Working for a client

In U2O3 you will face a new challenge working for a client other than your teacher. You will be using either a programming language or web editor to create a product that satisfies the client's needs.

At McKinnon, students will be assigned to teams of 4 working with either a local primary school or a learning area within the college to extend, update, improve, rewrite or restructure their websites.

The main challenge for many students will be working with real people in the real world on a real information problem. You client is not going to be sweet and forgiving as your teachers are.

They will have firm expectations of you and your work.

They will exect results, not excuses.

They will expect you to work professionally: be punctual, be polite, communicate effectively, obey instructions, deliver the finished products on time.

It will be your responsibility to initiate contact with your client. Communications are expected to be on the client's terms rather than yours. Ask your client what they prefer - personal visits, email, phone etc. Don't tell them what you want, ask them what they want. Don't be presumptuous: it's polite to ask if it's OK to email them rather than just assume they're happy with it.

Work out when it's convenient to contact the client. This can be tricky, especially when dealing with teachers with strict timetables, so you might need to be flexible.

Keep notes of all contacts with the client: when, where, why, decisions made, deadlines agreed on, conditions that must be met, full job specifications etc. These notes will form part of your assessment, but more importantly they are important records that can prevent later arguments over what was decided earlier. If you present your finished product and the client says "But I said I didn't WANT that! And I wanted THAT to be different!" you can refer to your meeting notes and settle the issue. Without notes, you'll end up with a impasse: your word against theirs. And when the client is paying you, they always have the upper hand!

Before your first meeting with the client, investigate their site carefully. Write down what you could suggest to improve or extend it. Turning up to your client with no knowledge of their site will be a waste of time.

Your client has a personality. They might be very determined and specific in their desires. They might be quite laid back and be open to anything you suggest. They might be a mixture of both. Whatever type of client you meet, work with them.

Let the client express their desires before you burst in with your suggestions. By all means suggest things, but remember that you are there to satisfy their needs, not your own.

Suggested approach

1. Research - investigate their existing websites (if they exist) and write notes about strengths and weakness, styles, approaches, problems, areas for improvement etc. Develop a plan of what questions need to be asked, what decisions need to be made and what timelines you are working under.

2. First meeting with client - introduce yourself and the project. Ask your questions, find the client's needs and desires, make your recommendations. Make the necessary decisions for work to begin. Agree on how you will communicate. Find out how it will work technically - what webpage editor you can use, how the pages will be uploaded. If they are unwilling to give you FTP passwords, you might need to produce the pages and let the client upload them themselves.

3. First feedback - this may need a visit, or may be done remotely. You could, for example, email them the sample work. Get their approval, their criticism, their permission to proceed - preferably in writing (e.g. an email). If the client does not want to write it up, you should write it up and present it to them. e.g. "Dear Mrs Jones. This is to confirm that we agreed on October 19th that we would update the 'Contacts' page, change the background colours to something more plain and add pages about the grade 5 adventure camp. The 'Pets' page that we mocked up will be removed. Our next face-to-face meeting will be on October 26 at 2:30 when we'll show you the first finished pages. Regards (names) "

3. Organise the team. Allocate responsibilities and write them down to avoid later arguments. Communicate frequently about progress, problems, ideas. Work out how you are going to share and assemble components to create whole pages (e.g. email)..

4. In class, start production. You might mock up a prototype of the finished product to get early feedback from the client via email. Once the early drafts receive approval, you can start working at full speed.

5. Finish the site, occasionally contacting the client about your progress, or asking questions to clarify issues or make decisions.

6. Final meeting with client - present the finished product and get official their sign-off indicating that they are satisfied that you have fulfilled your responsibilities.

And you're done. With any luck, you've created a worthwhile product and satisfied a real need for a real person and had a few interesting experiences in the process.