We hear over and over about designers who got in trouble because they didn't get a contract, or didn't get it in writing. But Christian Haensel didn't make that mistake. Of course, then when the time came to do "just a few small changes", well, let's just say that small to a client is not usually small to the designer/developer.
I've built a website for a european hardwood association, which wanted to expand to the north american market. After getting their ideas all on paper, we set up a contract for all these points and I estimated a timeline of about 8 to 10 weeks from planning to the first release. All this was written in the contract.
After 3 weeks, I received a few pages with "additional ideas", which they wanted to be implemented. I just thought that it wouldn't be too much work, so I took those ideas and started programing.
Well, long story short: inexperienced as I was, I made a HUGE miscalculation and have spent over 8 weeks on programming just those additional ideas / requests. I did not get paid any more than what was set up in the contract, and I spent 100% more time on the project as was needed.
Now, after 1.5 years, I look at the website with the great administration panel and see that NOTHING has changed at all.
At first I thought that this project could be used as a nice piece of work to show off when trying to get new customers, but seeing this now, I realize that I can not use this site at all as a reference.
That really, really makes me mad. I have put so much work into it, and now all the site does it what a few simple static HTML pages would have done.
Unfortunately, as Christian also found out, many clients seem to feel that once a Web site is live, it's done. Giving them easy to use administration and other tools doesn't get them to write if they aren't inclined to do so. Which is really frustrating.
