Software Developer Interview Success Tip - Do this to win over customers

After an incredible 10 years as a freelance software engineer, I discovered the secret to winning over countless customers. Here is a success tip for software developers to talk about during interviews to win over customers.

• Make sure to understand what success means to the customer: Share your excitement about clarifying non-functional requirements from the very beginning.

• Emphasize the importance of success metrics: Highlight how crucial it is to define how to measure success in your projects.

In job interviews, both you and the business owner are assessing if there is a fit. Getting the job is good, but you want a satisfied customer at the end of the journey. It's essential to understand how the business defines project success, particularly regarding non-functional requirements, to determine if you can meet their expectations as a technical leader and to guide the customer in prioritizing what is important to them.

Functional requirements are usually more straightforward and easier to define, but the expectations for a software system's non-functional qualities are often unclear. From numerous interviews I've conducted on behalf of my clients, I've observed that many candidates fail to inquire about these expectations. They are so intent on making a good impression during the interview that they neglect to grasp the customer's precise expectations.

To avoid future customer dissatisfaction, it is essential to clearly communicate the system's qualities that will be developed. As technical experts, it is our responsibility to clearly define the desired system qualities and explain any trade-offs with regards to other qualities.

I believe the most effective way to define qualities as exactly what it means to this specific project. This method makes the objectives tangible enough to create tests and to choose the right measurement techniques.

There is a Dutch saying that I like:

To measure is to know. (Meten is weten).

Another advantage of clarifying these qualities is that it helps reduce disagreements among software engineers about the best approach to take. With measurable goals, it's easier to experiment with different methods and determine their effectiveness. For instance, simply stating a desire for scalability is too ambiguous, leading to varied opinions on how to achieve it. However, specifying that the system should support 100 users in the next year facilitates discussion on the techniques needed to reach that target without overengineering. While this isn't a foolproof way to prevent conflicts, it does aid in reasoning and reaching a consensus.

Below is a specific list of quality attributes that would likely interest a business owner. I imagined an e-commerce system while writing this list. Adjust the definitions to fit your particular needs before applying them. This list serves as an example.

Quality Attribute	Target Measurement
Performance	Pages load in < 3 sec, checkout in < 5 sec
Availability	99.9% uptime, < 30 min recovery time, Max 0.01% failure records during peak usage periods
Scalability	10K concurrent users, 1K orders/min, <10% increase in response time when user load doubles
Security	0 breaches, 99% fraud detection, address 5 critical vulnerabilities per quarter, 100% of sensitive actions enforce 2FA
Usability	> 3% conversion, < 40% bounce rate, Max 30 min for a user to become proficient in navigating the platform, Min 4.5 rating out of 5 based on user feedback surveys
Cost Efficiency	< $5K/month for 1M visits
Maintainability	<8 hours to resolve critical defects, <10 score of cyclomatic complexity across the codebase, <2 days to implement minor feature updates

Each customer is likely to concentrate on one or two qualities based on their specific pain points. As software engineers, it's essential for us to consider all quality attributes and emphasize those that matter to the customer. This becomes especially important when it's necessary to balance the qualities the customer wants with other qualities they might not have considered.

Business stakeholders value transparency and leadership from technical experts to achieve optimal results. I hope this list serves as a starting point for your journey toward customer satisfaction.