Justin Carmony has written up a new article about something every developer (and/or development business) struggles with when hacking away at their code - keeping what the clients want in mind.

Why does it seem so hard to deliver quality products to clients? Sometimes it feels like clients either don’t appreciate quality, or they have their priorities all mixed up. [...] These seems rather obvious, but in-fact many developers get caught up in quality and then are totally surprised when their clients aren’t happy. Why? Because as developers we notice and respect quality a great deal more than suitability.

Part of the problem is that clients don't care about the quality behind the scenes. Most of the time, they just want to see results and don't really care how it was done. He focuses on one thing that can really help you in dealing with these clients - keeping up with that their needs are, not just assuming. This includes a few more specific tips:

• Meet the Client
• See the Need
• Open Communication
• Frequent Client Feedback
• Usability Testing