How to evaluate the task before the development of the site

    The statement of the problem is the key to the success of any work. If the task is not clearly defined, then it is impossible even to understand whether it is solved.

    We offer an algorithm for evaluating the task before the development of the site, repeatedly run-in and written by the blood of managers. We are confident that this algorithm will save you a ton of time, money and nerves.

    Find out what needs to be done


    “Why do you need a website? “Uhhh, how about ... To make the business go better.”

    That's what every second client answers to the simplest, seemingly simple question. He must know the answer to it as “Our Father,” even if he wakes him up in the middle of the night. But it was not there.

    Before you start working on a site, you need to understand:
    • Does the task fall into the range of your services;
    • Are you curious about this;
    • Can you do it;
    • If the answer to the first three questions is “Yes”, then how much will it cost and how long will it take.
    To answer these questions, it is necessary to prepare the so-called project vision . The vision is also valuable in that it allows your client to understand what he wants: what goals he sets, whether he is ready for the project - financially, organizationally and morally. It is very important! I am sure that you have repeatedly found yourself in a situation where the client was not ready, but you had to disentangle everything: along the way the task was corrected, requirements changed, the design was redrawn ...

    Such work rarely brings pleasure and profit. There are only two effective ways out of this situation - to abandon the project or train the client. The second is more constructive, but not always possible.

    Before we figure out what a vision is and how to create it, we will look at two examples of how to do it.not necessary  - that is, examples of the practice that is widespread in the Russian Internet.

    Do not ask the client to send the terms of reference


    In no case do not ask the client to do the technical task. This is usually done by single freelancers or novice studios.

    Imagine that you want to build a summer house. You know that you need a house, you can roughly say how many rooms you want to have, what buildings you want to see on the site. You come to the cottage construction company, and the manager of this company tells you: "Please draw me a detailed architectural project, drawings with communications and calculate the load on the equipment." Fine? Absurd!

    The client, by definition, should not write you any tasks, because:
    • He is not competent in setting the task when creating the site;
    • He does not and should not be able to write technical tasks;
    • The best task is the one you write for yourself.
    To create a good task, you need to have relevant experience, to know the people to whom you write it, to understand the specifics of work - this is at least.

    Do not ask the client to fill out a questionnaire


    A questionnaire is, without a doubt, better than a request to send TK. If only because it was you who prepared it and probably thought about the issues that it contains. However, we dare to assure you that the result of the survey gives you not much more idea of ​​the task. The disadvantages of the questionnaire are quite obvious:
    • The clients are very different, you can’t handle them all with the same questions.
    • When filling out the questionnaire, the client is left alone with himself: he has no one to clarify your questions with, which almost certainly contain obscure terms. This inevitably leads to incorrect or incomplete answers.
    • You cannot ask clarifying questions that clarify customer responses. But it is precisely the clarifying questions that provide the most useful information.
    The questionnaire has one more unpleasant feature: the client considers the personally completed questionnaire a work task, according to which you need to make a website. It can be very difficult to convince him, since you forced him to make considerable efforts, to understand difficult and, at times, stupid, questions (not everyone is able to compose an intelligible questionnaire), write down the answers.

    Personal conversation and nothing else


    The only truly worthwhile way to understand the client is through an interview . Unlike any written assignment, the interview gives you much more freedom, allows you to better understand the true goals of the client and reveal hidden ones.

    The interview has only one “drawback” - you must be able to talk and find out the needs of the client. We believe this skill is useful to master in any case. But the interview has the following undeniable advantages:
    • It demonstrates to the client your reverent attitude : you are ready to listen to him, and not to be repulsed by the questionnaire; you are ready for personal contact; the client is an individual for you, profiles are not applicable to him (this is really so).
    • The interview allows you to get much more useful information due to the fact that, by asking basic questions, you can clarify them at any time or ask additional ones so that the client understands them and answers them adequately.
    • The interview allows you to bring together all the right people from the client side and get useful first-hand information . The questionnaire, for example, does not give such a guarantee, because they can even instruct the questionnaire to fill out a secretary who doesn’t understand "what is needed from the site, but that was not enough for me ...".
    • During the interview, you receive information not only in text but also  paraverbally (see the article Three Common Mistakes in Communicating with a Client ).

    What you need to find out from the client


    First of all, we recommend finding out the following points:
    • What the client does : in what area he works, what goods or services he offers.
    • Why a client needs a website: what goals he sets and how he sees their achievement.
    • What the client expects from the site: how quickly the site will produce results, what will change in the work and life of the client.
    • What requirements does the client make to the site: mandatory information, functions, with which it should be integrated. This somewhat repeats the previous question, but it is necessary to emphasize that all of the above is mandatory.
    • Is there anything else needed besides the site : promotion, branding, content preparation, employee training.
    • What materials the client has: corporate identity, texts and illustrations, marketing data necessary for design.
    • Who will work on the project from the client: one or more people, what is his / her experience in the field of website development. Who is the decision maker ?
    • How the client sees his work process : what forms of communication he prefers, how much time he will be able to devote to the project and how regularly.

    Prepare a vision


    So, you talked with the client and got the necessary answers - it's time to prepare a vision . Let's make a small digression and notice that vision, in addition to its main function, also solves the following tasks:
    • Show your high level of work, professionalism .
    • Coordinate the point of view  - yours and the client's - on the project and, thus, involve the client in the process.
    • Encourage the client to think about  additional services . And it’s not at all necessary that you simply introduce these services - they may well be necessary within the framework of the project, the client simply does not know about it either in sleep or in spirit.
    • Determine whether the client is ready for the project and what resources he will need in the process of creating, maintaining and developing the project.

    Information Composition Vision


    We believe that the vision should contain the following information:
    1. Project objectives
    2. Requirements and wishes of the client,
    3. Customer expectations
    4. Website concept
    5. What are you doing as part of the project and what is required of the client.
    For your convenience, we offer you to download a vision template (PDF, 752 KB) , which details in detail what can be contained in it and in what form.

    Summary


    The summary is very simple.
    1. To evaluate the project, get the maximum information from the client.
    2. Be sure to talk with the client in person - no profiles!
    3. Based on the information received, prepare a vision and coordinate it with the client.
    And a bonus recommendation: in no case do you talk about specific estimates of the cost and terms of the project, and especially do not conclude any agreements until the moment you approve the vision of the project, even for business card sites.

    Comfortable work and satisfied customers!

    The author of the article is Alexander Tunik ,
    director of the Lounge web studio

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