My New Feature Checklist

December 12, 2022

There's a lot more to succesfully launching a new feature than coding. I use the following checklist to make sure I don't miss any details.

What it takes to launch a feature varies based on your team structure, product, and users, so keep that in mind. For example, at SwipeWell I have to consider how a feature will interact with our web app, mobile app, and browser extension. At Grafana, I have to consider how a feature works between open source, cloud, and enterprise instances.

Note: This is a living list. Reach out to me with suggestions!

  • Design
    • States - Default, error, loading, hover/active, validation, empty
    • Devices - screen sizes and orienation
    • Content (Text/images/user-generated)
      • Short, long, missing
        • Pagination, scrolling, overflow, clipping, etc.
    • Consistent styles (font sizes, spacing, colors, icons, etc.)
    • User context → Onboarding, new user, subscription, etc.
    • Accessibility
      • Color Contrast
  • Development
    • Data loading → Pagination, continuous scrolling
    • Accessibility
      • Semantic HTML and page structure
      • Alt text
      • Keyboard navigable
    • Performance
  • Marketing
    • Feature tracking or analytics
    • Screenshots/video of the feature
    • Add to changelog
    • Include in relevant marketing