[thelist] .:new member

.jeff jeff at members.evolt.org
Tue Jan 29 16:11:01 CST 2002


rachel,

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> From: Rachel Cunliffe
>
> Came across the evolt website and was impressed.. so
> here I am.
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welcome.

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> A question for you all.. How do you deal with clients
> want something that is, in your experience, impractical?
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short answer: do what the client wants.

long answer: if, after careful analysis of what the client wants and the
display of evidence that there dire consequences for their request they
still wish to implement it, get them to sign a document releasing you from
liability and then do it.  however, if something that's truly impractical
(as opposed to something that just seems impractical to you) has its costs
and benefits laid out well before the client, it will rarely get past the
"we'd like you to do this" phase and on to the implementation phase.

something else to consider...when educating the client you'll learn why
they're really making a particular request.  it's often based on a
misunderstanding on their part or a lack of communication skills using
terminology that makes sense to you.  you'll often find that the request
they're actually making isn't what it seems they're asking for.  usually
they have a problem they've identified, but may not be able to arrive at the
best solution.  that's where your expertise comes in.

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> As an example, my client wished to have 6 small photos
> per car and also 6 larger versions of those photos.  I
> designed it so you would click on the small version and
> the large version would appear in a popup window, that
> would close when the focus when back to the main page
> (so you won't have multiple popups).
>
> Now they have requested I change the design to have the
> 6 small photos AND the 6 large photos ALL on the same
> page because they believe people will find it annoying
> having to close the popup window (which they don't have
> to).
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incidentally, most people won't know they don't have to close the popup
window because they'll either never give focus to the main window before
closing the popup or they'll not connect the fact that focusing the main
window is what killed the popup they were trying to keep open.

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> I have no idea why they wish to do this as it's
> impractical (slow loading, and the small pictures become
> redundant).
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try a compromise.  rather than loading all the big pictures on the one page,
use the small pictures as thumbnails to change one large image on the page
to the large version of the one clicked on.  with alittle scripting trickery
you can even have a "loading..." image display where the big image will load
while it loads in the background (thereby removing the need to preload them
onload).  now, no more popups and no nasty waiting unless you want to view
one or more of the big images.

.jeff

http://evolt.org/
jeff at members.evolt.org
http://members.evolt.org/jeff/





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