A constant struggle with perfectionism, shaky nerves, deadlines for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—this is how you can briefly describe the launch of a new product. But let's talk about all these one by one.

I have been developing software products for over five years. I started in a startup, then switched to a food company, and now I'm at SoftServe.

I launched products from scratch and developed individual modules in already working products.

I can tell you from my own experience that all launches are different, and there is no magical solution to address (seemingly) similar problems. During these launches, I collected my ups and downs and then decided to put them together and make a checklist, which I am happy to share with you. I'm sure it will help you avoid many mistakes in the future.

Why do you need a checklist?

I am a follower of minimizing risks in any way; thus, if it's possible at least work out the future scenario on paper—I will do it. Moreover, the product management style plays an important role too.

I always try to keep the "big picture" in mind and, at the same time, dive into details and work on them with the team or stakeholders. A launch checklist helps you not forget what really matters, not keep everything in mind, and free your memory up. Another major advantage of any checklist is that it can and should be shared with the team, so the colleagues will remind you even if you forget something.

The product I refer to as an example is a web application in the e-learning field, and the target audience includes women from former CIS countries and expats.

A client approached our company with a general description of the idea. We took on all the product and project tasks: problem identification, target audience formation, positioning, visual styling, monetization, UI/UX, testing key hypotheses, building a community of early adopters, MVP implementation and soft launch, user support, and many other activities.

Before you go through the checklist, you should know one thing: one launch differs significantly from another. You will never find a perfect colleague’s scenario that will absolutely work for you. But this checklist will help you to find your way for a successful launch.

Step 1. Criteria, roles, planning

So, you are a team member getting ready to launch the product, or you are the one responsible for the launch. It is time for you to work on the questions below.

What exactly does the "product launch" mean? The answer may seem obvious to you, though, don't rush to conclusions. Launching can mean different things: launching a program in the AppStore, accessing the Product Hunt, or running the code on production. In our case, we have agreed that launch means publishing information on the product's official Facebook page with a call to visit the site.

How do you know if the launch was successful or not? By what criteria? There can be 20 free users on the site or 30 conversions to registration/purchase or a specific DAU. There can be a million options, but it is essential to understand each criterion for a successful launch and why it is meaningful. The amount of work and "checkpoints" in the whole process will depend on this. We stopped a week after the launch without any critical bugs.

What are the roles in a product launch? Divide your tasks into areas: technical aspect, support, marketing. Discuss with your supervisors what is expected from you and what you need from them. In my case, the client who requested the application was another shareholder. It was important to discuss all the details with him, find out all his fears and expectations, warn the client on possible issues, and tell him how we are going to solve them should they appear.

What Complete Product Experience components will you need for this launch, and have you forgotten anything? Not all elements may be relevant, and it's OK. Don't create an unnecessary hassle.

Do you have a launch schedule? Create a schedule and plan a week for the launch. It is best to launch on Tuesday or Wednesday morning—then, you will have time to fix issues that may occur (be ready that something will definitely go wrong!). The time and day of the launch are highly dependent on marketing plans, your agreements with stakeholders and users, and many other factors.

Have you planned enough meetings with the team? Even though you usually have two meetings a week, meet daily during the week before and after day X. If you are launching an outsourcing product, schedule several additional appointments with the client before the launch (more often than usual) and after the launch (discuss the results, expectations, and feedback that the customer receives directly from users).

Are all the documents ready? Create the [ProductName] Launch Documents folder in the document repository, share it with stakeholders, and update timely.

What happens if you skip this step?

Misunderstanding between the process participants about what a launch is and when it is to happen.
Incoordination of the team—as a result, some tasks may be covered by two people simultaneously, and some may not be completed at all.
Lack of focus among the participants of the process.
Different perceptions of success and completeness (you feel you have already launched, and stakeholders feel you have not even started).

Step 2. Product

Important: avoid Edge Case Trap — you can't consider all the nuances and issues before the launch, do not even try to cover all the customer scenarios. Moreover, the launch is needed to increase their number.

