Work

Graphic / MOtion Design

NameStudio Brainstorming

COMPANY

Year

2018

Skills

UX Design

Product Design

Tools

The Challenge of Finding a .com

Finding an available, memorable .com domain name can feel daunting. Users often encounter a wall of “Not Available” messages and assume that all the good names are gone. But great names still exist—if people are empowered with the right tools and a spark of creativity.

Our challenge was to reimagine the domain search experience: making it smarter, more flexible, and more user-friendly.

The project began with a common perception: finding a great .com domain can feel daunting. But memorable names are still out there—if users are empowered with the right tools and a spark of creativity.

Our challenge was to rethink domain search—making it smarter, more flexible, and more user-friendly.

“There Are No Good .coms Left”

From Keywords to Smarter Suggestions

Working with engineers, product managers and executive leadership, I helped shape an early machine learning prototype. It broke queries into keywords, generated synonyms, prefixes, and suffixes, and then checked each variation against live domain availability. The raw system proved the concept but needed refinement to become usable.

Behind the scenes, NameStudio expanded queries and checked each variation live.

What Real Users Taught Us

To understand how people would interact with the prototype, I led in-person usability sessions. Most participants navigated it easily and responded positively — but testing surfaced one key design question:

Should we only show available domains, or also display unavailable results?

Users told us unavailable names were valuable. They provided context, revealed trends, and even sparked new directions for brainstorming. This feedback became a cornerstone of the UX direction.

"Would unavailable results still aid discovery?"

Color-coded results helped users distinguish availability while learning from unavailable names.

Turning a Prototype into a Usable Tool

Armed with insights from user testing, I collaborated with engineering, product leads, and executives to refine the rough prototype into a usable beta experience. User feedback made it clear that unavailable results added value, so I redesigned the interface to highlight both available and unavailable domains in a clear, intuitive way.

We focused on three priorities:

Clarity: Simplifying the UI so that complex machine learning stayed behind the scenes.
Scalability: Building modular patterns that could support API integrations and marketing campaigns.
Flexibility: Allowing the tool to expand across refinements like synonyms, prefixes, suffixes, and TLDs.

The result was a beta release that balanced machine learning capabilities with a user-friendly design — setting the foundation for the platform’s full .

Armed with insights from testing, I partnered with engineering, product leads, and executives to evolve the prototype into a scalable experience. Our priorities were:

Clarity: Simplify the interface so the complexity stayed behind the scenes.
Scalability: Build modular patterns that could support API integrations and campaigns.
Flexibility: Allow the tool to expand across refinements like synonyms, prefixes, suffixes, and TLDs.

The result was a beta release that paired machine learning capabilities with a clear, modular interface — establishing the foundation for the platform that followed.

Screenshot of the phase 1 NameStudio interface

Phase 1 NameStudio Design

Why Unavailable Results Still Matter

We ran multiple studies via UserTesting.com to validate design choices:

Displaying only available results
Displaying mixed results with color cues
Testing alternative visual treatments

The outcome was clear: showing only available keywords sometimes improved conversion potential, but those results were often less relevant and even confusing. By contrast, unavailable keywords didn’t provide a direct solution, but they gave users valuable context — helping them understand how the tool worked and inspiring new ideas.

Users had no trouble interpreting the color coding, and many said the mix of available and unavailable results actually made the experience more useful. We decided to keep them in.

This decision also solved another challenge.

We ran multiple studies via UserTesting.com to validate design choices:

Displaying only available results
Displaying mixed results with color cues
Testing alternative visual treatments

The outcome was clear: showing only available keywords sometimes improved conversion potential, but those results were often less relevant and even confusing. By contrast, unavailable keywords didn’t provide a direct solution, but they gave users valuable context — helping them understand how the tool worked and inspiring new ideas.

Users had no trouble interpreting the color coding, and many said the mix of available and unavailable results actually made the experience more useful. We decided to keep them in.

This decision also solved another challenge.

We ran multiple studies via UserTesting.com to validate design choices:

Displaying only available results
Displaying mixed results with color cues
Testing alternative visual treatments

Users had no trouble interpreting the color coding, and many said the mix of available and unavailable results actually made the experience more useful. We decided to keep them in.

This decision also solved another challenge.

Having a mix of available and unavailable proved to help engagement and creativity.

Clarity Over Availability

Short or generic searches often returned few or irrelevant results when limited to only available options. By including unavailable keywords as context, the tool maintained momentum in the brainstorming process — giving users inspiration even when the “perfect” domain wasn’t immediately available.

“Sometimes the best UX decision isn’t about what’s available—it’s about what’s understandable.”

“Sometimes the best UX decision isn’t about what’s available— it’s about what’s understandable.”

When the tool only suggested available domain names, it could sometimes offer few options.

From Prototype to Patent

In 2019, the project evolved from prototype to platform. The branded NameStudio search API launched as a core product, powering domain search for major platforms and continuing to evolve.

Impact Highlights:

U.S. Design Patent awarded (named contributor)
Adopted by partners including Shopify, Wix, and more.
Actively maintained and updated

In 2019, the project evolved from prototype to platform. The branded NameStudio search API launched as a core product, powering domain search for major platforms and continuing to evolve.

Impact Highlights:

U.S. Design Patent awarded (named contributor)
Adopted by partners including Shopify, Wix, and more.
Actively maintained and updated

In 2019, the project evolved from prototype to platform. The branded NameStudio search API launched as a core product, powering domain search for major platforms and continuing to evolve.

Impact Highlights: