Launch Readiness Checklist: What We Validate Before We Go Live

Launching a feature is exciting. Launching a broken feature is not. We've launched hundreds of features. Here's our checklist. QA: Does It Work? Before we launch anything, we verify: 1. Happy path: Does the core flow work end-to-end? 2. Edge cases: What happens with invalid input? Empty states? Error states? 3. Browser compatibility: Does it work in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge? 4. Mobile: Does it work on iOS and Android? Different screen sizes? 5. Accessibility: Can it be used with keyboard? Screen reader? Does it meet WCAG AA? We test manually first, then automate what we can. But manual testing catches things automation misses. We also do a "fresh eyes" test: someone who didn't build it tries to use it. If they can't figure it out, users won't either. Tracking: Is Data Flowing? Every feature needs tracking. Before launch, we verify: 1. Events fire: Do all events fire when they should? 2. Parameters correct: Do events have the right data? 3. No duplicates: Are we double-counting anything? 4. Test mode: Can we see test events in analytics? 5. Production: Do events show up in production dashboards? We use a tracking checklist for every feature: - What events fire? - When do they fire? - What parameters do they include? - Where do we verify them? We test in staging first, then validate in production with test actions. SEO: Will It Be Found? If it's a public page, we check SEO: 1. Title tag: Is it unique? Under 60 characters? Includes keywords? 2. Meta description: Is it compelling? Under 160 characters? 3. Headings: Is there an H1? Are headings hierarchical? 4. URLs: Are they clean? Include keywords? No unnecessary parameters? 5. Images: Do they have alt text? Are they optimized? 6. Schema: Is structured data present? Does it validate? We use tools like Screaming Frog and Google Search Console to verify. But manual review catches issues tools miss. Performance: Is It Fast? Slow features kill conversion. We check: 1. Load time: Does it load in under 3 seconds? 2. Time to interactive: Can users interact quickly? 3. Core Web Vitals: Does it meet Google's thresholds? 4. Mobile performance: Is it fast on slow connections? 5. Bundle size: Are we loading unnecessary code? We test on: - Fast 3G (simulated) - Slow 3G (simulated) - Real devices (actual phones on real networks) If it's slow, we optimize before launch. Better to delay than to launch slow. Monitoring: Can We See What's Happening? If something breaks, we need to know. Before launch, we set up: 1. Error tracking: Are errors logged? Do we get alerts? 2. Performance monitoring: Can we see load times? Error rates? 3. User analytics: Can we see how users are using it? 4. Business metrics: Can we see if it's achieving goals? We use: - Sentry (for errors) - Vercel Analytics (for performance) - Google Analytics (for user behavior) - Custom dashboards (for business metrics) We test alerts: if something breaks, do we get notified? If not, we fix the monitoring before launch. Post-Launch: What Happens After? Launch isn't the end. It's the beginning. We plan for: 1. Monitoring: Watch metrics for first 24-48 hours 2. Support: Be ready to answer questions 3. Hotfixes: Have a plan if something breaks 4. Rollback: Know how to revert if needed We also schedule a post-launch review: - What went well? - What didn't? - What would we do differently? - What did we learn? This creates a feedback loop that makes future launches better. The Checklist Here's our full checklist (we use this for every launch): QA - [ ] Happy path works - [ ] Edge cases handled - [ ] Browser compatibility verified - [ ] Mobile tested - [ ] Accessibility checked Tracking - [ ] Events fire correctly - [ ] Parameters are correct - [ ] No duplicates - [ ] Verified in staging - [ ] Verified in production SEO - [ ] Title tag optimized - [ ] Meta description written - [ ] Headings structured - [ ] URLs clean - [ ] Images optimized - [ ] Schema present Performance - [ ] Load time under 3s - [ ] Core Web Vitals pass - [ ] Mobile performance good - [ ] Bundle size reasonable Monitoring - [ ] Error tracking set up - [ ] Performance monitoring active - [ ] User analytics configured - [ ] Business metrics tracked - [ ] Alerts tested Post-Launch - [ ] Monitoring plan ready - [ ] Support plan ready - [ ] Hotfix plan ready - [ ] Rollback plan ready We don't launch until everything is checked. It's better to delay than to launch broken. The Bottom Line Launch readiness isn't about perfection. It's about confidence: we've checked the important things, we know it works, we can monitor it, and we can fix it if something breaks. This checklist has prevented dozens of bad launches. It's saved us hours of debugging, days of reputation damage, and countless user complaints. Worth the time? Absolutely.