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How to deal with requests for ridiculous functionality in your software?

Asked 2009-04-23T13:56:31.460
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Of course, most of the time this type of request comes from management that neither has a clue about what the users really want, nor does [s]he have a clue about the technical aspects of building a specific software project or software in general. See Dilbert's Pointy-Haired Boss for more detail.

However, that's just one aspect. What about requests for items that you know will hurt overall performance of the system you're building? Or how about the technical idiot who's foolishly been given authority and yet nearly everything they do turns to dook? (See this post for an awesome example)

Ultimately, how do you eloquently, professionally and gently deal with requests or edicts to what you're building that you know will ultimately hurt the project?

Dupe: When the Client asks for something ludicrous and insists

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Ridiculous feature requests fall into two camps for me when responding to them.

  1. Feature will cause the application to stop functioning as expected, i.e. breaks it, slows it down too much, makes it unworkable
  2. Feature that will not cause the application to stop functioning as expected but I don't understand why you'd want such a feature

For type 1 I'll analyse the request and respond with either hard facts or professional opinion. If the analysis indicates that it may be possible with additional effort on existing code then estimate and estimate high!

For type 2, firstly I'll ask the requestor to explain the feature in more detail, after all they may work in an area of the business that I don't have a clear understanding of beyond the problem space for the original application spec. If I still don't get it and I really cannot see the purpose of the feature then I estimate high to discourage them.

If they accept the estimate or I do, finally, get it then I do it.

At the end of the day, they are the customer and if a customer goes into the tailor and asks for trousers with 4 legs, the tailor may argue for a while but in the end it's a custom job and far more expensive. So if they see enough value in the feature that they are willing to pay be willing to take their money; just because you can't see the value doesn't mean they are wrong.

answered 2009-04-23T15:25:21.580

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