[thelist] developer ethics?

Wade Armstrong wade at runstrong.com
Tue Mar 5 14:12:01 CST 2002


on 3/4/02 9:50 PM, David Kutcher at david_kutcher at hotmail.com wrote:

> Upon reviewing the site, I came across blatant usage of a WYSIWYG editor
> being used (not even cleanly), horrible usability concerns, and general bad
> practices in coding (embeded tables 6+ deep in some areas).
>
> I illustrated these issues and more to him, and he said that fit in line
> with other issues he had.
>
> Technically, the consultant filled the contract.  But... beyond going and
> hiring another consultant to fix the work, do you think the company should
> press the consultant to fix these issues at no extra cost or take some other
> actions?

This is a fascinating question and I've been mulling it for quite a while
this morning.

There's really no such thing as the "spirit of a contract." Contracts set
expectations of specific performance. A good contract contains (or is at
least somehow related to) a complete scope of work that includes absolutely
*everything*, not just "we'll create you a Web site" but "we'll adapt your
existing logo" and "we'll optimize four (4) existing photos of customer
installations" and "the site will validate to html 4.01 transitional." A
good contract protects both the client (because they know exactly what
they're getting) and the vendor (because nobody can come back to them later
and say "well I thought you were doing this and this and that other thing so
can you give me these for free?")

If the consultant technically fulfilled the contract and did everything they
said they would do, is it fair to ask them to throw away their profit
because the client changed their mind about what they needed?

The flip side of this is, most of our clients come to us with no idea of how
they want to use the Web. What they really want is for us to tell them what
they want to do and then do it for them. I would like to think that, at my
best, I would be looking out for the client's best interests and making sure
that I helped them to develop an appropriate concept and scope of work.

One way we get around this is to use outside project managers for a lot of
our work. It helps to ensure that the client's needs are represented fully.
We also do a bit of work not designing Web sites but helping clients put
together RFPs for their Web sites. In that role we help make sure that the
scope of work covers the appropriate needs.

James Newbery brought up the issue of certification:
> What do people think of Macromedia's efforts to
> provide web development certification schemes? Would
> this sort of thing bring a much needed professional
> standard? Or does it just stifle the open nature of
> the market?
A lot of other industries don't rely so much on certification as on an
understanding of what the "standard of practice" is. The standard of
practice covers the minimum acceptable performance.

Since we have no such standard of practice in Web design, we're left to look
at what's "average" out there. Deeply-nested tables, invalid code and
horrible usability seem pretty "average" to me.

Okay, I've talked myself into favoring a certification program, one that
establishes that Web design firms (*not* individual designers) put out a
minimally acceptable product. Where do I sign up?

Wade




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