Apart from writing specs down and have them approved,

That is the way to avoid this issue. First thing you should do upon hearing "I'd like such'n'such" is to say "Ok, I'll write up a use case for your approval." Then, when they approve the use case, you write it to exactly that. If they complain, you ask them for the time to modify the use case and do the development. (I mean, they just gave you an RFC, didn't they?)

If they complain, you explain it's for their benefit, so that you know what they want. They'll come back with a bunch of changes, but it's easier (and less error-prone) to modify a Word document instead of an app.

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Don't go borrowing trouble. For programmers, this means Worry only about what you need to implement.

Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.

In reply to Re: What do they want? by dragonchild
in thread What do they want? by schumi

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