I'm not a programmer, but after a few technical and non-technical project hackathons, I've come away with three pieces of advice:
* Clear communication with your team (if you're working as a team): Have a system for communicating without interruption so you aren't sacrificing productivity for better communication.
* Pomodoro, Pomodoro, Pomodoro: Work in sprints. I favor pomodoro sprints, but whatever works for you. Small time sprints helps avoid burnout and focuses you on the piece of the problem at hand (I need to make X do Y) instead of the whole frickin' thing.
* Set a clear MVP for the 48hours: You've got 48 hours, that's great. But you've also _only_ got 48 hours. You can build something cool, but try to hone down to something that's functional, communicates your idea, and doesn't have bloat. Ask yourself, if you had half as much time, would you include this feature? Be merciless and work to build something awesome that you can get finished.
Great question, derrida. The projects were launching MVPs of projects over a weekend as part of a larger group or just a few friends working together. I've worked on:
* Copywriting - for a landing page, app, email responses
* Setting up the CMS / working on HTML & CSS for the project
* Integrating online tools into the project (Wufoo, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Get Clicky, Get Satisfaction)
* Marketing - Designing and implementing a process for attracting new users and having them sign up
* Clear communication with your team (if you're working as a team): Have a system for communicating without interruption so you aren't sacrificing productivity for better communication.
* Pomodoro, Pomodoro, Pomodoro: Work in sprints. I favor pomodoro sprints, but whatever works for you. Small time sprints helps avoid burnout and focuses you on the piece of the problem at hand (I need to make X do Y) instead of the whole frickin' thing.
* Set a clear MVP for the 48hours: You've got 48 hours, that's great. But you've also _only_ got 48 hours. You can build something cool, but try to hone down to something that's functional, communicates your idea, and doesn't have bloat. Ask yourself, if you had half as much time, would you include this feature? Be merciless and work to build something awesome that you can get finished.
Good luck! Share whatever you build!