It's rarely just a simple checkbox

My client said today, "We want to add a simple checkbox to ask the user [another question]."

Okay...let's see how simple it is!

Q: Do the users understand the wording of the question?
A: Not sure, but they should

Q: Where does that answer get stored in our destination system?
A: Nowhere, today

Q: Does the system storing the question have the same development cycle as the front end?
A: Nope

Q: What do you do with that information?
A: We would like to send it downstream to another group to save them time, but otherwise, it's not part of our core process

Q: How do the users provide that information today?
A: Using a different system that is part of the downstream process

Q: How does it differ from the [similar question you already ask]?
A: Not sure, because we don't know why we ask [similar question]

Aha. So, our simple checkbox needs:

• Design specification
• User testing
• Development
• QA Verification
• Integration analysis
• Release planning across systems
• Destination system revisions (design, development and QA verification)
• Downstream system revisions (design, development and QA verification)
• Education and coordination with other groups
• Process changes for the users

...and may not even need to be asked to begin with.

Simple!

All your system problem may belong to us.

In reply to an e-mail I sent explaining I could not order from a web site:

So, in other words, we aren't saying the system does or does not have problems. But we're fixing them.