts, identity badges, records.
- Digital transparency increases trust even among low-tech individuals.
- Clear language and local context drastically improve user understanding.
Challenges faced:
- Time spent debugging blockchain interactions.
- Limited devices for field testing.
Highlights:
- Seeing a trader scan a QR receipt and smile when it showed “Verified”.
- NGO volunteer confirming that DID-based distribution would “change everything”.
Team Dynamics
What worked well:
- Shared passion for solving real social problems.
- Smooth collaboration between technical and research members.
- Rapid decision-making when under pressure.
What we’d improve:
- Timeboxing features earlier in the sprint.
- More structured daily standups.
- Better division of subsystem responsibilities.
Roles & Contributions
Ismail Suleiman – Team Lead / Backend Developer:
Designed and implemented the backend architecture for CivicChain. Integrated Cardano testnet APIs for transaction recording and verification. Key Deliverable: Functional backend with DID registration, payment metadata APIs, and verification endpoints.
Safiya Muhammad – Project Manager:
Coordinated team activities, defined scope, and ensured timely execution of the MVP roadmap. Led user flow design, testing cycles, and submission preparation. Key Deliverable: Complete MVP workflow, team alignment, and final pitch documentation.
Sheriff Alih – Business Development:
Researched the informal economy market and defined user personas and use cases. Developed the business model, value propositions, and scalability insights. Key Deliverable: Clear problem statement, solution mapping, and business documentation for pitch.
Faith Maduegbunam – Frontend Developer:
Built the user interface for registration, dashboard, and payment workflows. Integrated frontend screens with backend endpoints for seamless user experience. Key Deliverable: Responsive and functional UI for citizen and officer flows.
Pivots & Changes
Major Pivots
Did you change direction at any point?
[No major pivots documented - the team maintained their focus on DID + transparent payment verification throughout the hackathon]
Mentorship & Support
Mentors We Worked With
- None
Resources That Helped
- Cardano documentation and SDK tutorials
- Atala PRISM developer resources
- YouTube tutorials on blockchain integration
- Next.js and Node.js documentation
Community Feedback
Feedback Sessions
Document feedback you received from the community or potential users:
Session 1:
Date: 26th November 2025
Participants:
- 7 market traders (Kpata Market)
- 2 revenue collectors
- 1 cooperative secretary
Key feedback:
- “We need receipts we can show to anyone - not on paper that fades.”
- “The process must not waste time. We pay levies quickly and move on.”
- “Make the app simple. Many of us only use WhatsApp and Facebook.”
Actions taken:
- We added verifiable digital receipts instead of long interface flows.
- Simplified the onboarding to two steps (Register → Get DID).
- Optimized UI for low-end Android phones and low data usage.
Breakthrough Moments
Our “Aha!” Moments
Realizing that lack of verifiable identity is the root of exclusion, corruption, and lack of traceability.
Impact: Shifted our entire architecture to DID-first using Atala PRISM.
Challenges Overcome
Challenge 1: Overly Broad Problem Scope
Problem: Initially, the project attempted to solve too many societal problems at once.
Solution: Introduced Feasibility vs Impact scoring to narrow down the MVP.
Learning: Start narrow, validate, then expand.
Challenge 2: Implementing DID in a Short Timeline
Problem: Identity systems are naturally complex.
Solution: Built a simplified version of credential issuance to demonstrate core functionality.
Learning: MVP identity flows can still demonstrate long-term value.
Challenge 3: Blockchain Metadata Integration
Problem: Writing payment data reliably to Cardano testnet was difficult.
Solution: Isolated blockchain interactions and optimized API structure.
Learning: Keep on-chain writes minimal, structured, and efficient.
Personal Reflections
Individual Team Member Reflections
Sheriff Alih - Business Development:
“This project opened my eyes to how deeply Nigerians desire trust and recognition. The interviews proved that people are ready for transparent systems if we build them simply.”
Faith Maduegbunam – Frontend Developer:
“Seeing traders interact with the interface shaped the direction of every UI decision. Building for low-end devices was a good challenge.”
Ismail Suleiman – Team Lead / Backend Developer:
“This hackathon validated that decentralized identity is not abstract — it’s a real solution to a real African problem.”
Safiya Muhammad – Project Manager:
“Building for a community with low digital literacy forced me to rethink simplicity. It changed my management philosophy.”
Skills Developed
Technical Skills
- Decentralized identity (Atala PRISM)
- Blockchain metadata architecture
- Next.js & Node.js full-stack development
- API design for credential issuance
- Mobile-first UX for low-end Android devices
Soft Skills
- Community engagement
- User interviewing & empathy mapping
- Team collaboration under pressure
- Agile problem-solving
- Rapid prototyping with limited time
What’s Next?
Post-Hackathon Plans
- Run a pilot in two major Lagos markets with 2,000–3,000 traders.
- Refine dashboards for LGAs and NGOs.
- Begin integration discussions with microfinance institutions.
Long-Term Vision
To become Nigeria’s (and later Africa’s) decentralized identity and transparency infrastructure for the informal economy - enabling:
- Every citizen to have a verifiable identity
- Every payment to be tracked transparently
- Every relief fund to reach the right beneficiaries
- Every artisan or trader to access credit confidently
A future where no Nigerian remains financially invisible.
Last updated: December 16, 2025