Why Many Web Projects Fail, Prepare for 2014

Vibe Web Solutions Limited said that after years of working with various clients, it often wondered why some of the projects have failed even beyond launching and why so many of the clients have to return after their Web Projects fail.

Meanwhile, about 75% of businesses come from projects where someone else could not get the job done.  The most common situation is what the Company called the “Money Pit – No Clear Vision and Purpose”.

This informed the article on: the most common reasons why so many web projects fail, especially in 2013, even as companies and individuals get ready for 2014.

Jumping the Gun:
Lack of a clear definition of the scope and requirements:  Everyone is so anxious to get going and they think they know where they are going.  But they don’t think about how it’s going to work and what happens under different scenarios.

This is especially true when a company puts their business online.  How will this new process affect your business? 

Most clients think they know what they want, but the devil is in the details.  I can’t tell you how many clients we meet with that when pressed to detail their process, haven’t thought through all of the ramifications. 

Make sure you go through a detailed planning exercise before you start building.  Make sure building something that your customers want and need, not just what you want. Get input from customers.

Do not want to pay for the service rendered:
This kind of approach as 100% fail rate. If the client approach business this way then he will frustrate the web developer from rendering high standard service and in return get disappointed. In most cases they end up spending more than they want.

The “Facebook Syndrome” Biting off more than you can chew. 
Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  If you have a really complex project, do it in phases.  You don’t have to publish it all on the web at once.  There is nothing wrong with replacing your existing website after three or four phases are completed.

Putting the Design First:
Designing without purpose or function.  We have seen some absolutely beautiful designs for new projects that just cannot be built or would be too expensive to build.  It’s best to wireframe out all of the functionality taking into account the platform you’re using before the design is done.   Then have your development team work with the designer, so together they come up with something that is beautiful and functional.  Otherwise you could come up with a Frankenstein site that is neither.

Getting Off Track: Scope Creep: 
This happens a lot. A good PM’s main job is to keep things on track.  It’s natural as you go through the development, to come up with new ideas and things you want.  You need to realize that every time you make a change, it adds to the time and cost of your project.  Changes late within the process have large affects.  If a website is built and tested, you will have to retest after the change.  Some changes are beneficial, especially if they make the website better for your users.  But lots of indecision and changing can derail a project.   Scope Creep happens when decision makers aren’t involved early on or the project didn’t go through proper planning. 

No Functionality Testing:
Lack of cohesive Quality Assurance.    It’s important to unit test each piece of functionality and then do regression testing on the final product.   All projects have bugs, so it’s better to have the developers find the problems instead of your users.  We usually set aside 20% to 25% of the development time to perform proper QA.  Make sure there is a comprehensive QA Plan, otherwise you could get a website that has a lot of issues.  Developers need to be thinking about quality from day one and be responsible to fix their problems.  Otherwise it could get very sloppy.

Building a successful web project requires all of these areas to be properly addressed. Failure to perform any of these tasks could derail a project which ends up being completely wasted money in the budget.  When you select a developer make sure they can address all of these before you start. Properly done projects can be a tremendous asset to the wellbeing of your company.