Finding available names for your brilliant ideas.
We live in a time where everyone has an idea for an app, a brand, a product, or some sort of side hustle. One of the first things we do when we have an idea is name it. As human-beings, when we name something we make an emotional connection and it becomes real to us.
As we’re brainstorming we want to make sure that our brilliant and unique names are actually available. To do this, we have to not only search for an available website domain, but also make sure our names are available on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Twitch, TikTok, Pinterest, etc. When searching multiple name options, this process becomes impossible. The challenge was to find a way to search all platforms at once.
My role was to design the UI, UX, and Interactions of the app. I then collaborated closely with the developer to make the idea come alive. I did some research on what API’s to use, but ultimately I left that side to the developer and I focused on design.
I went with a minimal and utilitarian approach to the design. This is a tool that would be used frequently, therefore I wanted all the information to be displayed nicely without scrolling. I applied a modern soft UI aesthetic and used motion to make the experience fun and more enjoyable. In early revisions, to identify that a name was taken or available I was only using colors with no icons. When I posted the design, someone who was colorblind let me know that this app was unusable for them. That’s when I integrated the icons of Check and X.
Thanks to some great API’s we had access to so many domains. There are also a lot of social media platforms. The idea for this app was always meant to be simple. I wanted everything to be accessible at a glance. Therefore, I chose the top level domains: .com, .co, .org, .io, .me, .us, .app, .nyc. The social media accounts I chose were: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch, and Pinterest. We can go crazy adding different things, but I believe in less is more.
This is a self funded project, so monetization was always thought about. I didn’t want ads though because I didn’t want to compromise the experience, and ultimately they don’t pay very well. Instead I monetized through affiliate links. A/B Testing taught me that website hosting companies such as Bluehost & Squarespace give the biggest payouts.
PROTOTYPE (CLICK THE SCREEN)
Instead of searching through dozens of places for your available name, I created an app that calls out to different platforms and brings back the availability for each of the respected platforms. This allows for the user to rapidly search names, and find the perfect one. The outcome of this project is amazing.
Over half a million people have used the app, and it’s been featured on Entrepreneur, Forbes, The Next Web, & Product Hunt. I also use the app almost everyday for my crazy ideas, that alone is a win for me, but I’m really happy it brings value to others as well.
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