[ivyirwin]

Yes, scope creep can significantly change the time requirements or even the entire, shall we say "scope". But I think it's just as important for us as developers to be aware of that on the initial request, in order to suss out the actual requirements.

What does the process look like when we ask back, "are you going to need to have a total and rolling sum? should we think about making a gui so other people can use it too?" Engaging the requests early on not only helps our planning, it helps the "client" figure that out sooner than later.

I think I've been successful in my career because I've been able to listen to a client's request and then help them figure out what they are actually asking for instead of taking it at face value. That can be easier said than done on an internal team, but it changes the quality of the product and dynamic of the team significantly.

[growse]

Indeed. Much of the time, "scope creep" is actually just discovering what the requirements actually are. It's not that the requirements change, the requirement likely existed all along - it's just that no-body realised it. Iterating through feedback loops where you build something that meets the original ask, only to refine/change/add/remove things as everybody discovers that what they wanted is not in fact what they wanted is not an unreasable approach.

> I think I've been successful in my career because I've been able to listen to a client's request and then help them figure out what they are actually asking for instead of taking it at face value. That can be easier said than done on an internal team, but it changes the quality of the product and dynamic of the team significantly.

Sometimes you can explore the actual scope by skillfully working with the client before you build anything. Sometimes, however, you can only learn what the actual requirement is by building the wrong thing first.

[ajsnigrutin]

My exact case was some reporting for some project (15 people, 36 months, 1 xml per person per month), to throw into excell and draw one graph, for one PPT, a one time deal, for one project manager to show the numbers on the report.

The end project, if I didn't stop the idea, would be a black box, where you would put any number of random xmls, and get exactly what the accountant wanted with one button... so an impossible task.