Building a Bridge: A Look Back at the Inaugural unitaryDESIGN Event
At the heart of Unitary Foundation is a simple but important mission: to ensure that the quantum technology ecosystem benefits as many people as possible. For the ecosystem to be truly inclusive, it needs more than just functional code — it needs a bridge. It needs clear documentation, intuitive data visualization, and a language that invites everyone in, from veteran researchers to curious newcomers.
Our goal for unitaryDESIGN was just this. We set out to expand our vibrant, open-source community and emphasize design as a primary tool for science engagement. Over twelve high-voltage days this February, our community proved that when you pair technical expertise with creative storytelling, quantum tech can be approachable and exciting regardless of your disciplinary background.
Beyond Bug Bounties
The core of unitaryDESIGN rested on science communication - organizers and maintainers went into the event with the ethos that a project’s impact is only as strong as its accessibility. Throughout the event, participants worked to transform dense, technical READMEs and tutorials into clear, user-friendly guides that act as welcoming front doors for new contributors (here’s a quick example).
Participants also helped maintainers build intuitive ways to see and understand the nuances of their work through video tutorials, branding updates, explanatory animations, data visualization, and educational challenges. Whether through reimagining a project’s “Why” or creating compelling visual narratives, these efforts ensured that the breakthroughs happening in the code are being seen — and understood — by a larger audience.
The Impact
383 participants from 51 countries registered for the event with 41 maintainers overseeing 15 projects.
In the end, participants earned $5935 by closing 46 of the 59 bounties (which were funded by Shift Grants and 2026 Unitary Foundation Members). Congratulations to everyone who participated and contributed!
The Projects
As always, our hackathons aren’t possible without hard working, dedicated maintainers who are willing to spend their free time reviewing PRs and mentoring participants. We are so grateful to all of the participating maintainers of unitaryDESIGN2026 - check out their projects below and consider contributing to their repos! You can also read about each project and which of their creative issues were closed here.
The Community Experience
While the code was built on GitHub, the pulse of the event was felt across our entire digital ecosystem. Maintainers served as sounding boards for one another and participants shared “getting started” resources on the UF Discord while conversations continued into the project repos and PR threads. We saw truly meaningful contributions emerge precisely where human connection was made - demonstrating that a collaborative spirit is key to success. This was an ecosystem without borders: hackers of all experience levels worked side-by-side and brought unique perspectives to the stack.
This creative energy shone across the cohort of participating projects. A fantastic example of this was seen at PennyLane, where the maintainer team leaned into the creative challenge, working closely with participants to produce puzzles, GIFs, and animations that demystify complex quantum concepts. You can see the results of that particular collaboration — including the winning designs and honorable mentions — over at the PennyLane blog.
Additional programming further bridged the gap between theory and practice. We were honored to host UF Advisor and microgrant alum Klem Jankiewicz, who led an informal “Ask Me Anything”-style group discussion about her journey as the Head of Design at Classiq. Her insights into what it truly means to be a designer in the quantum industry provided a potential roadmap for those looking to turn their creative skills into a career in deep tech.
Ultimately, the impact of unitaryDESIGN has already moved beyond the digital realm. The interdisciplinary energy of this event served as the direct inspiration for the NYC Quantum Design Hackathon, a first-of-its-kind gathering (developed by UF and our colleagues and former grantees at Harmoniqs) that proved just how hungry this community is for a design-led future. You can read the full recap of that sister event here.
Lessons Learned
unitaryDESIGN was an experiment in reimagining how open-source maintainers and contributors can collaborate. As with any inaugural event, we walked away with valuable insights on how to better support our community.
Firstly, while we saw a surge of interest from designers and artists at registration, they ultimately did not make it to our leaderboard this year. Part of this is the learning curve even for contributing on Github, and part of it is the fast-paced nature of the hackathon itself. In future iterations, we hope to offer more onboarding opprtunities (e.g. Zoom-based Github tutorials, connections to other educational opportunties ahead of the events, and regular office hours throught the event) as well as more face-to-face oppourtunies for all participants, like the Ask Me Anything session with Klem.
We also navigated the growing industry-wide challenge of automated content. While there were brilliant examples of participants using AI as a collaborative tool, we also saw instances where the human element was lost in favor of unvetted LLM outputs. Our aim is to cultivate an authentic and thoughtful ecosystem; as we move forward, we remain committed to finding new ways to ensure that the work we support reflects the genuine expertise and care of our community.
In both cases, we found a consistent truth: proximity matters. Whether through digital group discussions or in-person gatherings, the more we see one another as people, the more intentional and beautiful our collective work becomes.
Final thoughts: Making Quantum Technology Benefit Everyone
By treating design as a foundational tool for our community, we’ve seen that the quantum ecosystem can be as engaging as it is functional. This event demonstrated that there is a massive, untapped community of creatives ready to support the quantum stack — we just needed to build the right bridge to reach them.
We are incredibly proud of what our community achieved in such a short window. A huge thank you to our event sponsor, Shift Grants, as well as the Unitary Foundation Members for their vital support in bringing this inaugural edition to life. We’re already looking forward to seeing how these new connections continue to grow.
What’s Next?
- Keep Designing: Our goal is continued momentum. If you found a repository that sparked your interest, don’t stop at the bounty - keep the conversation going with those maintainers. They are the heart of this industry and always welcome a helping (human) hand! And while you’re at it, consider starring the repos that you’re support. :)
- Stay Tuned: Join our Discord, newsletter, and LinkedIn to be the first to find out about upcoming UF programming (spoiler alert: unitaryHACK is coming very soon!)