FreeLists / webproducers / [webproducers] Re: requirements/discovering clients needs etc

[morry <morry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree if they walk in and say here's our project definition and goals 
statement and here are the functional and technical specs then yes 
indeed they have done that for themselves and now you move on past the 
discovery phase.   That was exactly the point I was trying to make- 
sorry if it didn't come off that way. But how often does that happen?  
Many clients don't have a clue what they need or don't realize they know 
so they pay us to consult with them to define the project scope.

But, an earlier poster mentioned they ha a client who needed an intranet 
but the client didn't know what they wanted to include in the intranet 
or what they wanted it to do. I belive this is where we as professionals 
have to collaborate with our clients and discover and define the needs 
together. I've even seen clients come in and say we need a flash 
website. When you talk to them and ask questions client and provider 
both discover that maybe flash isn't  really what they wanted they just 
wanted some animation (not the best example but you know what I mean).

If we expect the client to do all the work and just discover their needs 
on their own what do they need us for?  I mean sure you can just become 
a "development factory" but you can add a lot of value and build better 
projects, in my experience, when you work together to discover and 
define the project goals and needs at the outset. Yes it's can be great 
when a client comes in and knows exactly what they want and they 
understand the technology and they are right about their needs but 
that's more often the exception than the rule in my experience.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Morry

On Friday, May 3, 2002, at 05:30  PM, Marijke Rijsberman wrote:

>
> On Friday, May 03, 2002 1:42 PM, morry
> [SMTP:morry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] wrote:
>>
>> On that note I think it's our responsibility as producers/project
>> managers to help our clients articulate or discover what they
>> want/need.
>> If clients walk in with an RFP with a list of their functional
>> and
>> technical specifications in many ways they have skipped this
>> function.
>
> It seems to me that if they walk in with requirements already done,
> then perhaps they have already articulated and discovered what
> they want/need. Why assume that they can't do this for themselves?
>
> And the best way to approach it is undoubtedly some version of
> this:
> http://www.ejeisa.com/nectar/respect/5.3/contents.htm
>
> Best,
>
> Marijke
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Questions and comments are welcome just e-mail me, morry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx