We had a heckuva time finding a name back in December 2006. What do you call this thing? We wanted a name that easily gave away the program’s functionality without being too much of a mouthful. We wanted it to be.. well.. not dry, drab or boring. We wanted it to be easy to remember.

We decided to look for a domain name first, then name it accordingly (the guys at 37signals don’t agree with this, arguing that you can always rig up a domain name after the naming fact).

But the problem was that every single domain with the mention of “signup” in it was, well, long gone. We decided to brainstorm, drawing up a mind map with clusters of words involving “time” “slot” “signup” “sheet” and adding all different permutations of the such. It looked somewhat like .

Then we stepped back and thought, what is this app allowing us to do? We wrote down a bunch of ideas: signing up, coming together, rallying the troops, joining an event…

Hsiufan suggests “Wejoinin”. I check the domains, and it’s clear!

Adblog Snark Hunting offers an analysis of the “Zune” name. A good look at the name/branding industry and how much thought goes into something that is trivial at first glance.