Once I've profiled my customer as "problematic", I immediately start charging for time to clarify the design request. (Block diagrams, flow chart whatever..) Or....... Sometimes I'll give a customer exactly what they describe. I don't ask for the purpose nor do I fit the electronics to the app. When the customer realizes that they goofed by not giving the designer not enough information, I make more money $$$ by charging for design changes... So.... foolish customers with $$$ = profit... :) So I like everybody...the smart customers and the foolish ones. :)
Is this sneaky? Is it a 'give'm what they want no hassles' approach? Does this help when customers want to keep the app private? Is this risky for reputation damage?.. A happy customer gets a PCB that does the job. Whereas, a clueless customer getting exactly what asked for and later it's discovered that it's not enough and the designer looks bad. D from BC