If you're building product demos with your team, you already know: things can get messy, fast. Assets all over the place, "final" versions that never are, and that one person who always overwrites your changes. This guide is for anyone working with others on Demostack demo projects—whether you're in sales, product, or just the one who actually reads the docs. Let's talk about what really works when you want to get demos out the door without losing your mind.
1. Get Your House in Order Before You Start
It sounds obvious, but most demo chaos comes from teams not being clear on the basics. Before you even log into Demostack, get everyone aligned on:
- What are we demoing? Be specific. Is it a new feature, a specific workflow, or a custom environment for a big prospect?
- Who’s doing what? Assign clear roles—who’s building, who’s reviewing, who’s approving.
- What’s our timeline? Even a loose deadline helps avoid endless “one more thing” edits.
Pro tip: Have a single source of truth for demo requirements—Google Doc, Notion page, whatever. Don’t let requirements live in someone’s head or, worse, a Slack thread.
2. Set Up Your Demostack Project for Teamwork
Demostack has some collaboration features, but they’re only useful if you set things up right. Here’s how to avoid stepping on each other’s toes:
- Use folders or naming conventions. Don’t just call everything “Demo 1.” Use dates, customer names, or versions (e.g., “Q2-ACME-onboarding-v2”).
- Create separate projects for different teams or use cases. Mixing sales demos and product training in one workspace is a recipe for confusion.
- Check permissions. Make sure people have the right access—editors shouldn’t be able to delete everything by accident, and viewers shouldn’t be able to publish.
- Decide on a hand-off process. Who owns the demo at each stage? Who gets the final say before it goes out the door?
What doesn’t work: Tossing everyone into the same workspace with full admin rights and hoping for the best. Someone will overwrite something important, guaranteed.
3. Build in (Small) Batches and Review Often
Trying to build a giant, all-singing-all-dancing demo in one go is asking for trouble. Break work into small, testable pieces:
- Work in sprints. Even if your “sprint” is just a day or two, set a goal, build, review, repeat.
- Use checklists. List out demo sections or features you need to build. Check them off as you go.
- Early feedback beats late surprises. Have someone else review after each chunk—not at the very end.
Why? Because it’s way easier to fix a small part than to redo a whole demo after someone finally speaks up.
4. Communicate Clearly—But Don’t Overdo It
Yes, you need to talk to each other. No, you don’t need another standing meeting. Here’s what actually works:
- Async updates. Use comments in Demostack, or drop quick updates in your team chat. “Finished the onboarding flow, ready for review.”
- Screenshots or screen recordings. Sometimes a quick Loom or screenshot is better than typing out a wall of text.
- Centralize feedback. Don’t scatter feedback across Slack, email, and five comment threads. Pick one place—preferably where the demo lives.
What to ignore: Status meetings “just to align.” Unless you have blockers, most of this can be async.
5. Version Control: It’s Not Just for Developers
Demostack isn’t Git, but you still need some way to track changes and avoid overwriting each other’s work:
- Clone before you edit. If you’re making big changes, clone the demo first. Name it clearly (“Demo-v3-JaneEdits”) so people know what’s what.
- Document major changes. Add a note in the project or in your team doc: what changed, why, and who did it.
- Archive old versions. Don’t just delete. You never know when you’ll need to roll back or use something as a template.
What doesn’t work: Everyone editing the “live” demo at once. That’s how you lose work and burn out your team.
6. Test Like a Skeptic, Not a Fan
When you’re close to a demo, it’s easy to miss what’s confusing or broken. Get someone outside your project to run through the demo—ideally, someone who’s not afraid to point out problems.
- Use a test checklist. Does every button work? Is fake data realistic? Any typos or dead ends?
- Role-play as the end user. Walk through as if you’re a prospect—does the flow make sense, or are there weird gaps?
- Share links for review, not screenshots. Demostack lets you share live demos—use that for feedback.
Skip the groupthink: Don’t do reviews with the whole team on a call. One or two honest testers are better than five people nodding along.
7. Lock Down Final Demos and Share Wisely
Once your demo’s ready, resist the urge to keep tweaking it forever. Lock it down:
- Set permissions to view-only. Limit edit access on the “final” version so it doesn’t get accidentally changed.
- Double-check links and sharing settings. Make sure you’re not sending out a version with internal notes or draft features.
- Keep a backup. Always have a copy of the last “approved” demo somewhere safe.
What to ignore: The urge to “just fix one more thing” right before go-live. That’s how bugs sneak in.
8. Keep Improving—But Don’t Reinvent the Wheel Every Time
After you’ve shipped a few demos, do a quick retro:
- What worked smoothly? Document shortcuts, templates, or tricks you want to reuse.
- What was a pain? Fix those processes for next time—maybe that means a better naming system or clearer checklists.
- Build a template library. Save versions that worked well so your team isn’t always starting from scratch.
Don’t: Obsess over perfection or get stuck in process-building mode. The goal is to make demos easier, not to create more paperwork.
Wrapping Up
Teamwork on demo projects doesn’t have to be a headache. Get clear on who’s doing what, work in small chunks, communicate like adults, and keep track of your versions. Don’t overcomplicate things. Start simple, see what breaks, and improve as you go. The best teams don’t have perfect processes—they just make it easy to fix mistakes and keep moving.