Customer expectations for the software must be managed. Too often, the customer

Question

Customer expectations for the software must be managed. Too often, the customer expects more than the team has promised to deliver, and disappointment occurs Immediately. This results In feedback that Is not productive and ruins team morale. In her book on managing expectations, Naomi Karten |Kar94) states: The starting point for managing expectations Is to become more conscientious about what you communicate and how." She suggests that a software engineer must be careful about sending the customer conflicting messages (e.g., promising more than you can reasonably deliver In the time frame provided or delivering more than you promise for one software increment and then less than promised for the next). complete delivery package should be assembled and tested. A CD-ROM or other media (Including Web-based downloads) containing all executable software, support data flies, support documents, and other relevant information should be assembled and thoroughly beta-tested with actual users. All Installation scripts and other operational features should be thoroughly exercised in as many different computing configurations (I.e., hardware, operating systems, peripheral devices, net-working arrangements) as possible. A support regime must be established before the software is delivered. An end user expects responsiveness and accurate Information when a question or problem arises. If support Is ad hoc, or worse, nonexistent, the customer will become dissatisfied immediately. Support should be planned, support materials should be prepared, and appropriate recordkeeping mechanisms should be established so that the software team can conduct a categorical assessment of the kinds of support requested. Principle 4. Appropriate instructional materials must be provided to end users. The software team delivers more than the software itself. Appropriate training aids (if required) should be developed; troubleshooting guidelines should be provided, and when necessary, a 'what's different about this software Increment'' description should be published.8 Buggy software should be fixed first, delivered later. Under time pressure, some software organizations deliver low-quailty increments with a warning to the customer that bugs "will be fixed In the next release." This Is a mistake. There's a saying in the software business: "Customers will forget you delivered a high-quality product a few days late, but they will never forget the problems that a low-quailty product caused them. The software reminds them every day."

Explanation / Answer

1) As said, if the statements made by the customer service were more promising than actual, then it certainly leads to the disappointment of the customer and hence the downfall of the service.

2)User easily gets frustrated if something turns out to be wrong as he invests a lot of money to buy something and hence whatever may be the endproduct, should be beta-tested, implied it should be tested in original with the users as a free version for getting the intial feedback.

3)Problems should be expected before hand when delivering a particular type of product, and when the user raises the question on about how to go with a certain malfunction, the service centre should be able to give a gratifying response.

4)Without approprite instructions, the user may find difficulty with the product he has brought in, and hence to aid the installation and its usage by the user, a manual should be provided to the user.

5)This is highly prevalent in the present day situations as like a black mark on a white paper. Low quality and low performance easily gets detected when compared to the other organisation's software and or when compared with the other versions, and hence there should be no bugs in a product to the maximum possible case and if this is not treated with care, it may lead to the entire product failure.

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