CharlesMaxWood

The interesting thing about the dealings between business people and programmers working on the same project is that they approach things from different angles. Both points of view are necessary, but sometimes making them agree is a little tricky. Here are some ideas to save time on development, which will ultimately save you money.

Developers think on about how it works. Business people think about what it is. What this usually means is that the business person will tell the developer that they want a specific feature or function on their website but the developer won’t really know what the feature is supposed to do beyond a general description.

For example, the business person could tell the developer that they want a search bar on their blog. To them it’s clear, you type in some words and the blog gives you a list of items related to those words. However the developer won’t know if that includes only blog posts, or if it includes other pages in the blog, image captions, or other areas on the blog. In a database driven website, each of those require additional queries that if not specified, the developer may or may not guess that he needs.

Work out the details in advance. If you can give your web developer all of the information they’ll need before they start work, it’ll reduce the amount of time they spend asking clarifying questions. You can also save yourself the trouble of redesigning work that you’ve paid your web developer to do. Saving your developer a few days can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Not all developers are good graphic designers. This means that even if you give them all the details for the new feature you want on your website, they may not be able to come up with the look and feel you want for that particular feature. A good web developer will be able to translate the design into HTML and CSS, but may not have the talent to come up with it on their own.

This isn’t strictly a “don’t ask them to design.” If you have a well designed website, they may be able to find a way to make it fit with the rest of the look and feel. It’s also important to keep in mind that some web developers have experience doing graphic design. If you want to know, just ask.

Bug reporting isn’t just telling the developer that there’s a problem. The best bug reports include a detailed list of steps for reproducing the bug. It also helps if you can tell the developer about your computer and the programs you were using when you found the bug. Details that help are things like the version of Windows, Mac OS, or Linux you’re running, the web browser you’re using (if it’s a web application), and any other system details you can dig up.

Get time estimates from your developer. If you hand your developer a list of things you want done and ask him for time estimates, it forces him to think about how he’s going to put it together and how long it’s going to take to make sure it’s working. It’ll also give you a good idea of what it’ll cost if you’re hiring him on a per-hour basis. It also gives you an chance to fit things into your marketing plan.

Consider a project manager. If this is a small, simple website, you probably don’t need one. But if this is a project that involves a long process or a complicated website, it will pay off to get someone who knows how to speak to developers and can follow through on the development and leave you free to manage the other aspects of your business.

I hope this helps you get things done while still running your business or getting the word out about your great new product or service. If you can think of anything else I should add to this list, feel free to comment.