If you need a unique software solution for your business, the best course of action is to hire a custom software developer. However, before you formally finalize this arrangement, you should interview your software developer to learn about their practices, philosophies, and capabilities.
What are the most important questions to ask your custom software developer before hiring them?
Hiring the Right Custom Software Developer
Choosing a custom software developer is a decision with significant stakes. Your choice of software developer is going to dictate not only what kind of finished product you can expect, but also the process you’ll follow to get there and the experience you’ll have along the way. There are many custom software developers out there, so there’s no excuse to work with one who isn’t a good fit for your brand and your specific project.
Beginning the Search
How are you supposed to begin this search? There are many ways to discover new custom software developers, from basic online searches to referrals from other business owners.
Once you have a list of software developers to consider, you can use light research to narrow down the list. You can likely eliminate any software developers who don’t have the expertise you require or who are priced out of your budget. From there, you can start conducting interviews to determine which organization will best serve your needs.
Questions to Ask Your Custom Software Developer
These are some of the most important questions to ask your custom software developer. Of course, you can also do some research to figure out the answers to some of these questions on your own.
1. What is your overall development process/philosophy? One of the most important things to figure out is this organization’s overall development process or philosophy. You probably already know their core competencies, but how do they put those competencies to work? Do they follow a certain development philosophy? Do they work in sprints? Are there any things that make them unique from other software developers?
2. How do you approach project management? You’ll also need to think about project management styles. Some project managers are open, collaborative, and communicative, while others prefer to focus on the work itself. There aren’t many “wrong” project management styles in active practice, but it’s a good idea to look for a custom developer who has a project management style compatible with your needs.
3. What are some of the best projects you’ve done? It’s a good idea to look at work samples before finalizing your custom software developer. Ask to see or hear about some of the best projects they’ve worked on in the past. This will give you a feel for what this organization is capable of while simultaneously allowing the developer to talk about some of their proudest strengths.
4. How do you estimate project timelines? If you have a custom software project you need to build, it’s probably imperative that you work with reasonable, transparent timelines and deadlines. Figure out how this custom software developer estimates project timelines so you can determine whether you can reasonably count on them. Be cautious of working with developers who seem unrealistically ambitious in their estimates.
5. What’s the first step in a new software development project? How does everything begin? Is there an onboarding meeting? Is there a kickoff meeting? Is there a scope-gathering process to follow? It helps to understand how the process is going to begin.
6. Do you use in-house developers or contractors? Does this organization hire full-time, in-house developers, or do they primarily rely on contractors? There are some pros and cons associated with each method, but in-house developers are often somewhat more reliable. Either way, consider asking how this organization chooses to work with new people. Are there minimum standards to meet? Is there a thorough vetting process in place?
7. How big is your team? Similarly, you should ask about the size and scope of the team. How many developers are on staff? How do the team dynamics change when they take on new projects? What is the balance of the workforce like?
8. Who will be my contact? You’ll also need to find out who your primary contact will be. With most custom software developers, you’ll have a dedicated project manager to work with, but this isn’t always the case. Make sure you have a consistent and reliable point of contact within the organization before moving forward.
9. How do you handle intellectual property rights? Intellectual property (IP) rights provide protection for certain types of ideas and creations. Before moving forward with any software developer, you should have a thorough discussion about how IP rights are handled. Will you have full IP rights over the finished product, or will you need to share them? This is critically important for some types of projects.
10. How do you approach QA? You should also understand how this organization approaches quality assurance and quality control. What measures are implemented to ensure the quality, security, and integrity of the finished product?
In addition to asking these questions, you should pay close attention to customer reviews and testimonials. What do previous clients have to say about this developer? And does this sound like someone you’d like to work with?