Why Web Projects Fail
Building a web project is a lot like building a house. When you build a house you follow a certain procedure.
You start by figuring out how many rooms you need, building a floor plan, deciding on paint color and wallpaper, and then building it. When you build, you lay the foundation, build the structure on top of it, and then apply the finishing touches to make it look nice.
A web project is much the same. The wireframes are your floor plan, the data access layer becomes your foundation, the CSS your paint and wallpaper, etc., etc.
Now... imagine you're building a house... picture the following scenario.
Week 1 – You've just finished digging a giant hole for the basement when the client calls and says, "We decided we don't need a basement." So you fill it back in.
Week 2 – You've built the frame and have started adding the drywall when the client calls again. "We need to add two more bedrooms and move the garage to the other side of the house."
Week 3 – The house is almost finished. "It looks great", the client says, "We need to make the ceilings about 2 feet higher. We also DO need that basement. Can you just put that in underneath the house now?"
Obviously a scenario like this wouldn't happen... couldn't happen. Homebuilders go to great lengths to make sure things are in order and approved before they start building.
Web developers do the same but for some reason, the client expects that they can disregard all of the approved documents at any time they wish, or worse; have us build a site before they have any approved content or images.
The #1 reason web projects go over budget, miss deadlines, or otherwise don't work as expected is because of poor planning. We need to get away from the "we can do it in a week even if you don't know what you want" mentality. I would rather tell a client, "No... that can't be done" than try to throw something together that will ultimately end up a disaster.
Just my 2 cents.
