[thelist] Fulltime to freelance

[Joel D Canfield]

> > 2. "The only thing worse than having developers deviate from the
> > design specs is having developers implement the design specs to the
> > letter".
> 
> So what do you do? just wing it?

since you admitted the snark, I'll ignore it ;)

what I do is know what the spec is, keep it clearly in front of the
client and myself, and treat creep on a case by case basis. (I rarely
work by the hour; I hate keeping track.)

sometimes, a client says "It's gonna do this, right?" and I say, "No,
not in the contract, that's a separate tool, see here and here?" and
then we discuss the extra. sometimes the client asks and I realize,
yeah, they had every right to expect that, but I didn't think of it. my
mistake, I pay. sometimes the client asks, and I realize that either
it's small enough to just do because it's no big deal, or the client has
made me want to help them for more intangible reasons.

you write specs at the beginning of the project, when you know the least
about how it's going to go. how could you *not* expect to learn more as
you proceed? as you learn more, aren't you going to adjust occasionally?

it's about working for a human being client rather than working for a
contract or business model.

joel