Kuotify • Shipped • 2025
Role
Product Designer/Solo founder
Timeline
May 2025 - August 2025
Skills
Product design
UI design
View mockups
Journey
Kuotify was a quoting tool I designed for contractors, built to be faster and simpler than the bloated or outdated options already out there. I designed it, got it built, and launched it, all without talking to a single contractor first.
The trades industry doesn't get much attention from tech.
Most quoting tools I found were either overloaded with features or felt outdated. I saw an opportunity for something faster and simpler, built around how contractors actually quote a job.
I thought I was solving a real problem but I was solving an assumption.
I researched with AI first. That was the mistake.
I used AI to get a quick read on the trades industry and common pain points. It gave me enough information to feel confident in the idea.
I was finding information that supported what I already wanted to build, rather than testing whether contractors actually had the problem I thought they did.
I designed the whole product in Figma.
I designed the product in Figma around one core idea: creating a quote should be fast.
A contractor could create a quote in a few taps, calculate tax and discounts automatically, and export it straight to PDF.
Building it myself wasn't working
I tried building the app myself, but kept hitting technical walls. Instead of getting stuck on implementation, I hired a developer to build it in Bubble from my designs.
This let me focus on getting the product launched.
I launched before I validated anything.
I priced Kuotify at $35/month because it felt reasonable. I hadn't properly compared it with competitors or tested whether real contractors saw enough value to pay for it.
I marketed it through Reddit and Instagram and reached out to blue-collar creators about collaborating.
The result, as expected: no signups, no interest.
Talking to actual contractors explained why.
When I finally spoke with contractors directly, I understood they didn't want another website to sit around and use later. They needed something they could use on the job site, which meant mobile.
The price was also too high for what the product offered.
By the time I learned this, I'd already built and spent money on the wrong platform. (This should have been my first step)
Why did this fail?
The product didn't fail because contractors didn't need quoting software. It failed because I did not conduct any real user research or validate it before spending the time to make it
Reflection
Build fast, but validate first.
I need to make sure I am moving in the right direction before building.
Dont ever only rely on AI.
AI helped me understand the industry, but it couldn't tell me whether real contractors would use or pay for what I designed.