Test the journeys that carry risk
Testing every possible path equally is rarely practical. Start with the actions that affect money, access, data integrity or a customer promise. Then test the recovery paths: retries, back navigation, interrupted input and failures from external services.
Prepare the release surface
Configuration, migrations, observability and support context are part of the feature. A release should identify what changes, what to check, who makes the decision and how to return to a stable state if needed.
Learn from the first live signal
Production is the first real environment, not the finish line. Watch error patterns and user behaviour with respect for privacy, then decide whether to fix, measure further or extend. That loop is how reliability becomes part of the product.
