Blueprints and the Truth of What's "Obvious"
Listen.
An architect doesn't ASSUME there will be a door on the building; She draws it in the blueprint.Why?Two reasons:NUMBER ONE: Drawing on the blueprint gives her control of the vision. Not only does she say "I need a door." But, by drawing it into the spec - she says "I need a door, and I want it here - and I want it to look like this"And so then maybe the client says, "Nice door, but I was thinking we could change it this way" - and it's ok because she can change that spec before they build. Or maybe the client says, "Actually, I don't really want a door. I want a secret tunnel from the back yard. You know, like the pyramids...?"Any way it goes, the point is she took control and lead the discussion. NUMBER TWO:"Obvious" is subjective.Builders don't build what isn't on the blueprint, and they don't ASSUME to build it anyway because "it's obvious."It also makes the architect look like a real winner (READ: idiot!) to the client when she "assumes a door is obvious" and leaves it off the spec. ...So, what the hell do doors and blueprints have to do with web development?only EVERYTHING
An architect wouldn't assume a door because it's "obvious," so why would you make assumptions in a project scope? Seriously. We take for granted the simple things in our little web world. The things that are obvious to us. User login functions, site maps, Twitter buttons - What. Ever....If you think "it's obvious" - you're wrong. ...If you assume "well yeah, of course" - write it down anyway...If you're not quite sure - ask the question. CONTROL THE DISCUSSION. The Moral of all this? Never. Assume. Anything. Using "obvious" as a crutch leads to mistakes, ugly builds, and heartache down the line. Leaving "obvious" out of the spec is one of two things: Careless or stupid.In the end you either lose control of the vision, or you look like an ass for forgetting. Or both.
