As a follow-up to my last post, I think it is relevant to address the issues of project scope, proposals, and contracts. I may do things a bit differently than other freelancers, in that I outline the major project details in my proposal, and hit upon the more legal issues in my contracts. AIGA has a wonderful contract template that can be downloaded from their website; I highly recommend that any freelancer get a copy of it. A contract is, in its simplest form, the mutual agreement of an offer and an acceptance of said offer.
Certain things should be present in any proposal or contract, such as project scope, client revisions, how client delays are handled, projected date of project completion, payment terms and conditions, maintenance and support (or lack thereof), liability, and the rights to the site upon completion. Exclusion of any of these items will make life harder as a designer and developer, and also have the potential to cause misunderstandings or confusion with your clients.
One of the most important things to be included in a contract or proposal is the project scope. The project scope should outline the duties that you, as designer/developer, need to accomplish. For example, if I am building a very simple website with 6 pages of content with a Flash banner on the homepage, that needs to be specified.
Basic list of things that should be included in project scope:
- Project timeline (including start date and projected completion date)
- Who is responsible for certain elements (such as the client being responsible for the text content of the site)
- How many initial comps of a design will be presented to the client
- Once the client has chosen a design, how many basic revisions will you offer?
- Any additional responsibilities that you as the designer will offer to provide the client (such as the afore-mentioned Flash banner)
- Ownership of the site upon completion
- Any additional services that fall outside the scope of the project will be charged to the client at “X” rate
Anything not included in the basic project scope falls outside the responsibilities of the designer/developer. But what if you are not specific enough to provide for those loopholes that will eventually happen to all of us? It is not always easy to predict every hurdle you may encounter on a project. In my previous post, I outlined what I was going through with one of my clients when working with another designer. The project scope he provided the client was vague, at best, and there is the dilemma. Should he suck it up and take care of the requests to save his reputation, or fall back on the old “it is not in the scope of the project” line and risk negative feedback from the client? Unfortunately, when you have a project scope that basically states only, “I will do your website and it will have a shopping cart”, you leave yourself open for an ethical dilemma.
Another concern I have about this particular situation is the “contract” that the designer provided the client. It is simply an invoice, with the project scope provisions inserted. As a contract needs to have been agreed upon by both parties, I am not sure that this is a legal contract. My client, being a very moral and stand-up company, wouldn’t dream of not paying the designer the remainder of his fee; however, I think this might give them some leeway to demand the few changes that need to be made on the website. As the project scope only outlines that the website be finished, why not make it perfect?
