A list to run through before you tell anyone the product is live. None of it is glamorous. All of it has embarrassed somebody.
Money
- Make a real purchase with a real card, then refund it.
- Check that the receipt email arrives and reads like it came from a person.
- Check what happens when a card is declined.
- Check that cancelling works without emailing you.
Accounts
- Sign up with a new email on a phone.
- Reset a password.
- Delete an account and confirm that the data goes.
- Send to Gmail and Outlook and check the spam folder.
- Make sure replies reach an inbox you read.
The site
- Open it on a slow connection.
- Check the page title, description and share image by pasting the link into a chat app.
- Make sure there is a way to contact you on every page.
- Have a privacy policy and terms that match what the product does.
Safety net
- Run a backup, then restore it once.
- Set up error tracking, or at least an alert when the site is down.
- Know how to roll back the last deploy.
What did this list miss that cost you a launch day? Add it below.