Common Client Issues

Some Client Types

The Busy Client

Symptoms

  • Takes days to respond to emails
  • Frequently late reviewing deliverables
  • Slow to provide critical app content
  • But cares a lot about the app

Consequences

  • Little or no weekly progress
  • Low morale

Careful: Maybe your busy client is really an unengaged client.

The Unengaged Client

Symptoms

  • Takes days to respond to emails
  • Frequently late reviewing deliverables
  • Slow to provide critical app content
  • Isn't that invested in the app

Consequences

  • Little or no weekly progress
  • Little or no user testing by client
  • Low morale

The Overprepared Client

Symptoms

  • Has a pile of screen designs to implement
  • Has a long backlog of must-have features

Consequences

  • Overwhelmed team
  • Unrealistic expectations
  • Hard to see highest priority goals

The Underprepared Client

Symptoms

  • Has a partially formed idea of what they want
  • Has a very short backlog of features

Consequences

  • New requirements can arise unpredictably
  • Unfocused iteration planning meetings
  • Vague goals, weak progress, low morale

Things to Try

Clients and Responses

Client Type Response
Busy Client Full plate, Multiple choice with defaults
Unengaged Client Talk about it
Overprepared Client Delighter-driven design, Risk-driven design, Visualize scope, Parking Lot
Underprepared Client Scenario walkthroughs, Use case diagram

Have a full plate

At iteration planning:

  • Get a minimum of three non-trivial stories with UI design and acceptance test example.
  • Work on second or third story when top story is waiting for client input.

Multiple choice questions with defaults

When emailing:

  • Instead of "what should we do?", ask "should we do A, B, C, or something else?
    • This is simpler to respond to.
  • Instead of a deadline, say "To keep things moving, we will start doing A unless we hear otherwise by ...".
    • This emphasizes collaboration rather than control.

Talk about it

When meeting:

  • As soon as you sense the client is unhappy or disengaged, ask about it.
    • "Are you not seeing something you wanted?"
    • "Should we be doing something differently?"
  • Don't be afraid to pivot. "Is there another idea we should explore instead?"

Delighter-driven design

When iteration planning:

  • Ask the client to say again what the neat new part of the app is.
  • Then say "we'd like to focus on that part first so you can test it out".

Risk-driven design

When iteration planning:

  • If there's a part of the app that you are not sure you can do, let them know up front.
  • Then say "we'd like to focus that part first so we can be sure we can do it, or can find an alternative".

Visualize scope

Every iteration:

  • Provide burn-up charts to create a visual image of the size of the project and what velocity predicts.
  • Emphasize that de-scoping is the safest way to get maximum value in the time available.

Parking lot

When iteration planning:

  • Keep a parking lot document open during planning for ideas not for the current iteration.
  • Say "let's save that so we can explore it after the meeting."
    • Keep planning on track while acknowledging the idea.

Scenario walkthroughs

When iteration planning:

  • Role-play using the app in various scenarios to generate additional user stories to add to the backlog.

Use-case Diagrams

When iteration planning:

Draw a use case diagram to articulate different user roles to generate additional user stories to add to the backlog.

example use case diagram
By Kishorekumar 62, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link