Which features belong in a launch film?

A feature list describes what a product contains. A launch story describes why a particular viewer should care. Moving directly from the list to a scene for every feature often produces a tour with no clear payoff.

This illustrative exercise uses a fictional editorial planning product. Its available features are a content board, owners, deadlines, comments, approval status, an activity history, custom themes and exports. The selected promise is “See what is ready to publish.” The film needs to show how a draft becomes visibly approved, not demonstrate every available control.

Use three groups: headline evidence, necessary support and follow-up material. Do not confuse the third group with low product value; it simply serves a different question.

• Headline evidence: approval status. The film should show one item changing from review to approved, using verified product states.
• Necessary support: the content board. It provides enough context to understand which item is being reviewed and where the result appears.
• Necessary support: owner or reviewer identity, if it is required to understand who performs the approval action. Show only the relevant field.
• Conditional support: a comment. Keep it only if the comment explains why the item can now be approved; otherwise it adds a second conversation.
• Follow-up material: deadlines, activity history and exports. They may matter later, but they are not needed to understand the chosen approval example.
• Follow-up material: custom themes. A theme change adds visual novelty without strengthening the selected promise.

A practical starting sequence is: identify an item awaiting review, show the relevant reviewer action, hold on its approved state, and return to the board where the item is visibly ready. The board is context; the state change is the proof. Do not give them equal screen time simply because both are features.

Suppose a stakeholder asks to add an export scene. Ask what uncertainty it resolves. If the promise remains “See what is ready to publish,” exporting is a different job and can move to a demo. If the actual launch promise is “Prepare approved work for handoff,” the export may become essential, but the brief must change with it.

Removing a scene may expose a missing prerequisite. If only designated reviewers can approve an item, the sequence must identify the role or supply that condition in readable supporting copy. Brevity is not a reason to imply that every user has the same permissions.

Keep a follow-up list beside the storyboard. Activity history could support a later explanation of review accountability; exports could anchor a handoff demonstration; themes could appear in a customization resource. Recording these destinations makes the cut defensible and preserves useful work.

Review the rough sequence by asking what the viewer could explain after each scene. If the answer changes from approval to scheduling to branding without a clear connection, the film has accumulated extra subjects. Remove the weak link or revise the central promise.

The resulting launch film may show fewer features, but the important test is completeness of the chosen task. It should include enough context, action and result to explain the promise without relying on imagined behavior or a presenter's missing explanation.