The other side of the Functional Coin
Today I was just surprised again by a recurring theme when discussing requirements with clients. It seems to happen regularly that a client doesn't automatically think of the other side of a requirement they may have.
For example, if the requirement is for a basic shopping cart with a hierarchy of product categories, allowing one-time purchases, there are the following immediate requirements:
- be able to add / edit / delete categories
- be able to add / edit / delete products
- run reports on details of all successful sales
Now, for a simple example like this one, it may be a little obvious, but for more complex scenarios, it may not be. On top of the absolute immediate requirements, there a bunch of nice-to-haves which should be considered:
- run demographic and purchase trends reports
- have a follow-up mechanism for abandoned carts
- possible financial summary and trend reports
Today's specific example was on a basic online auction system, and when presented with an estimate the client asked "but why so expensive? I'm just asking for a basic bidding system.".
Naturally the answer was a resounding "yes" to questions such as:
- Can sellers have a reserve price?
- Can bidders set a maximum price and have the system auto-bid for them (like eBay)?
- Should we keep a by-the-second bidding history?
- Do you need full details of each transaction?
- Do you need to be able to police the auctions?
The list goes on and on. The point I'm trying to make is that many things that look simple on the surface get quite complex. Don't think only about what the user will be able to do interacting with the site, think about what the site administrators and business owners will need to do with the data.
Sometimes I'm surprised when the opposite happens though. And it does happen (although not that often) where a client comes in with an idea they think is terribly complicated, and it turns out the solutions is really simple.
It reminds me a little of the concept my dad had about taking a girl out on a date when I was younger. When I begged for an advance to take a girl to a movie, he'd give me $5, but when it was for a burger, he gave me $20. Even 25 years ago, a movie was way more expensive than a burger.
-Andreas
Posted: 2009-06-18 16:09:19
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