FMWebschool

You are a software developer. You have a client that hires you to develop a database system for their company. You work several months on the project and as you work through the development stages with your client, you are given nothing but green flags. Your client accepts your solution, and begins using it on a daily basis in their office. A month later, you receive a phone call, the client no longer wants the solution, it just isn’t what they had expected. You ask what the problem is and they reel off a list of problems that they see with the program.

The client then asks for a full refund. What do you do? What could you have done to prevent this?

Results and Goals

Let’s backtrack to the beginning of this process. You should never go into a custom programming project without clearly defined results and goals. You should develop a project proposal that gives an overview of the project - and then a clearly defined breakdown of each step of the project. I will not proceed with a project until I have a signed agreement from my client confirming that we both have a clear understanding as to what is to be accomplished. You need to have a complete understanding as to what the application is supposed to do, and how it is to perform. (more…)