Challenges
Challenges were something that we knew would be an integral part of the ThinkQuest experience. From the start there were always issues and problems that needed ironing out. Overcoming these challenges and learning to deal with them was one of the most enriching experiences that we had.
Teamsize
The size of our team at only three was the bare minimum and we knew that we would have to work extra hard to provide an indepth site. The size of our team however was by choice as we knew that a small team would have to work more efficiently and closer. Despite at first being a challenge we turned it around and used the advantages of our teamsize to help us complete our site.
Skills
One of the things that challenged us most was our skills. At first this may sound quite funny. My (Joseph's) skills in html were very rusty and my mindset was still in the antiquated era of tables. I had to learn the ins and outs of css AND javascript from scratch and revise my html. It took many long nights and modifications to end up with an aesthetically pleasing design. In addition we had no idea how to create interactives and a nice flash intro, up to the point where we seriously considered finding an additional team member mid-project. However, Anthony being a quick study, learned the flash and created our wonderful interactive content. Sam did have his challenges, but he was more skilled than us two Aussies.
Communications
Physical meetings were a problem as only 2/3rds of our team could attend, in addition scheduling would be an issue and to avoid physical problems we turned to the virtual world - the internet. Communications was definately a challenge being a small team we had to work very efficiently and tightly to see the project through. To acheive this we required constant and close communications between team members. Despite different time zones and schedules we managed to acheive a highly efficient dialogue. This was acheived through various technologies. Online instant messenger was an invaluable tool during the project, it provided us real time communications. Ideas could be discussed quickly and feedback provided. However differing time zones and schedules meant that we could not soley rely on Instant Messenger. To counter this we created a Wiki site - a basic web site where ideas could be discussed and files shared. It turned out to be of paramount importance in the early stages of the project. Emails were also frequently used for quicker and extended responses and also to exchange files.
Time
One of the reasons why the project could not be started earlier was due to time contstraints. With outside commitments and a heavy school load, time was always an issue. To counter this we postponed the project and rescheduled it as a summer holiday project where we would have ample time to complete it. However once again other commitments and family vacations soon stood in the way of a completed project. In addition, we soon realized our small team would need to work much harder to finish the project in the 6 weeks we had alloted. This date blew out to 8 weeks and then finally over 3 months. However careful work delegation, good communication and long nights helped us realize the project to the end