When it comes time to crafting a solution, clients always come with an idea and grandiose plans, but every project has to start somewhere. When potential clients approach me about mobile apps, they often start with "I need a mobile app." My immediate response is, "sure, why do you need a mobile app?" That tends to shock them a bit, but also starts a more important discussion.
Each time I ask a potential client why they need something there's usually a very long pause. With mobile apps, I usually receive a predictable response along the lines of "mobile apps are where everything is going now." That statement is only partly accurate - everything is going mobile, but not necessarily in the direction of mobile apps. Moz.com has a great video which delves a bit more deeply into the topic of mobile app versus mobile web, though it's a bit outside the topic of this blog.
This blog is more concerned with the concept of starting every project by asking "why?".
While it may come across as abrupt (and believe me, it can come across that way), when you ask 'why', you delve much deeper into the problem. I'm excited about helping solve a problem - whether that's selling online, fixing a bug, or creating a new channel by which my clients can communicate and connect with their customers - but I'm not a fan of wasted effort, either. It's more important that my clients receive something that answers that question than it is to get a project out the door.
Next time you're thinking about how to improve your Web site, ask yourself a question starting with "why". You'll be better prepared when the right Web developer asks you that same question.