THE BUZZ

Post Push Media over the years has picked up countless projects that never quite reached the finish line. Depending on which side of the coin you look at you will more than likely get a different story as to why a project went South. The fact of the matter is that most web development projects never reach completion due to one simple word: COMMUNICATION. Let’s look at the following scenario:

Company A calls a website design company in Dallas and says they need  a new website for their business. The website design company says sure no problem can you tell us a little more about what you are looking for? Company A says that are looking for a website for their customers to purchase their widgets directly off of their website. The website design company nods in agreement and puts together a proposal for an ecommerce site for Company A so that they can sell widgets on their website. Company A makes a down payment to get the project started and the website company starts putting designs together for the home page of the website. Company A agrees to a design and off to the development race the website development company goes. When Company A gets their test link to their newly designed website they realize that there are a lot of features that they wanted that the website company did not incorporate into the website. Elements like featured products, related products, multiple options and sizing features, Google Checkout, image enlargement features, and more, simply were not there. The website company tells Company A that they did everything they promised to do in the agreement and that none of the features they were mentioning were ever communicated to them. If this sounds familiar keep reading.

Had the communication channels been transparent and open from day one and the web design company had asked the right questions from the beginning then everyone would have had a clear understanding of what the overall goals for the new website were. As website designers and developers we sometimes fail to understand that we are the experts, our customers lean on us to ask the tough questions and make suggestions based on best practices to ensure that their projects are a success. By fully understand all aspects of the project before getting started – 9 times out of 10 the result is a long lasting successful business relationship.