As a team, we understood that obtaining trademark registration can be arduous and costly, particularly for new business owners and startups. We aimed to make the process more accessible and affordable by offering precise and straightforward guidance. Nonetheless, one of our major hurdles was simplifying the USPTO trademark application form, which can be complex and challenging for inexperienced users to navigate. We aim to help new business owners protect their brands by presenting complex concepts in an easily understandable format.

Let me show you how filling a trademark on the government website looks...

I collaborated with our VP of Product to establish an initial strategy involving conducting multiple user interviews to identify the primary pain points. We spent considerable time whiteboarding the concept before presenting several ideas to the engineering team. Given the crucial role of engineers in understanding our limitations, I ensured to involve them in every review process.

This is how I made it guided and digestible for the user.

We acknowledged the significance of verifying available social media handles for the desired trademark name and incorporated this feature into our offering.

We implemented a feature that enables users to monitor their trademark application status after payment. This allows them to stay updated throughout the process and receive timely notifications if any additional actions are required on their part. Our goal is to provide a transparent and hassle-free experience that empowers business owners to safeguard their brands without needing expert legal knowledge.

We consistently measured our success throughout the design process by conducting user interviews and walking users through the prototypes. Once the product was launched, I monitored its performance using Fullstory to identify and address user issues. Our primary objective was to achieve at least one order per day, but we were pleasantly surprised to average 3-4 orders consistently without marketing expenditures...

What would I do differently?

During our rush to produce an MVP as quickly as possible, we may have missed an opportunity to create an educational experience. While our focus was on delivering a functional end-to-end trademark application experience, we realized that many users were still unclear about certain aspects of the process, such as the 18-month filing duration, the need for a specimen, and what a specimen entails.