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I am a junior programmer. Since my supervisor told me to sit in with the client, I joined. I saw the unsatisfied face of the client despite the successful (from my programmer's perspective) delivery of the project!
Client: You could have included this!
Us: Was not in the specification!
Client: Common Sense!
As a programmer, how do you respond in this situation?
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What you should do to avoid this situation:
Explicitly spec out what will be included and what will not be included.
The problem probably comes down to the unspecified parts of the spec:
For future specs that you have, you should have a catch all statement, that explicitly states that if something is not specified in this document, it can be done after the original specification is done at an additional cost.
What you should do in the current situation:
Other than learning from your experiences, you should come to some compromise with the client.
Example: I will do this feature that you feel is common sense, but for all future additions/changes it will have to be spec'ed out explicitly.
I.e. you will have to do a little more work, but it is worth it in return for the catch all explicitly spec'ed agreement your client will enter into.
Bad spec?
Was it necessarily a bad spec? No.
It is impossible to mention everything your clients may expect, so it is critical to have this catch all statement mentioned above stated clearly and explicitly in your spec/contract.
Other ways to reduce the problem:
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This would be one of many reasons why I switched to an Agile development philosophy. The only way, in my opinion, to successfully avoid this scenario is to either be omniscient or involve the customer heavily and release early/release often to get feedback as soon as possible. That way you can develop the software the customer really wants, not the software the customer tells you they want.
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Client: You could have included this!
Us: Was not in the specification!
Client: Common Sense!!
Us: We do not attempt to go beyond what the client has specified - we follow the specification. It's as important to NOT implement features not specified as it is to implement features specified. We will never second guess our customers, who value the fact that they can completely depend on us to correctly and completely implement the specification on time and under budget.
As others very rightly point out, the situation is almost always more complex than the simple exchange I've described above.
However, the above is valid if the implementer has a specification with the customer's signature on it which essentially implements an agreement that says "once the software provably implements all the features in the spec then it is considered complete", and anything additional is outside the specification and therefore outside the contract.
The contract itself may have some input here as well - if you don't have a signed contract than it doesn't matter what's in the spec - everything so far has been done on a handshake, and the entire deal (including payment) can go down the toilet based on any dissatisfaction on either side.
But if you have a contract and a specification, and the customer has seen and signed both, then they have no wriggle room to ask you to go further.
Now, as to the question of whether you should implement it:
AWESOME! You delivered a product and they only had one complaint. Implement the feature, call it a 'freebie (make sure they understand you're working outside the spec and contract and explicitly send them a bill for the work with the discount shown in dollars) and have them sign off on the project as a whole.
It will explicitly demonstrate that the project is ended, that you went above and beyond the call of duty, and that any further 'surprises' are outside the contract/spec, which gives you a nice layer of protection beyond what you already (ostensibly) have.
If it's a UI issue, then you're in murkier water.
Does the spec adequately describe the UI? Does it have mockups? I wouldn't fault a customer for this complaint about the UI if the spec did not very closely describe the layout, usage, and include mockups.
Either way, I think you can understand the customer's position - if they haven't played with UI mockups, then they're going to be disappointed with the result regardless - there's no way, psychologically speaking, that you and your customer could have possibly had the same idea in mind (nevermind the fact that common sense isn't!).
Quite frankly if this is the first time the customer has thought about checking out the UI before the work is finished, then it's at least partially your fault for not explaining good UI design processes to them. This is a key feature for their app, and it's very tightly coupled to what they've imagined - no one can be satisfied in such a situation unless they've 'grown' their internal representation over time to match what the reality is.
This disconnect is solved only through frequent user and customer testing, which is obviously missing. This is a problem regarding client education and communication, not whether the specification was met or not.
-Adam
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Expect last minute changes of scope - they always happen, so be ready.
Review progress frequently with client - to minimize surprises.
Contract: Functional Spec, plus Time & Materials with initial cap (so client feels control). Then when changes come along, re-negotiate the cap if necessary.
Never say they can't have what they want. They can get that answer for free!
Always give them a little more than they asked for, so they know you've got a positive attitude.
Relate to the client as being on the same team with them. Don't accept being legalistically painted as an adversary.
They may think of contractors as not loyal, compared to employees. Show them you're as dedicated to their success as their employees are, and you'll go the extra mile.
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