How do you share your web development process with clients?

Through any tool that will show the roadmap of the end product. That explains each step and challenges. Like jira is the tool I am familiar with.

In my experience, proper planning and documentation is crucial in the web development. Start by defining the goals and objectives of the website. Identifying the target audience will help in this phase. Once defined, break them down into the requirements needed to achieve these goals. Specify functionality requirements and design preferences to add more detail. As a team, create a project timeline with the project manager based on the client's deadline. Assess the feasibility of each item and discuss which items should be prioritized. Setting milestones will help the team track progress with all stakeholders, including the client. Since we already have the requirement specification, we can now begin creating the technical specifications.

Une chose que jai trouvé utile, c'est de toujours definir une marge dans les ressources alloués afin d'être capable de réajuster les développements en fonction des nouvelles orientations du client. En gros, il s'agit d'être agile.

Demoing to the clients will be really helpful in communicating with them. It can assist both parties in understanding the result of the website development and gathering feedback. We don't want to encounter significant changes in the end due to a lack of communication. Moreover, it will ensure that both parties are on the same page and build trust between them. Demos can be conducted for each milestone. Both parties should agree on the agenda, such as what to demo, the feedback process, and requests for changes. We also need to ensure the security of the demo, including how to access the demo site, user credentials, etc. This is important to prevent any unauthorized access to our web project by outsiders.

I will emphasize one rule in software engineering: the concept of a single source of truth. This principle also applies to communication among team members. We need to create a document that serves as a reference for a feature. If there are any changes to the feature, the document should be updated accordingly. While we can use messaging services such as Slack for communication, it is crucial to ensure that any updates regarding the feature are reflected in the document. Ideally, the document should employ versioning. By implementing this approach, we can ensure that everyone is on the same page. Additionally, handover processes will be much smoother, as the relevant information will not be scattered across various platforms.

First and foremost, documentation should be done concurrently with development. Every requirement, technical specification, and decision should be documented either in a separate document or within the code itself. The code documentation can include things like API contracts, such as openAPI. By adhering to this best practice, documenting the project when it is nearing completion will not be a burden. We will only need to review the existing document and update it if any parts are obsolete or missing. The choice of tools is not particularly crucial; what matters is that they are easy to use, and developer-friendly. Some ideas for tools include Confluence, Notion, Gitbook, or even directly utilizing markdown within the repository.

As part of the training preparation, once the project is completed, developers should document all the functionalities in video format, accompanied by text instructions. This user guideline will assist clients in easily recalling how to use the functionalities. Another preparation involves creating a structured schedule. Start with the outer parts of the website so that trainees can experience the user interface first. Ensure that all user guidelines are accessible to the trainees, allowing them to refer to them outside of the training sessions. Having good user guidelines will also benefit you during the support phase. As a developer, you can easily recall the functionalities when answering clients' questions.