Hackathon Purpose 2025: a no-code game imagined by four students to explore their sense of purpose

The Hackathon Purpose placed the new cohort of Master in Management students at the heart of the challenge from the outset: learning to know themselves, working together and innovating from their very first days. The aim was clear: to give students the opportunity to pause, reflect on themselves, identify their deeper motivations and give meaning to their future choices.

As Albert Camus once wrote, “the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions”. For a week, students were invited to respond in their own way: to explore their purpose, align academic and professional ambitions, and transform this journey into a tangible collective project. A first step towards building an enriched CV that reflects not only their academic skills but also their talents and uniqueness.

A structured learning pathway

• Throughout the week, students followed a progressive educational journey:
• Carrying out guided introspection through recognised methodologies (Golden Circle, Ikigai).
• Defining their personal purpose and aligning it with their academic and professional goals.
• Co-creating an application to support other students in their own introspection.
• Using generative AI tools for ideation and prototyping.
• Presenting their innovative projects before a jury of professionals and faculty.

This blend of personal reflection, teamwork and new technologies turned the Hackathon Purpose into a formative experience, both academically and personally.

An award-winning project fostering self-discovery

At the end of the Hackathon, a jury of experts rewarded the project of a team from the Lille campus composed of Romain François, Romain Richard, Alexandra Ayena and Candice Gaillard-Jay. Their creation, Purpose, is a no-code game designed to guide each player in discovering their purpose, talents and sources of motivation. By making introspection playful and interactive, the project impressed the jury with its originality, accessibility and educational scope, placing the user in the role of a detective investigating… themselves.

A formative experience

“The Hackathon Purpose is not a mere exercise in style but a formative moment in the journey of our third-year students. The winning project is a fine illustration: it combines personal exploration and collective creativity, while harnessing digital tools in an innovative way. This kind of initiative perfectly reflects SKEMA’s ambition: to place the student and their sense of purpose at the heart of their learning,” explains Marine Hadengue, professor and coordinator of the Hackathon.