4 ms·
More like they ask for a car ferry to cross the river but really want a bridge. If you are lucky, you will recognize from their "requirements" (often just a ve
by gvb 9y ago
More like they ask for a car ferry to cross the river but really want a bridge.
If you are lucky, you will recognize from their "requirements" (often just a verbal description) that they are describing the characteristics of a bridge (e.g. continuous bidirectional flow), not a ferry.
More typically, after you have built the car ferry, they ask why it doesn't implement continuous bidirectional flow despite never specifying that as a requirement.
- user5994461 9y agoI think that last description is more on point. People can usually describe why they want something, if asked, instead what they want. It's not too difficult to come up with a reasonable scope if either the dev or the manager knows how to start and scope a project. Usually they both suck. The manager will send an unclear email. The developer will start developing right away. None have any idea what they are supposed to do, why or when.
- k__ 9y agoOften the manager also expects the dev to start right away. For managers the value of a developer is the solutions they build divided by the amount of time and information they need to build it. You have always the choice between delaying further or delivering something they like as soon as possible, risking they don't like it.
- k__ 9y agoYes. Normally you would need a prototype, throw it away after you saw the reactions to it and build something new. But often there is no money for this :/
- defen 9y agoThis is why it's key to ask clients what problem they're trying to solve, rather than just delivering what they say they want. The classic, "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said 'a faster horse'." Especially don't let non-technical people constrain the range of possible solutions without very good reasons.