Kuotify • Shipped • 2025
Role
Product Designer/Solo founder
Timeline
May 2025 - August 2025
Skills
Product design
User research
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Kuotify was a quoting tool I designed for contractors, built to be faster and simpler than the bloated or outdated options already out there.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.
What went wrong, and how I addressed it, is what this case study covers.
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Most quoting tools I found were either overloaded with features or felt outdated.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.
Designing the 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 website 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, not because I'd compared it against competitors or confirmed contractors saw enough value to pay for it.
I marketed it through Reddit and Instagram, and reached out to 30+ blue-collar content creators about collaborating.
The result: no signups, no interest.
Talking to actual contractors explained why.
User research
Short interviews with 6 contractors
When I finally spoke with contractors directly, I understood they didn't want a website; they needed something they could easily use on the job site, which meant an app.
The price was also too high for what the product offered. The same complaint kept coming up: existing tools charge for a pile of features they never touch. $35/month for something with fewer features was not worth it.
By the time I learned this, I'd already built and spent money on the wrong platform.
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.
Outcome
The fix.
Two problems stood out: format and price. Contractors wanted an app, not a website, and believed $35/month was too high for fewer features than competitors offered.
Talking to them, I learned they were tired of paying high prices for the features they never used. So I repositioned Kuotify around simplicity: dropped the price to $3/month and brought the app concept back to 4 contractors.
All 4 said they'd use it, specifically because it did the job without charging for features they didn't need.
Small, informal sample, so it's a signal, not proof. But it confirmed the packaging was the problem, not the idea. Next step would be testing with a larger group and validating that $3/month holds up.
Reflection
Build fast, but validate first.
I need to make sure I am moving in the right direction before building.
Don't ever only rely on AI.
It gave me a useful starting point on the industry, but it couldn't tell me whether real contractors would actually use or pay for what I designed. Real validation only comes from talking to real users.