August 2008
What you want verses what you ask for.
Posted by: Vanessa on 21 Aug 2008 @ 11:03 pm Category: Programming and Coding for the Web
One of the most frustrating parts of programming is misinterpretation. When we get asked to create software for clients the briefs can be very small and the expectations can be very large.
It is hard to see from a technical point of view sometimes what the client is actually asking, as personally, having done much analysis and building of product, I start to see it built as it is being described. So while I am listening and virtually building and interpreting words that are given to me, my mental image sometimes comes not what the client is actually trying to describe.
There is a great cartoon that is around in places at our office, where it shows the differences in project interpretation from that the client asked for, to what is designed, what is budgeted and what is delivered. Go here you can create your own!
And in reality there are many projects exactly like that.
One of my biggest issues currently is technical words being thrown around out of technical context. There are so many buzz words currently that many sites want blogs now, when a year or two ago they all wanted forums. So when I get technical words used in sentences sometimes I have to let the person know that they have just told me to build X when I think that actually meant Y.
Another issue is ambiguity. So many sentences can be interpreted many ways. When I look to either quote, or design a specification I am thinking minimalistic - because many customers want a minimalistic price. When the product is delivered you find that their interpretation was much bigger than your own because they wanted a bargain deal, and in the words that were used you can now see their interpretation.
The only way around it is to get everything approved. Documentation, design and then integration. Of course a downfall in that is the time that a project can be delivered in. It is something that we are continually working on so the projects are beneficial all around. Good quality, what the customer wanted, and value for money.
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