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Fighting the Scope Creep
Scope creep is the process of adding more and more features to a fixed-cost project at the end of the development process or during delivery. Long story short, the client expects more features, better UI, or additional services within the agreed quote, which is not expected and hasn’t been planned by the web development agency.…
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Project-Based, Support, and Salary Work: Exploring Different Work Structures
Back when I was a PC tech support specialist, system administrator, company-hired developer, and freelancer, I’ve come to identify three distinct types of work arrangements: project-based work, support work, and salary-based employment. Each comes with its own structure, expectations, advantages, and challenges. Here’s a deep dive into each of these categories to help you understand…
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Hourly Rates, Amount Of Work And Availability
Note: This essay is not always applicable while some projects definitely demand a straight work schedule, reporting and collaboration between the team members. However it reflects the majority of projects and clients out there in the wild. As an employer I prefer to charge on a project basis. It’s easier to plan my budgets and…
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Estimation Is Arbitrary – Risk is Out There
Chris Lema posted about his approach for Estimating Without Requirements and this is one of the most brilliant posts of his that I’ve ever read. When I started my freelance career, the first thing I encountered was the estimation challenge. Working full-time at a company is often estimation-free – you can give some rough numbers in…
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Why Does WordPress Fall Behind In Tech?
What I call a “Community Virus” is a fraction of a community that sets a bad example. You know, when you’re a part of the society and there’s a small (or larger) number of people doing bad stuff and are loud and annoying at the same time, and you tend to get embarrassed while shopping near them in…
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An Estimate Is Not a Deadline
I had a few meetings over the last few weeks that were focused on tight deadlines. Two of the clients were burned by other agencies who didn’t deliver so they were already behind schedule and wanted the projects done ASAP. Or even – much faster than ASAP. The Estimate Factor I’ve shared my thoughts on the risks…
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How to Estimate a Web Development/Design Project?
“How much does X cost?” is one of the most common (and yet complicated) questions in the software engineering industry. Estimating development projects is rarely a straightforward process, because of the broad gap between “simple” and “truly complex” variation of the same business problem, along with the external context (all 3rd parties) — and let’s…
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How To Prepare For A Software Engineering Job
Getting ready for your first software engineering job can be daunting. Developers are in demand, but gaining the minimum skill set for becoming competitive usually takes 2-3 years. The first job or two as an engineer could be quite challenging to land. The two most important things you need to understand first are: With that…