Four weeks out: positioning and plumbing
- Write the one sentence that says who it's for and what it does. Put it in your hero, store listing and social bios, word for word.
- Set up analytics and decide the two or three events that matter (sign-up, first key action, payment).
- Error tracking on front end and back end.
- Transactional emails sent from your own domain, with SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up, so confirmations don't land in spam.
- Terms and privacy pages, honest about what you collect.
Three weeks out: strangers, not friends
- Get people who don't know you to go through the product cold: landing page, sign-up, first session. A testing exchange like Makers Wall (mine) is the free way; a few paid sessions if you need a specific audience.
- Ask each one what they thought it did after five seconds, and where they would have quit.
- Fix the top three problems. Not twenty: three.
Two weeks out: the gates you can't rush
- Submit to App Review or production on Google Play with a margin. New Play accounts also need their 14-day closed test done by now.
- Payments in live mode, with a real card and a refund.
- Open-graph images and titles for every page you'll share: test them in a link preview.
- A second round with testers on the fixed version.
Launch week
- Feature freeze. Only fixes.
- Prepare your launch posts and a first comment that explains why you built it.
- Check sign-up, payment and emails once more on a phone.
- Clear your calendar for launch day: answering comments is the job.
Launch day and the week after
- Answer every comment and email the same day.
- Watch errors and the sign-up funnel, not the upvote count.
- Write down every piece of feedback in one place.
- A week later: email new sign-ups who didn't reach the key action and ask what stopped them.
How it works on the wall
- 1 · SubmitPaste your link and write what testers should look at.
- 2 · TestClaim someone else's project and write down what broke. That earns the credits that unlock your own reports.
- 3 · ReceiveMakers test yours and send a report, every problem listed with its severity.
- 4 · RateYou rate each other; both ratings unlock together.
Free, and based on reciprocity. The FAQ has every rule written out.
Questions
- How long before launch should I start testing my app?
- At least three weeks, so you have time for a round of testers, a round of fixes and a check. Store review and Google Play's closed test need their own lead time on top.
- What's the most common launch-day problem for indie apps?
- Sign-up or onboarding that breaks for people who aren't the maker: an email that doesn't arrive, a step that fails on mobile, a first screen with nothing to do. Testing with strangers beforehand catches most of these.
- Should I launch on Product Hunt?
- If your audience is makers and early adopters, yes. Launch once the product survives a stranger's first session, and treat launch day as a day of answering people.