[Websg Meetup] Post Meetup Discussion

[Manar Hussain]

I think there's some context that should be brought out. We're talking
about winning business. That depends on if the client is willing to pick
you over other options. They only get to pick between available options.

What's your competition? Are you finding clients say "I didn't pick you
because you were too expensive compared to person X" and finding that
person X was cutting corners. Are you finding that clients find the
prices too high and don't pick you or anyone else. Are you finding that
clients press you for price and invariably identify "this extra cost
that delivers limited value" to argue you down on price - but they
select you in any case?

In other words are you competing with someone else willing to offer a
lower quality product, with the client's willingness to pay, or with
yourself and the different things your willing to do if pushed?

m


On Sat, Mar 03, 2007 at 03:26:10PM +0800, Yuhui wrote:
> Hi Jim,
> 
> > Furthermore, this might ruffle some feathers, but as a developer, when
> > coding a site, shouldn't we be coding the site with compliancy in mind?
> > Correct me if I'm wrong, most time consuming portion during development is
> > coding is usually to ensure our site display according to our layout we
> > mocked. Accessibility issues, should have been accounted for when we code,
> > eg. putting the alt attributes etc... so when it comes to testing, it'll
> > more for aesthetic reasons than accessibility.
> 
> Speaking from my experience as a software developer (albeit a hobbyist
> one): it is a dream for any developer (software, Web, other field) to
> have a "develop once, develop right" (or more succinctly, "code once,
> code right") mentality because we feel that we have sufficient
> knowledge and experience to be able to avoid introducing bugs.
> 
> But as real life experience tells us, such a dream is far from the
> truth. Buildings collapse, Windows has the BSOD, and Web sites fail
> compliancy tests. In terms of Web development, it could be something
> as simple as forgetting to add an accesskey, or when coding inline
> (X)HTML in ECMA/JavaScript, we code something that fails validity.
> 
> That's why we test and debug constantly. And in my experience, testing
> can take up to half (if not more) of the time spent on a project. And
> since we charge by man-hours, more testing means more man-hours, which
> leads to higher charges.
> 
> During the discussion, I also said that we can charge more for our
> expertise in Web standards. But I feel that many clients, especially
> small local ones, will balk at this because they don't see the value
> in it. As I had mentioned, the primary concern in their minds is time,
> not "future-proofness".
> 
> But I agree with you that we should structure our charges so that
> clients don't feel the pinch as painfully. If we can show several
> tangible benefits to the client, then I think it'll be easier to
> "sell" Web standards compliance.
> 
> -- 
> Yuhui     yuhuibc at gmail.com
> LiveJournal yuhui.livejournal.com
> Blogger yuhuibc.blogspot.com
> 
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