When I started building nexticons.in, I thought the hardest part would be writing code.
I was wrong.
The hardest part is understanding what developers actually need.
As developers, we often build based on assumptions:
“This feature looks cool”
“People might like this”
“Other websites are doing it”
But once real users start using your product, everything changes.
While building nexticons.in, I noticed something important:
Developers care more about workflow than features.
Nobody wants to spend extra time:
converting SVGs manually
fixing icon sizes
rewriting code into JSX
searching through cluttered UI
jumping between multiple websites
People want speed.
That’s why some of the smallest updates on nexticons.in became the most useful ones.
Things like:
Copy as TSX, JSX, or SVG
Real UI preview examples
Faster search
Quick sharing options
Cleaner interface
None of these are “revolutionary” ideas.
But together, they improve developer experience.
And that’s what many products miss.
Good developer tools are not always about adding more.
Sometimes they are about removing friction.
Another thing I learned:
You do not need a huge audience to start building useful products.
When I launched nexticons.in:
I had no marketing team
no big following
no paid promotion
Still, people started finding and using the project.
Why?
Because useful products eventually get shared.
One developer sends it to another developer.
Someone bookmarks it.
Someone mentions it in a comment.
Small momentum compounds over time.
I think many developers wait too long before launching.
They wait for:
perfect UI
perfect branding
perfect audience
perfect timing
But most products improve after launch, not before it.
nexticons.in is still growing.
Still improving.
Still far from perfect.
But building publicly and listening to users helped the project grow much faster than I expected.
And honestly, that’s probably the best part of building products:
watching something small slowly become useful to real people.