“Payment works” looks reassuring on a release checklist. It also hides several different questions.
Did someone complete a purchase? Did the buyer receive the right file? Does a person without access see the correct price? Can you recover from a failed delivery?
For each release check, write four things: the scenario, its owner, the evidence and the next action if it fails. “Checkout tested” becomes “A test buyer purchased the current ZIP, downloaded it and opened the included app. Evidence: test record and archive hash.”
Keep blockers separate from improvements. A broken download should stop a digital-product release. A nicer illustration can wait. If a check depends on another check, record that dependency instead of ticking both boxes because the page loaded.
Do one final pass from a clean browser session. Your own author account often has permissions that your customers do not.
Disclosure: This article was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed against the linked sources and implementation. Examples explicitly marked fictional are illustrative.
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