The Design Tool Launch Checklist: 50 Steps, Pre-Launch to Day 30

Last updated: August 2026

Nobody's launch fails because the product was bad. They fail because the demo video wasn't recorded, the pricing page said "coming soon," or nobody checked what the site looked like on a phone.

Fifty items, in order.

Four weeks before

1. Decide what the launch actually is — new product, major version, public beta
2. Write the one-sentence description. If you can't, the positioning isn't ready
3. Pick a launch date, avoiding major holidays and big tech events
4. Set up analytics with conversion goals, not just pageviews
5. Set up error monitoring — launch day is a bad day to discover a 500
6. Audit the whole signup flow yourself, from a cold browser, on a phone
7. Write the pricing page, with real prices. "Contact us" costs you signups
8. Prepare a genuine free tier or trial
9. Check the product works for someone who has never seen it
10. Write onboarding copy for the empty state

Three weeks before

11. Build or fix the landing page — see Landingfolio and Supahero for reference
12. Write three description lengths: 60 characters, one paragraph, three paragraphs
13. Take real product screenshots with real data, never lorem ipsum
14. Create device mockups with {T('angle')} Angle or {T('rotato')} Rotato
15. Record a demo video under 60 seconds with {T('screen-studio')} Screen Studio
16. Edit it tight with {T('descript')} Descript
17. Design an OG image so shared links don't look broken
18. Make a logo file set — light, dark, square, favicon
19. Write the FAQ, including the awkward questions
20. Set up a support inbox somebody actually reads

Two weeks before

21. Assemble your directory submission list — see where to launch
22. Create accounts on each platform now, not on launch day
23. Submit to BetaList if you want a pre-launch waitlist
24. Draft your Product Hunt listing and first comment
25. Draft launch emails, tweets and LinkedIn posts
26. Line up anyone willing to give an honest testimonial
27. Check SEO basics: titles, meta descriptions, sitemap, robots.txt
28. Run Lighthouse. Fix anything under 90 on mobile
29. Test on a real mid-range Android phone, not just a simulator
30. Ask three people who don't know the product to use it while you watch

One week before

31. Submit to niche directories — several take days to approve
32. Submit to DezignHunt if you've built a design tool
33. Warm up your email list with a heads-up, not a hard sell
34. Confirm payment processing works end to end with a real card
35. Check the refund and cancellation flow
36. Write your terms and privacy policy
37. Prepare a status or changelog page
38. Schedule launch-day posts in advance
39. Clear your calendar for launch day entirely
40. Sleep

Launch day

41. Post at 12:01am PT if launching on Product Hunt
42. Notify your list — never ask for upvotes
43. Answer every comment within minutes for the first four hours
44. Post to Reddit and communities where you're already a participant
45. Monitor errors and signups continuously
46. Fix anything broken immediately and say publicly that you did

The first 30 days

47. Email everyone who signed up and ask what they were trying to do
48. Watch session recordings with {T('hotjar')} Hotjar to see where people stall
49. Write a launch retrospective with real numbers — these perform well and cost nothing
50. Start the SEO work now, because it takes twelve months and it's the only channel that compounds

The three most-skipped items

The demo video. People will not read your landing page. They will watch 30 seconds.

Mobile testing on a real device. Simulators hide the problems that actually cost you signups.

The pricing page. It's the second-most-visited page on almost every product site and it's routinely the least finished.

See also launch assets guide and how to price a design tool.