How do you agree what “modern and fast” means with a client?

Agree what “modern and fast” means by turning every vague word into something you can check before you start. Use a reference site, a number, a device and a date. Then ask the client after the first milestone whether the result matches the picture in their head. A gap found at milestone one is cheap to close. The same gap found at launch is not.

In the video, Arjun, a freelance developer, delivers the first milestone of an online shop. Catalina, his client, opens it and says it is not what she asked for. Nothing in the brief was wrong. Nobody had said what “modern” and “fast” meant.

Why does “modern and fast” go wrong so often?

Because “modern” and “fast” are pictures, not requirements, and each person fills in their own. To a developer, modern may mean a current framework and clean code. To a client, it may mean the sleek look of a shop they admire. Both readings are reasonable. Neither can be checked, so the difference stays hidden until someone sees the result.

The gap usually shows at the first demo. By then the developer has built a milestone on one picture while the client has waited for another. Every later milestone that rests on the first one makes the correction more expensive. Vague words are a risk on a project plan, not a matter of taste.

Distance makes it worse. When you work from another country and another time zone, there are fewer chances to catch a misunderstanding in a hallway or over coffee. The words in the brief carry all the weight.

How do you turn “modern and fast” into something you can check?

Replace each adjective with an example, a number or a rule that two people can test in the same way. If the client cannot tell you what modern means, ask them to show you. Then write down what you saw.

What is a definition of done, and who writes it?

A definition of done is a short written list of conditions a deliverable must meet to count as finished. You draft it, the client edits it, and both of you confirm it in writing before the work begins. Five to eight lines are enough.

Write conditions you can answer with yes or no. “The checkout works” is a hope. “A test order goes through on a phone and in a desktop browser, and the confirmation email arrives” is a condition. Keep the list where you both can see it, and update it when the scope changes.

Writing it down also changes the next difficult conversation. When the client says, “This is not what I asked for,” you are no longer arguing about memories. You are looking at a list, and the question is which line needs to change.

Why ask the client after the first milestone?

The first milestone is the first time the client sees something real, so it is the cheapest moment to find a gap. A short, written question at that point costs the client little time. A surprise at launch can cost both of you far more.

Feedback Journey gives you a way to ask. After a milestone, you send a short Service Delivery survey. It is made for work you do for a client over time without sitting in their office. It has four fixed questions, scored from 0 to 10, plus a box for a comment. The four categories are Expertise, Communication, Expectations and Quality.

The Expectations question is the one that catches this problem. It asks how well you understood and met the client’s needs and expectations, and whether the delivery was what they expected.

What does a 6 on Expectations tell you?

A 6 on Expectations means the work is acceptable but not what the client pictured. On Feedback Journey’s scale, a score of 5 or 6 reads as average, with some areas that could be improved, and the responder is encouraged to say more in the comment field.

In the video, Catalina gives a 6 and writes, “Let’s write down what ‘done’ means.” The score says something is off. The comment says what. Read the comment first, then reply the same day. Thank the client, agree to write the definition together, and confirm the new list by email.

That one comment replaces a tense call with a shared task. Arjun does not need to defend his work. He needs to find out what done looks like to her, and the survey gave her a quiet way to tell him.

What do you do when a client says, “This is not what I asked for”?

Stay curious, not defensive. The client is not attacking your work. They are telling you the picture in their head does not match the one on the screen. These six steps turn the moment into progress.

1. Do not defend the work. Thank them for saying so. The sooner the gap is out in the open, the cheaper it is.
2. Ask what they pictured. Ask them to show you a site, a screen or a competitor that looks right to them.
3. Compare it with the brief together. Look at the words you both agreed to, and find where the pictures split.
4. Separate a change from a miss. Some gaps are your error. Others are new requirements. Name each one, so budget and date follow the right conversation.
5. Agree the fix and the date in writing. A short email is enough.
6. Update the definition of done. Add the condition that was missing, so the same gap cannot open twice.

How do you keep the definition of done from drifting?

Ask after every milestone, not only the first. Each milestone shows new work, and each one can open a new gap. Feedback Journey keeps the same four questions in every Service Delivery survey, so the scores are comparable from one milestone to the next, and you can see whether the gap is closing. Collecting feedback regularly also shows trends, so you can act on a falling score before it turns into a complaint.

If Expectations stays low after you have written down what done means, the wording was not the problem. Look at scope, timing, or who on the client’s side signs off. For help with the questions themselves, read what a client satisfaction survey for consulting should ask. If the client says nothing at all between milestones, read why client silence is not a sign that everything is fine.

What happens in the video?

The video is under a minute long. The text on screen tells the story, so it works without sound. The people in it are fictional, and the video is AI-generated. Here it is as text, in the order it plays.

1. Title card. “What is ‘modern and fast’?” Arjun, a freelance developer, and Catalina, his client, are introduced.
2. Milestone one. On screen, “Milestone one is delivered.” Arjun leans back in his home office. He has delivered the first part of Catalina’s online shop.
3. The gap. On screen, “‘Modern and fast’ was never defined.” Catalina looks at the new shop. She says, “This is not what I asked for.”
4. Two pictures of done. On screen, “Two pictures of ‘done’.” Arjun reads her message, worried.
5. One picture of done. An infographic shows three steps. A short survey after the first milestone. Four questions from 0 to 10, plus a comment, on Expertise, Communication, Expectations and Quality. Expectations shows the gap in time.
6. The survey. An example survey card, labelled “Example”, shows Service Delivery and Expectations. Catalina gives a 6 and writes, “Let’s write down what ‘done’ means.”
7. Done is written down. On screen, “‘Done’ is now written down.” Arjun writes in his notebook, relieved.
8. End card. “Ask after every milestone, while there is still time to fix it.” The card shows feedbackjourney.com and the note “AI-generated. Fictional characters.”

Frequently asked questions

Try it with your next client

Create your first client survey in the Feedback Journey app, or read more guides on collecting honest feedback.

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