Hintsy — Gift preference and Secret Santa platform

The brief

The client identified a recurring frustration: friends and family buy gifts based on vague hints or guesses, often missing the mark on sizes, colours, or brands. Existing gift registry tools were either wedding-focused or required manual product linking, making them too formal or time-consuming for casual gift-giving.

The brief called for a lightweight platform where users could maintain a profile of gift preferences — clothing sizes, favourite colours, preferred brands, and interests — that friends could reference before shopping. The goal was to remove guesswork without requiring formal wish lists or specific product links.

A second requirement emerged: groups organising Secret Santa events needed a tool to automate recipient assignment, set budget limits, and send email notifications — without the spreadsheet chaos and accidental spoilers that come with manual coordination. The application needed to handle both ongoing preference sharing and event-based Secret Santa management in one platform.

The build

Hintsy was built as a custom web application with user accounts, friend connections, and event management. Each user creates a profile with gift preferences (sizes, colours, brands, interests) that friends can view after connecting. Profiles are intentionally flexible — users can add as much or as little detail as they want, and preferences can be updated at any time.

The Secret Santa engine was designed to automate the most error-prone parts of event coordination: random recipient assignment (with validation to prevent self-assignment or invalid pairings), budget setting, and email notifications. Event organisers create an event, invite participants, set a budget, and launch assignment — the system handles the rest, keeping assignments secret and sending each participant their recipient's profile link.

Friend connections use a request/accept flow so preference profiles remain private until explicitly shared. This ensures users control who sees their sizes and brands while still allowing easy sharing within friend groups. Email notifications are sent for friend requests, event invitations, and Secret Santa assignments, with all email content kept simple and actionable.

Tech stack: PHP (backend logic and email sending), Tailwind CSS (responsive UI), MySQL (user accounts, preferences, events, and friend connections). The application runs on managed hosting with automated backups and uptime monitoring.

The result

Hintsy launched in production in 2025 with user registration, gift preference profiles, friend connections, and Secret Santa event management. Users can create and share profiles year-round, and event organisers can set up and launch Secret Santa events with automated assignment and email notifications.

The platform removes the guesswork from gift shopping by providing friends with concrete preferences (sizes, colours, brands) without requiring formal wish lists or product links. Secret Santa events run smoothly with automated coordination, eliminating spreadsheet errors and accidental spoilers.

All code and infrastructure are owned by the client, with full repository access and hosting on managed infrastructure. The application continues to receive feature updates and improvements as user feedback and seasonal demand evolve.