The Launch Checklist for an AI-Built App (12 Questions to Answer First)

You can build an app in a weekend now. Launching it well takes a little longer, and the gaps tend to be in the same places. The app works for you. The question a launch has to answer is whether it works for someone who has never seen it.

Here are twelve questions to answer before you send your first real visitor. Go through them in order. A "no" is not a failure. It is a short list of what to do next.

The first visit

1. Can a stranger tell what your app does within five seconds? Show the first screen to someone who has not seen it. Ask what they think it is for. If the answer is wrong, fix the headline before anything else.

2. Is there one clear next step? The first screen should point at one action: sign up, try it, buy. Two or three competing buttons split attention.

3. Does the first screen work on a phone? Open it on a real phone, not a narrow browser window. Many first visits happen there.

Signing up and paying

4. Does sign-up work with the mistakes people make? Try an email with a typo, a short password, and the same email twice. Each should give a clear message in plain words.

5. Does the confirmation email arrive, and does its link work on a phone? Time how long it takes. Tap the link from a phone, not a computer.

6. Does payment work from start to finish, and does the receipt arrive? If your app takes money, run a full purchase and check what the buyer receives afterward. Money paths deserve the most testing of anything in your app.

7. Can someone who already has an account sign back in, and reset a forgotten password? This is the journey returning customers take, and it is often skipped.

When things go wrong

8. What does a person see when something fails? Find an error screen on purpose, for example by going to a page that does not exist. If the answer is a blank page or a technical message, give people a way back.

9. Is anything visible that should be private? Open a private window and try to reach pages that should need a login. If you can see someone's data without signing in, fix that before launch, not after.

The things around the app

10. Can people reach you? A contact address or a support link in a place people can find it. Customers who cannot ask a question may leave or ask for a refund.

11. Do your privacy and terms pages exist, and do they match what the app does? If you collect emails or take payments, say so in plain words and link the pages from the footer.

12. Will you know when something breaks? Decide how you will find out about a problem: an email alert, a message from a customer, a check you run each morning. "I will notice" is not a plan.

How to score yourself

Count your yeses. Eleven or twelve means you are close, and the remaining items are small. Eight to ten means launch is possible, but fix the money and sign-up items first. Below eight means do one more week of work on the basics before you invite anyone.

The order matters more than the score. Questions four to seven are the ones that cost you customers directly, so those come first.

What to do with your list

Write down every "no" with the exact steps to repeat it. Sort them into fix before launch, fix soon, and watch. Fix the first group, run the checklist again, and then launch.

Related reading: How to Test Your AI-Built App Before Launch for a step-by-step way to answer questions four to nine.

If you want a fast read on where your app stands, VERTX has a free launch score. You answer 12 quick questions about your app and get a score and the three things to fix first, with no email needed. Try the Free Launch Score