Make sure that:

Your release is scheduled correctly, and there are no timing issues in terms of technical implementation.
All testing types were successful (everyone has their own definition of "successful"), the production environment is ready for the release, and the server is ready to support the expected number of users.
The product is ready for analytics, all the tags/events were added, the data is accepted and read correctly.
All necessary integrations are tested and work properly (payment system/email-service/authorization, and others).
There are no issues with user flows that would interfere with conveying the product's key value (read about Edge Case Trap again).
The soft launch was successful, and you eliminated critical errors and inaccuracies.
The product roadmap for the next 3-6 months is ready—stakeholders, partners, and users will ask you about the plans.
You have agreed with the client (in case of launching the product in outsource) on who creates accounts for all necessary services, which mailboxes to use, created a separate document with all passwords and logins.

What happens if you skip this step? The key component of the product will not be implemented technically or will be implemented incorrectly—as a result, you will not bring value to your user.

Step 3. Legal aspects

Check the following:

A section in your product (a footer as a rule), a place all the documents and certifications necessary for work in a business domain (if needed) will be stored, is ready. Documents creation may take longer than planned, so take care of them in advance.
Privacy policy and public offer are a must-have for any digital product. A lawyer can write the text, or you can write it yourself with a team. This depends on your imagination and resources.
GDPR compliance is required if you work with users' personal data in the EU.
All documents confirming your intellectual property rights to a trademark, slogan, or other elements of your brand are not critical, but it is highly desirable to have them at the time of launch.

What happens if you skip this step? Reputation risks, unnecessary issues with regulatory authorities, and double/triple costs to solve them. This is exactly the “penny-wise, pond-foolish” case.

Step 4. Marketing

Make sure that:

The launch date and time are chosen and announced to everyone who is at least minimally involved in marketing activities. Study the competitors' announcements and/or events in your domain—it is important not to get lost in their background.
The go-to-market strategy is prepared (it is assumed that you have previously worked on competitor analysis, SWOT analysis, positioning, persons, value proposition, brand book, and other components of the GTM strategy).
The communication strategy is also ready, and it is being implemented—users are waiting for the launch, and the team understands when it happens. Make two versions: one for external use (users and partners) and another for internal (client, stakeholders, team).
The content plan for various communication channels is prepared, as well as the content itself (it is very desirable to have materials—texts, visuals, videos—for the week in advance).

In my case, we also created closed communities for two segments of users and then worked with them separately during the soft and product launch.

Important: it is OK to postpone the launch of the product. It is better to delay than launch at a super inappropriate moment and bring no value to the user. It is no less important to timely let the stakeholders and the external market know about the launch shift.

What happens if you skip this step? Nobody will get to know about your product launch. You can lose your target audience and the idea you want to convey.

Step 5. Support

Make sure you've prepared the FAQs for users based on beta users' feedback after a soft launch and release note. Please use clear, simple language without technical terms.

If possible, create some how-to videos from key demos. You should not spend a lot of time and financial resources because the product will change soon, and you will have to change everything again.

Make sure that users know where to send their feedback. The easiest way is to add an email with a name like support@yourproductdomain.com and select a person to reply. Moreover, there are many solutions on the market that integrate easily into any product and help optimize the collection and processing of feedback (Intercom, Crisp Chat, Tidio, etc.).

What happens if you skip this step? All previous efforts will be in vain if there is no one to answer user questions or support does not know how to solve the problem.

Step 6. Launch roadmap

Based on the above, create your startup roadmap and determine the stage you are at now. This will make planning your own and team workload and setting priorities easier. I'm sharing one of the first versions of my template with you. You can (even need to) customize it for your own needs.

Ready, steady, go!

If all the above steps are done, you are ready to launch. My checklist is not comprehensive and can be supplemented by other activities depending on the product you launch, its purpose, the marketplace (in terms of both business segment and geolocation), parties involved in the process, the consequences of the launch, and so on.

Please remember that it is impossible to be prepared for all failures, but you can minimize them. Out of my most annoying failures during the product launch phase, I'd like to mention two of them: I forgot to add the NPS collection form and overlooked the importance of the properly designed release notes. It cost me nerves and extra tasks, but it was too late and the moment was lost.

Use the fail-fast strategy (if the product allows you) and remember that your failures are keys to success.

Good luck!