Manual on working with clients. For novice web studio managers. Part 2. TK and estimate

    (2009, the second letter from the senior manager of the web studio to the younger)
    So, the initial negotiations with the client were held. We look at the first part of the training manual here http://habrahabr.ru/blogs/studiobusiness/45543/ .
    Now we need to orient the customer by price. If he fundamentally agrees with her, we proceed to discuss the Terms of Reference (TOR).
    Making an estimate

    Estimate


    We usually divide the estimate into two main parts:

    -development of design (design, layout, corporate identity)
    -development of the software part (CMS core, functional modules, content).

    It is important to remember the following life experiences:
    The client can say: "why, programming - will do my system administrator "
    Or: " Well, not Che, design - will do my system administrator "
    Or - " You know, these and these and these modules - I do not need a fuck, we decided to save "
    That is, the estimate should be made in such a way as to give the client the opportunity to vary the price - but, if possible, minimally. Critical things must be strictly tied to the development. For example, increase the cost of the “CMS Core” and reduce the cost of the modules. The same goes for the price of design - if possible, the price of design and programming should be balanced.

    Estimates - usually a simple Excel file, it is desirable to arrange decent. Below is a simple sketch.
     
    image
     
    It is very important not to forget to separately evaluate the work on filling the site. Content is a straw that can turn into a "beam in the eye."
    More than once it happened when the time for filling was spent twice as much than for development.
    Also, items on the development of TK, testing, SEO, etc., should be included in the estimate.
     
    Then, if the estimate is approximately approved, we move on.
    Now the task is to write a technical task. Based on the terms of reference - sign an agreement.
    (Or you can first sign the agreement, then do the ToR. Or sign the agreement of intent to work and work with the ToR. It is better to look at the client.)
    I usually write the ToR separately, then we sign the agreement on its basis.
     

    TK writing


    TK for the project is highly desirable. This is the main shield from an inadequate client.
    For example, a large customer, you communicate with the marketing department and show the layout and get an answer in the spirit of "you know, our director has looked and he wants to place a greeting with his photo under the logo and change the design concept."
    In this case, we get the TK, we say - "was not . " We are either finalizing it for an additional payment or we are refusing to finalize it “in the way that contradicts the original TK” . It is desirable to clearly fix these points in the contract. The contract is a very interesting topic. If you have not seen it, be sure to look and take an example from the Teminy agreement http://www.tema.ru/jj/RIBBA-sait-2009.doc. Reflections on contracts also flashed on the habr ( habrahabr.ru/blogs/studiobusiness/57151 )
    It is important that there are several boilerplate tasks for standard work. For example, a corporate website, an online store or an intranet site. With a well-made template - preparation of a real technical task, for example, to an online store, takes 30-60 minutes - we just work as a sculptor, cut off the excess from the template.
    Good TK should be clear:
    - to the client;
    -should be transparent - for the designer, - coder;
    -should be transparent - for the programmer;
    - It would be nice if the manager who develops the technical specifications also understands the minimum;

    In the ToR for the development of the site must be taken into account:
    -Requirements for the design;
    -Requirements for layout;
    -Requirements to the functionality of the site;

    Also interesting:
    -Requirements for content;
    -Requirements to the server;
    -Requirements for load;

    But in 50% of cases they are unlikely to be needed.

    Let's try to fish for TK for a potential automotive community site.
    I post it on the link , because it will be a bit long and boring - fans of action and Chuck Norris are not recommended.

    We agreed on the terms of reference, we sign the contract.
    After the adoption of the design, we will definitely sign the act of accepting the graphic layout.
    and the logical end of work - a bilateral act of acceptance of work.
     
    Afterword:

    After signing the contract, we are working on the project.
    We add the client to the project management system.
    Here you can use free systems such as track, mantis. There are many pluses - free and flexible, if you get used to it. But they have one huge minus - from the point of view of the customer - a complicated interface - if the client is not mentally prepared for what he sees, he logs into the system, looks, logs out and ... continues to write emails to you.
    We accidentally started a project 4 years ago in Beyskempe ( http://basecamphq.com ). Two weeks later, they no longer understood how they worked before that by mail. Really saves time. Of the pluses - this is a ready-made service - no need to configure anything, you can put your own logo and put your subdomain. Half of customers at sight of subdomain typeMY_STUDIO.basecamphq.com thought that it was our development and asked to put them to such a company). The main plus is simplicity. A couple of minuses - not quite flexible project management. Last year, we ’ve been working with http://worksection.com , the closest analogue to Russian in BaseCamp. (Egor Zhilev from Turbomilk wrote a good review ).
    And finally, on working with remote employees and employees in general. So far, only one thought has been born in a few years - "try to work only with good, adequate pros." The minus is expensive and it is very difficult to find sane people. Plus - we put the high cost in the project, in addition, the quality is beaten off in subsequent orders. And the biggest plus: the problems with the delivery are much less. The cost can vary by 30-60%, and the amount of hemorrhoids is an order of magnitude.

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