

Ask HN: do you test your product/company names? If so, how? - Timothee

Do you test your product name or do you just go with your guts? Are you asking around to see how people react just to check it doesn't have another meaning you didn't think about?<p>If you do test it formally, how do you do it? Do you use techniques like discussed here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3032875 (i.e. use an ad campaign to see what converts better)?<p>A recent post from FogCreek (http://blog.fogcreek.com/the-agonies-of-picking-a-product-name/) was talking about how little a name matters in the end if the product is good. But when you're down to a few choices, do you have a specific way to make the cut?
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tobin
That FogCreek post is spot on. In the end, while a great product name can
really help, a products ability to engage it's users is really what matters
most.

I asked a friend of mine who is a writer how she comes up with titles for her
stories & books. A lot of times they start with a working title and come up
with something stronger after the story has been written. Usually something
relevant to the story itself that may not have been discovered during the
early mapping of the story. To quote my friend "A title doesn't create a good
story, but a great story can create a great title. Just remember a great story
is a great story regardless of the title."

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glimcat
Google by any other name would still be rolling in cash. McDonalds has 10x the
revenue of Burger King. The Wii was mocked and ridiculed, but has shipped 60%
more units than its competition. Some name choices are problematic, but what
matters is to have a "good enough" name.

Here's a good article on choosing domain names.

[http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-domain-
na...](http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-domain-name)

