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Choice of topic is extremely important. Choosing a dry and uninteresting topic will lead to lack of interest from the target audience, or worse, even your own team members.
Firstly, brainstorm for possible topics. At this point of time, anything goes. Be open to ideas, and avoid rejecting any topics. Then, you may choose to categorize the numerous ideas which your team has come up with. From there, you will be able to tell which category your teammates are most inclined towards. After which, narrow down your topic choices. Finally, decide on the best topic. Have open discussions with your teammates and consider their opinions of the topic. Ensure that your entire team is genuinely interested in the topic before deciding on it. The topic should be able to sustain your interest for the entire duration of the project. Be confident of your topic, and stick to it.
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In any successful project embarked on, it is important to have clear and well-thought objectives. Objectives are basically the goals of a project. Ask yourself, "What do I hope to achieve out of the project?". Do you want to increase public awareness of the harmful effects of smoking? Do you want to teach people how to dance? Or do you want to tell people about the new mathematical formula you have discovered?
Defining your set of objectives is critical. You should have clear goals in mind, before setting out to work on the content and design of your ThinkQuest entry. Without objectives, your website might risk being unfocused, or even irrelevant. Your objectives will be your guiding principles throughout your project. Should you encounter any doubts, such as whether certain content should be included in your website, you should refer back to your objectives. This way, you will be assured that you are not side-tracked.
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Objectives need not be complicated. In fact, the more direct your objectives are, the higher your chances of accomplishing them. Avoid being too ambitious. It is not possible to include everything in your website. Setting overly ambitious objectives and having insufficient time to fulfill them will cause the website to be shallow and lack depth.
Be realistic. Consider the amount of time you have to complete the project. Take into account the strengths and weaknesses of your various team members. Then come up with a set of objectives, which all of you are agreeable on.
Very often, objectives may be presented in point form. The audience can thus determine whether your website is useful to them at a glance, rather than having to browse through the entire site. For example, if you wanted to do a project on war, an unrealistic objective would be "To educate the general public about the outbreak of World Wars."
Think: There were two world wars. It would not be possible to cover everything about both world wars. Numerous battles were fought and many countries were involved. Should you embark on such a project, you will find yourself with an "information overload".
Rather than wasting time trying to condense tonnes of information, you should have a realistic objective from the start. A more achievable objective would be: "Educating the public about the attack on Pearl Harbour." This way, you would be able to provide a deeper insight into your topic, instead of providing a superficial overview of all the events which occurred in the war.
Once you are satisfied with your set of objectives, you are all set to go.