Leafsfan, I hope you're doing okay.
Designers, the judges have agreed to use a uniform scoring criteria, starting this round. The following categories will be what we're scoring you on. Each category will be worth 10 points, for a possible maximum of 50.
Tasks:Tasks are one of the main highlights of a Design Challenge leg. Show us how these work and why these tasks go in this leg! Never-before-seen tasks are nice to see, but more importantly, we want to see tasks that are feasible to complete. If your design has a Detour, make both options balanced, meaning no option seems too easy while the other too hard to complete. We know that not every task can be completely different than any of the tasks previously seen in TAR, but if you include a common type of task like a delivery task, what makes this delivery task different than the other delivery tasks ever seen before? We want to see tasks which are engaging for a TV audience and provide some opportunity for drama, excitement, and placement changes among teams. We want to know how long the tasks will take and see that they take an appropriate amount of time (no 2 hour long Speed Bumps). The tasks throughout the entire leg should contain some variety between physical, mental, attention to detail, etc. How is the task culturally relevant for the location? Details and explanation mean a lot in terms of letting us know this!
Locations:Location can be a make or break a leg. Let us know why you decided to put this location in this leg, and why you chose to feature this place. We love seeing photos of your locations, and we hope the location is a picturesque one that will look good on TV. We want to know that the locations are appropriate for the tasks themselves. We are also looking for feasibility- are the locations reasonably close together, and would they be available at the time racers would be racing in them? Like tasks, details matter!
Originality/Creativity:The concept of your tasks and locations should be original. For now, we'll try to limit the originality part to what has been done in the US version of TAR. For the creativity, we want to see never before seen things, which can be a new country, new cities, new twists, new concept for task, etc. Are the tasks and locations memorable?
Details/Presentation:Because this is a Design Challenge, the style of the presentation has a big contribution to the scoring. Flight/bus/train/ferry screenshots help us know how teams arrive to your destination; maps let us know where your locations are, and leg money lets us know how much cash the racers need for the leg. We want your design to make sense: if you design a day leg but the flight arrives late at night, do you provide an Hours of Operation, for example? If you have something more to explain but not in the task description, write it on the detail part. Imagine that if anyone reads your design, what kind of question they will ask, then provide it in the design before they can ask.
As far as presentation goes, using appropriate font sizes and colors used, sizing pictures correctly and consistently, and including visual aids (pictures, videos, gifs, etc.) to help explain the locations and tasks are all things that will boost your score. Is your presentation easy to read and concise?
Judge's Choice:This is a special category for each judge. They can specify what other criterion they want to judge other than the four above. It can be telegenic effect, possibility for drama, etc. You can pick up bonus points here for something that really stands out. These points are at the judge's discretion. We want to be wowed!
