The 'Normal Screen Size' Project Scope

Description

A screenshot of a tweet from user Tommy (@_TommyMason) that reads, 'Love it when my dad refers me work,' accompanied by a facepalm emoji. Below the tweet is a screenshot of an iMessage conversation in dark mode with 'Dad'. The dad's message says, 'My mate needs a website designing, told him £500. I've sent him your number 👍'. The son replies in a blue bubble, 'What? How big is the website?'. The dad's final, hilariously out-of-touch response is, 'Normal screen size'. This meme perfectly captures the communication chasm between technical professionals and non-technical clients or family members. The humor lies in the dad's complete misunderstanding of the question; while the developer is asking about the scope and complexity of the project (number of pages, features, etc.), the dad interprets 'how big' in a literal, physical sense. For any experienced developer or freelancer, this is a painfully relatable scenario of having work arranged and priced without any understanding of the requirements, leading to impossible expectations

Common Tags

ClientExpectations Miscommunication StakeholderExpectations RequirementsAmbiguity WebDevelopment TechHumor

Comments

Anonymous ★ Top Pick 'Normal screen size' is the responsive design equivalent of a client saying 'just make it pop' - a vague requirement that guarantees at least three complete redesigns

Anonymous ★ Top Pick

'Normal screen size' is the responsive design equivalent of a client saying 'just make it pop' - a vague requirement that guarantees at least three complete redesigns
Anonymous

“Normal screen size”? Great - I’ll ship a single 1024×768 PNG renamed to index.html. Fits the spec, hits the £500 budget, and every additional breakpoint becomes a change-request revenue stream
Anonymous

Ah yes, 'normal screen size' - the universal unit of measurement for project complexity, right up there with 'make it pop' and 'just like Facebook but different.' At least he didn't promise it would be done by Monday
Anonymous

Ah yes, the classic 'normal screen size' specification - right up there with 'make it pop' and 'can you just quickly...' in the pantheon of requirements gathering nightmares. Dad's operating on a fixed-bid waterfall model while completely missing that 'how big' in web dev terms means 'are we talking a landing page or the next AWS console?' This is why we have discovery phases, folks. Though I appreciate the confidence in quoting £500 sight unseen - that's either covering a static HTML page or about 2 hours of actual development time depending on which decade's rates we're using
Anonymous

£500 for 'normal screen size': the fixed-width relic that makes every senior dev flashback to 2005 table layouts
Anonymous

Nothing says enterprise-grade SOW like a £500 fixed bid negotiated by your dad with a spec of ‘normal screen size’ - aka support every viewport from fridge displays to 5K iMacs; welcome to scope creep-as-a-service with a family SLA
Anonymous

Ah yes, "normal screen size" - aka every breakpoint from 320px to 4K, plus CMS, SEO, and a11y, delivered under a £500 fixed bid with infinite scope
@azizhakberdiev 5y

Clone of {any big company's website}
@VlP_AI_TG 5y

It's big brain time
@lord_nani 5y

500$ is a pretty good price
1. @Artemus_2 5y
  
  £500 is $700.
  
  @lord_nani 5y
  
  Thats three times the normal start-level freelance market
@lord_nani 5y

For a landing page type website