Read the damn spec!
I don't write it for fun, you know.
Posted 01 Oct 2007, lunch time.
Tagged with clients, project management, qa, web design, web development.
I sometimes wonder who, if anyone, actually reads the specification documentation; the documentation that I spend weeks trying to craft into some sort of rational structure, translating the rambling discourse of meeting, email and telephone into something that tells us how to actually build the damn thing.
Why do we bother with specifications? How can anyone build anything - let alone something so complex and fragile as a web application - without a plan? More specifically, a plan that represents the views and requirements of all involved and details how it all fits together to form a logical and usable system.
I'm talking to everyone here; designers, developers and project managers, but particularly clients. I can't force you to read it, and you're welcome not to, but please, don't expect the final implementation to magically equal the conceptual model locked inside your head. Don't complain if it's not quite how you imagined when it's right there in black and white for all who cared to see.
The specification is the first and final word, the bible of the project. Read it, discuss it, understand it, agree on it.
