Questionnaire for Clients

Question

Hey guys I'd like to get your input regarding something that has been stressing me out a bit in the past weeks. You see, Anyone who has ever performed any type of development knows that it's difficult to grasp the needs of the client. So I figured I'd make a questionnaire of the best possible questions to determine their needs and then if they want to change them, at least have something that can help me tell them that wasn't in the original plans thus it'll be charged for as an extra. I am just starting this and was wondering if I could get some relevant questions please. I know this isn't what this site is exactly for, but I figured we could all benefit from this.

Please focus on web development of any type. Thanks =)

Answer 1

... very quickly before this one gets closed. I met with a new client today and I just let him talk. This one got burned twice trying to work with folks long distance until he decided to go with a local developer. So I asked a few leading questions about what he expected to get originally. It really created a more focused picture for him, as if for the first time he really got an idea of what he NEEDED. Then we did a little drawing on a paper, a bit more of a fleshed out schematic of the project.

Now I can use that a some basis for a contract or such. Sometimes the client wont' know what they want or need. Within reason, I just give them some room to figure out what the project needs. They will tell you if you're able to listen attentively and pick up on the details as they spill out.

This is not exactly what you asked for, just what happens often times and I believe it needs to be considered as well. Sometimes the best questionnaire may not fit the particular situation. Especially if the client is starting out in the web realm (but having a high level of domain understanding though ) and I'm new to their business domain ( having done a lot type A projects and getting involved with something from category X that I've not been around at all)

Answer 2

While your intention is good, I think there are 2 places where your approach is flawed. The first is that you are trying to solve the problem using a questionnaire. Understanding your client's specific business needs will take more than that, you will need to first have a basic understanding of their business and then ask follow up questions specific to that to gain a deeper understanding. The better you understand your client, the better chance you have, a questionnaire could act as a starting point, but you might as well just start by talking to them. Second, if you want to build a product that will meet the client's needs, there's bond to be design changes. Building usable software requires a feedback/update cycle between the user and the engineer/designer, it is impossible to get everything right the first time, even if you have great foresight. Joel had a good answer on this topic that I think is consistent with what I want to say and is worth a read(search for tick 31:20) or a listen.

Answer 3

Rather of making a list of questions to ask managers, allow managers to say something how they make business. Then ask a permission to go to some workers and ask them the same questions. Stay with your users for a day to understand their business. Just ask, “What are you doing” and “what is the purpose” of your job. I think this will be more valuable, than asking the same questions again.

Only the first “what is your job in this company” will be constant question, the rest will differ from customer to customer.