Launch Tiering Framework Skill

Not every release deserves a full launch. This skill decides how big a launch should be, then scopes the go-to-market effort to match — so big bets get the push they deserve and minor updates don't burn the team or the audience's attention.

What This Skill Produces

• A launch tier (T1 / T2 / T3) with the scoring rationale
• The set of activities and channels appropriate to that tier
• Owners and a timeline
• A right-sized launch checklist and success metrics

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• What's launching — the feature/product and who it's for
• Impact signals — revenue potential, strategic importance, audience reach, competitive pressure, customer demand
• Novelty — incremental improvement vs new capability vs new product
• Readiness — GA vs beta, docs, enablement, support readiness
• Constraints — team bandwidth, date pressure, dependencies
• Any house tiering definitions already in use (use them if provided)

Tiering Rubric

Score the launch on impact and novelty; the higher of the two typically sets the tier.

• T1 — Major: new product or flagship capability; strategic; broad audience; competitive stakes. Full GTM.
• T2 — Notable: meaningful new feature; matters to a segment; worth proactive comms. Moderate GTM.
• T3 — Minor: incremental improvement, fix, or narrow feature. Low-effort, in-product + notes.

If readiness lags the tier the impact warrants, flag the gap rather than downgrading silently.

Process

1. Score impact and novelty using the signals provided; note the reasoning.
2. Assign the tier (higher of impact/novelty), and state what would move it up or down.
3. Scope activities to the tier — don't over- or under-invest.
4. Assign owners and a timeline across product, PMM, content, sales, support.
5. Right-size the checklist and define how you'll measure success at that tier.

Output Format

Launch Tiering — Launch name]

Recommended tier: T1 / T2 / T3]

Scoring

| Dimension | Signal | Read | |---|---|---| | Impact | revenue/strategic/reach/competitive/demand] | high/med/low] | | Novelty | incremental / new capability / new product] | high/med/low] | | Readiness | GA/beta · docs · enablement · support] | ready / gap] |

Rationale: why this tier] · Would change if: what flips it]

Activities for Tier]

| Workstream | Do | Skip | |---|---|---| | Positioning/messaging | e.g. full narrative vs one-liner] | —] | | Content | blog, video, launch post vs release notes only] | —] | | Channels | press, email, social, in-app vs in-app only] | —] | | Sales/CS enablement | kit + training vs FYI] | —] | | Events | webinar/launch event vs none] | —] |

Owners & Timeline

| Workstream | Owner | Due | |---|---|---| | Item] | role] | date] |

Launch Checklist (tier-sized])

• ] Only what this tier needs]

Success Metrics

• Tier-appropriate: awareness/adoption/pipeline/activation]

Quality Checks

• ] The tier follows from explicit impact/novelty scoring
• ] Activities match the tier — no full push for a T3, no silence for a T1
• ] Readiness gaps are flagged, not hidden by downgrading
• ] Every workstream has an owner and date
• ] Success metrics fit the tier's ambition

Anti-Patterns

• ] Do not launch everything at T1 — attention and effort are finite
• ] Do not treat a strategic launch as T3 because the team is busy — flag the gap
• ] Do not skip enablement on a tier that sales needs to sell
• ] Do not measure a T3 with T1 metrics (or vice versa)
• ] Do not ignore existing house tier definitions if provided

Example Trigger Phrases

• "What launch tier should this feature be?"
• "Right-size the go-to-market for our feature] launch"
• "Build a launch tiering framework for our team"
• "Plan T2 launch activities and owners for product]"