As a dev who does the client talking, sometimes it’s really hard to avoid calling the client stupid. One time, while trying to confirm some stuff for a system, the following exchange happened:
M - Ok, so is this field mandatory?
C - Yes!
* Shows off other stuff, comes backtothatfirst field *
M - Alright, so the user will fill this field, which is mandatory
C - No! That field shouldn't be mandatory!
M - ? But you said it was?
C - No, I didn't!
* Rewrite my notes, which the client saw me writing inthefirst place, stating the field isnot mandatory. Proceed withthe flow, come backtothe field *
M - Alright, this field, isit mandatory, yes or no?
C - Yes!
There was also a different client that asked for a number of changes to a system, we did them, then, once he was supposed to test them give the final Ok, he came with “oh, we won’t use that flow anymore, everything changed” - My boss chewed him hard and left his request at the lowest priority.
In my experience they want the field to be mandatory but don’t want anything preventing them from skipping it if they’ve personally decided to skip it, “just this once.”
That sounds like one of those “okay, I know you want the field there, so it’s mandatory for me to include it, but is it mandatory for your customers to enter values in this field? If your customers can leave the field blank, is that good or bad?”
As a dev who does the client talking, sometimes it’s really hard to avoid calling the client stupid. One time, while trying to confirm some stuff for a system, the following exchange happened:
M - Ok, so is this field mandatory? C - Yes! * Shows off other stuff, comes back to that first field * M - Alright, so the user will fill this field, which is mandatory C - No! That field shouldn't be mandatory! M - ? But you said it was? C - No, I didn't! * Rewrite my notes, which the client saw me writing in the first place, stating the field is not mandatory. Proceed with the flow, come back to the field * M - Alright, this field, is it mandatory, yes or no? C - Yes!There was also a different client that asked for a number of changes to a system, we did them, then, once he was supposed to test them give the final Ok, he came with “oh, we won’t use that flow anymore, everything changed” - My boss chewed him hard and left his request at the lowest priority.
In my experience they want the field to be mandatory but don’t want anything preventing them from skipping it if they’ve personally decided to skip it, “just this once.”
That sounds like one of those “okay, I know you want the field there, so it’s mandatory for me to include it, but is it mandatory for your customers to enter values in this field? If your customers can leave the field blank, is that good or bad?”
Time spend undoing/redoing stuff and delays caused by clients should always be billed, and contracts should address that.