Komma Blog

We're really excited to introduce a brand new way to navigate pages.  Now, instead of using the contents page to jump to a page, you can navigate to any page using a list of thumbnails underneath the page.  This change means quicker, more direct navigation for your newsletters.  Part of the change also means removing the contents page.  Any extra information listed in the contents page will need to be moved to another page within your design.

Some important info about this change:

Takes affect first thing on Friday 4th April.

Old newsletters won't be affected, those issues will still contain a contents page and new issues created beyond Friday 4th April will feature the new navigation.

Cloned issues won't include a contents page and will benefit from the new navigation under each page

Please get in touch if you have any concerns or questions, we're here to help!

And we're away! App in 5 days has begun!

This morning we planned out the basic interface and what we need to achieve each day to get it done! Login screen is done and check out our rudimental designs and todo lists on our blackboards.

Also check our development board (todo list) on trello to track what we're up to!  You can follow along and even vote on things.

Some advice for creating a good name for an app or startup.

Creating a product name is daunting, can easily go wrong, or get users off-side before they even see your product.  The prospect of creating a name that won't alienate prospective customers is not an easy deal.  Komma is brand new (pun intended), and we have no brand loyalty to play off but on the flip side we are new, unknown and possibly exciting.

So, how did we select a name?

Simple

In my opinion simplicity is (in almost all cases) the key. It's super important to be straightforward and not multi layered; this will make your product & company more approachable.  We didn't want to include another company in the name, for example,  "Microsoft Visual Studio".  Instead Komma is our product name and our company name. Simple.

Short

We want people to create a "Komma" in the same way people "Google" something. Our name had to be something short and catchy that could be used as verb.  Using two or more words (or more than two syllables) in your name can preclude your product name from being used as a verb.  For example no one ever said I'll just "Altavista" that.  Shortness also gives a catchy property that can be more memorable.

Distinctive

Calling a product something like "Director" is too generic, bland and unmemorable.  Even though our product isn't going to get people queuing up for hours before launch, if you're not able to create excitement (even if it's just you) about your product then who's going to want it?  Make sure your name is different and not too close to a big brand or commonly used words.  We went for a word that sits outside of the dictionary yet obviously represents an english word.  This immediately makes it distinctive but risks making your product geeky or dinky like "Evolutionz (omputerz..".  Avoid suffixing "s" with "z" at all costs - it'z not 1999.

Relevance

Komma is actually the Greek derived Latin work for a comma ",".  We felt this was a good fit as it meets the above points but also plays up to the written / communication element in our Help Desk.  This is a loose correlation but at the end of the day your product name doesn't need to represent your business if it doesn't feel right.  In some cases descriptive names are very simple and approachable like "Facebook" but other times there is no way to explain your product in one word like "Shazam".  Calling it "SongDecoder" would have been boring an unexciting.  Instead playing towards the magical aspect of the app, "Shazam" generates excitement and distinctiveness.