Introduction
Regardless of business model, whether it’s B2C or B2B, a product launch is a very special time in the life of any product focused professional. From Product Managers, to Designers, to Stakeholders and so on, this feeling is industry and job title agnostic. The sense of anticipation, intrigue and the resulting culmination of all the combined efforts formalizing into a tangible market release is one to formally acknowledge. Certainly, this is no time for arrogance, or getting carried away, but it is a time to really understand the magnitude of what has been achieved.
Fortunately, my team and I have successfully implemented and deployed a back-end, non-client facing solution late last year. Now the front-end, client facing product is just over a week away from going live.
This build has lasted for more than two years, from the Project Sponsor and the Product Owner having conversations, to the formation of a brand-new legal entity with several members of staff, clearly defined products and services, articulated MVP, active and dynamic backlog and more; we have certainly come a long way.
Today’s article is a high-level checklist of activities that can help you prior to launch. It is not industry specific, so any professional associated with the development and deployment of products should be able to derive some benefit from reading this list and keeping it handy during your build.
Before we dive into the itemised list it’s worth providing some context. The new company and product created is in the financial services (insurance) space. Not quite ‘ fin or insure-tech’ but certainly a technology-based and technology-driven solution designed to equip the end-user with more autonomy, clearer services and a better overall experience from the one they currently receive.
The business model is B2B2C, so the primary customer and user are other businesses and not the person seeking insurance (the insured). Because of an NDA I can’t disclose granular detail, but I can share some high-level principals for you to adapt and apply to your product launch whether you’re a Product Manager, UX Designer, Business Analyst, Tester, Developer or anyone on a Product team interested in a real case study.
The list:
1. Ensure Defects are Resolved or Closed
2. Provide Clear and Accurate Product Training
3. Make Sure All Stakeholders Are Familiar with MVP scope
4. Test Execution, Test Strategy: report, finalize, complete
5. VAPT: Rigorous, Thorough and Effective
6. Have a Clear Backlog list for post-go live
7. Ensure Clear Product Launch Plan is Understood by End-Client
8. Main Processes Documented and Easily accessible
9. Marketing, Sales and Business are in alignment with tone of voice
Defect Management & Training
Ensure Defects are Resolved or Closed
This seems obvious and it’s impossible to launch any solution having tested absolutely everything there is. You simply can’t. For the features and aspects, you do cover however, make sure all P1, P2 and P3 defects at a minimum are resolved or closed before you launch. Regardless of the business model (B2C or B2B) your reputation is on the line, your rep takes time to be built up and can be lost in moments (the Seneca effect); don’t let sloppiness kill your product before it’s even launched. Ensure QA has been evidenced, UAT feedback has been assimilated and defects have been closed or resolved. Don’t launch your product with any major issues.
Provide Clear and Accurate Product Training
Your product, no matter how intuitive it may seem will most likely require some training. If you’ve adopted a user-centric, user-focused approach during the development of your solution then it’s likely that incorporating user feedback has already been part of your solution.
You might think that’s enough. Well, depending on the business model, product itself and expectations, some training could be a subtle way to make a big difference to the end-user. This relatively small step could be the difference to how successful onboarding new clients will be and the overall usage in the medium to long-run.
Make Sure All Stakeholders Are Familiar with MVP Scope
Don’t fall victim to stakeholders kicking up a fuss about what is and what isn’t within MVP. Articulate all scope requirements and be as transparent as you can be. Keeping stakeholders onside is your bread and butter. If their feature request isn’t included then ensure you disclose this prior to launch; nobody wants an unpleasant surprise come go-live. Moreover, have empathy with them, they manage other client’s expectations, requirements, needs and so on. If they are aware of what is in and what isn’t then at least you’re all cohesive, aligned and united. Don’t leave anything to chance; inform and be clear.
Testing
Test Execution, Test Strategy; Finalize and Complete
Evidencing your test approach may seem laborious but in terms of criticality this step cannot be taken for granted. Many of us work in regulated industries and providing clear, tangible evidence of both testing strategy and how testing has been executed is very important. Yes, most of us work within an Agile framework and testing is an ongoing factor within a typical CI/CD environment. But prior to launching, having succinct, accurate and helpful testing documentation covers yourself, your product and your team and shows you’re thinking of the big picture.
Best case scenario, your Product Owner reviews and signs off the documentation and the docs remain there as reference material. Worst case, a certain feature causes disruption within the usage and the regulator needs evidence that this was at least considered before launch, think features around data sensitivity. If there is clear evidence these features have been tested and considered then you at least have a good argument against a regulator, if you don’t, you can expect that fine/discipline action to be a lot more severe.
Vulnerability and Penetration Testing
This option is not glamours but is necessary if you want your product to be able to handle large amounts of usage and traffic from the outset. Before you go-live it’s worth conducting VAPT tests in order to ensure you can actually handle usage. It also pays to have a set of external eyes on the quality of what has been developed if you don’t have the resource available for VAPT testing. It’s really important to be able to distinguish the forest from the trees and we can all become so immersed in our own builds we lose sight sometimes. The VAPT process can provide a specialist view of your product from a technical perspective. If your product passes then at your product is somewhat robust. This does not mean it ticks all the boxes in other areas, but it can at least handle heavy usage and substantial traffic levels. Align a VAPT criteria with a set of non-functional requirements to ensure consistency levels. Add this step to your list.
Product Backlog Management
Order your Product Backlog
Having an MVP scope clearly defined is very important but ensuring any features and components arriving just after MVP is important too. You won’t be able to please all your stakeholders and some features will have to be deprioritized in order to go-live on time. However, a clear roadmap of post MVP could soften the blow and keep your stakeholders onside and a clearly ordered Backlog articulated with your stakeholders will help with this. There are loads of tools out there for effective backlog management, (Azure DevOps, Trello, Jira, Slack) use them effectively and have regular, productive discussions with your stakeholders to keep them engaged and on board.
Ensure Clear Product Launch Plan is Understood by Client
Whether you launch with a big party and announce yourself on a stage or you barely make a ripple, ensure you educate your client about your approach. From a marketing perspective, a soft-launch could help entice your first customers to become some of your most loyal users if you eventually scale, so bring them along for the journey. This is an opportunity to make them feel special, so capitalize on this rare and unique opportunity.
If you go out with the big launch then provide clients with some value from the outset. Whatever approach you go for and of course this depends on factors such as product, market, market size, marketing campaign etc., ensure there is transparency between you and your end-user.
Main processes documented and easily accessible
Coming this far and not being able to trace your steps or not having the necessary documentation for either user related purposes, internal audit purposes or just as solid reference material is tantamount to failure. At this stage, you should have all your major, day-one processes documented, ratified and signed off. Yes, these processes will evolve based upon usage, but the crux of the important processes are unlikely to change dramatically; having clearly evidenced processes, preferably in for form of a Wiki or some form of dynamic documentation is required at this stage. Don’t neglect this step.
Marketing, Sales and Business are in alignment with tone of voice
You’ve done it. Most products, ideas and concepts don’t see the light of day. You’ve made it this far. Now is not the time to send mixed messages to the market or niche you serve; everyone deserves better. To ensure alignment, make sure clear, cohesive and united meetings take place well in advanced and leading right up to launch. This way, no barriers exist, all perceived silos are broken down and everyone can play their part for the team.
Conclusion
For the greatest power and utility, ensure you keep this list handy. Running through each item will help your launch. If you evidence each step and ensure completion, then you’ll at least have evidence of a meticulous approach leading up to launch. This list should satisfy most industries and any professional within the product/design space can apply it to their domain. Use this list today and have a smooth launch.
