Custom Development and Customer Relations

Level: Beginner 

By: Eric Lewis

In Custom development working with flexibility can sometimes be a challenge.  Keeping the customer involved with every aspect of a project can help with keeping your team and the customer on the same page from the very beginning.  With a firm understanding of the development side of a solution we understand that getting from step A to step B is not so black and white.  While being able to say that a project is complete is the ultimate goal of any developer we understand the needs of the customer, after all it is custom development for the customer.  We know as with all people our needs expand, change, or shrink sometimes with the littlest warning.

 By utilizing a method that provides constant delivery of items to a customer we can help this process by keeping the customer engaged with every step of the process.  This allows the customer as well as the developer to see each piece in place and working as the solution is developed.  While this may seem like there are more moving pieces in the project with tasks and phases being thrown out or added in on a constant basis, it allows us as developers to understand and build on the customers need at an earlier state in the process.  This aspect also allows the customer to see live changes as they are worked on and the ability to request tweaks as it fits their needs.