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It’s not a silver bullet. But get client buy-in on a model where work requiring anything more sophisticated than a brochure website gets divided into a paid discovery phase and an execution phase. Charge minimally for the discovery phase. This gives time to play with ideas and scope out many of the UX and dev tasks. One result of the project is that the client will get a proper scope and a more accurate estimate (or several to choose from). They can then decide whether they want to carry on with execution. Often, clients haven’t done more thinking than “we need an app for X” or “we are redoing our website” and they need help getting that kernel of an idea to a proper technical requirements brief. Agencies should be paid for this work. Also. doing it well means you can more easily deliver on time and on budget whereas omitting this step and trying to give upfront estimates results in chaos later on in the project. Some clients will balk at this approach. They’re often terrible clients to work with. Many clients will buy into the model and will appreciate the benefits it offers.
I think that has been our main issue. We’re often getting briefs where clients want the total cost upfront and we pay for it dearly in write offs or missed deadlines. It’s been fairly hard to get enough client buy in to shoot for Discover period. Mostly this is due to the vast majority of clients being lead by marketing teams that focus more on “pretty design” than function.
Great feedback either way. Is this your set approach? If so what direction does you team take when clients demand up front cost? Wing it and prey for the best?
How can we be expected to give cost and timing when the project hasn’t been built yet? Has anyone had success with making technology a separate SOW after UX work is completed? How about forcing a sprint model where work is only defined during sprints and client buy time?
I’d love to get some feedback on how your teams fit technology into new pitches. Especially with new clients where you don’t have any clues as to where you fit yet. Bonus points if your team is forced to give cost before you’ve even seen a wire or design.
Doing these sequentially is a bad idea. They should overlap with design being a sprint or two ahead. Contracts should ideally be written with minimal fixed commitment on features. Guarantee an MVP scope plus X number of additional sprints to be prioritized during planning and execution. That lets you be flexible. You can even include pricing per additional sprint for change orders if they want to extend.