I went to a hackathon a few days back and it was incredible. Teams around me were building websites that looked like fully polished products. What I doubted was that it did not feel like something people coded from zero during the event itself. The interfaces looked too refined for anyone to write them line by line that quickly at the spot.
So now I am wondering how people actually do this at hackathons. Are most teams using ready made design systems and then just plugging things together? Or are people building parts of the interface beforehand and then adapting it during the hackathon?
Another thing is whether AI website builders are starting to play a role here. For people who regularly attend hackathons, how are these polished websites coming together so fast?
Is it mostly preparation, the right tools or something else entirely?
I would love to understand what the typical workflow looks like behind the scenes.