The week before launch — how we close projects

The week before a launch is when a project quietly succeeds or quietly disappoints. The work is mostly done. The risk is almost entirely in what gets noticed — or missed — in the last five days.

We run the same closing checklist on every project, regardless of category. It is not glamorous. It is the difference between a delivered file and a brand that actually lands the first time it meets the public.

Two reviews, in two rooms

Every project gets a craft review and a business review, separately, in the final week. The craft review asks whether the work is finished. The business review asks whether the work earns the brief. The two questions sound similar and rarely have the same answer.

The last-mile checklist

• Every asset is exported at the size and format its destination actually consumes.
• Type renders correctly on the real device, not on the designer's laptop.
• The first three things a user sees on launch day have been sanity-checked by someone outside the project.
• The handoff includes a one-page "what to expect" note for the receiving team.
• There is a quiet rollback plan, even when nobody believes it will be needed.

The teams that close projects well are the ones that treat the last week as its own deliverable. Most teams treat it as overhead, and most launches feel that way.

After the launch

A short retro within seven days, before memory softens. One question we always ask: what did we ship that we would not ship again? The answer is rarely the loud thing. It is almost always a quiet compromise made on a Tuesday three weeks ago, and naming it is how the next project gets better.