Bad design leaves money on the table. Don’t believe it? Consider this.
- 1 in 5 American shoppers abandoned a cart last quarter due to a too-long or complicated checkout process (Baymard Institute, 2024).
- 32% of consumers say they would abandon a brand they love after just one bad experience (PwC, 2018).
- The average large-sized ecommerce site can improve its conversion rate by more than 35% simply by improving its checkout design. That would translate to more than $260 billion in recovered orders (Baymard Institute, 2025).
Poor UX design hurts your users and your bottom line. It can be a growth killer, contributing to higher churn, increased support costs, or poor scalability. The good news? It’s preventable.
In this article, we’ll examine common SaaS UX design mistakes, the impact of bad design, and ways to implement UX best practices early in your product development cycle.
What Is 'Bad Design' in SaaS?
In SaaS, ‘bad design’ isn’t just a matter of taste or preference; it includes any UX decisions that inhibit product success. The term can apply to everything from confusing workflows and inconsistencies to bad information hierarchy and inefficient interface designs. Watch out for these frequent UX design pitfalls that hold SaaS products from success.
- Insufficient user testing: You can’t design for real users without including real users in the design process. Basing a SaaS UX design on assumptions, rather than testing feedback, will result in a product that misses the mark.
- Ineffective pacing: Don’t assume a user will complete a task all in one go. Long checklists, multi-part tasks, and endless, scrollable screens of text are great ways to lose your audience. Too much information will overwhelm your users.
- Crowded interfaces: Some SaaS tools fall into the trap of squeezing many UI elements into a limited space. A crowded interface hinders user experience and prevents users from finding the information they need.
- Disjointed help resources: Some SaaS companies only publish video tutorials on their websites rather than providing access to help content within the app itself. Requiring users to toggle back and forth between multiple screens can be frustrating and limit their ability to discover and use new features.
- Too little user feedback: Without the right UI elements, your users won’t know if they’re on step three of five or three of seventy-five. SaaS tools that fail to include simple feedback cues—like progress bars, clear copy, and submission messages—risk frustrating and abandoning their users.
The Tangible Costs of Bad Design
Businesses that ignore the importance of design do so at their peril. The consequences of bad design aren’t merely theoretical. They have real (read: costly) implications, such as:
1. Higher churn rates
A strong marketing engine is no match for a poorly designed product. No matter how many new users you attract, you’ll always have a customer retention problem if your user experience is off-base. Founders often underestimate how much poor UX impacts retention.
2. Poor first impressions
SaaS products often operate in a highly competitive market. Plus, customers of these products often enjoy low switching costs. So, a bad first impression based on poor design choices is a surefire way to lose customers
3. Increased costs
A mediocre design might be cheaper in the short term, but it often contributes to far greater expenses in the long term. Unintuitive interfaces, for example, can lead to higher customer support costs. Likewise, bug fixes and design improvements related to bad design also add up to avoidable development costs.
4. Reduced scalability
Early design choices set a SaaS product up for future scalability opportunities—or restrictions. By failing to prioritize UX design early, SaaS companies railroad their products with inflexible systems, making it difficult to accommodate new users, platforms, or features over time.
Why Prioritizing UX/UI Early Matters
Investing in good design from day one pays dividends. Here’s why:
Prevents costly redesigns
If you think UX/UI design is expensive, consider the cost of a re-design. Eliminating your design budget might seem cheaper, but not when you factor in the chances of needing to rebuild your app due to design flaws.
Prioritizing high-quality design early limits the chances of a significant overhaul, saving time and money.
Facilitates scalability
Consider this: strong UX design forms the foundation for future product iteration. Updates and improvements become straightforward in the context of a well-defined design system. Rather than reengineering existing infrastructure to accommodate growth, focusing on design from the start makes your product nimble and ready to scale when opportunity strikes.
Drives organic growth
A well-thought-out design facilitates a seamless user experience. Positive interactions will boost user retention and acquisition. Emboldened users become assets to your product through referrals. In this way, great design acts as a catalyst for organic, word-of-mouth user growth.
Builds brand loyalty
Exceptional design fosters trust and keeps customers engaged over the long term. Users who have a positive, effortless experience in your app are more likely to keep using your product. By emphasizing design earlier, you’ll create a stickier product that attracts and retains users.
Practical Steps to Improve SaaS UX/UI
You don’t have to win a design award to improve your SaaS UX design. Even simple improvements help SaaS founders reap the benefits of good design. Try these tips to make a meaningful difference in your product’s user experience.
- Conduct user research. Prioritizing user research is perhaps the most impactful choice you can make for your product. Letting user feedback, instead of assumptions, guide your feature, function, and design choices will set your SaaS product on the path to success. User research can be simple. Tools like user interviews, personas, and remote usability testing support actionable feedback.
- Invest in interactive prototypes. Adopting an agile, iterative development approach can help you get the most out of your design investment. Interactive prototypes are a stepping stone in this process. They streamline the UX design process by allowing one to fine-tune design decisions before launching a functional product.
- Collaborate with dedicated UX/UI experts or teams. Winging your UX design won’t yield good results. It’s important to consult with a qualified team of experts who are familiar with design best practices and skilled at applying them.
Taking the Next Step Toward Excellent SaaS UX Design
There’s no question that great design supports product success. Whether you want to prioritize UX/UI design from day one or you wish you had, Designli can help. We support SaaS founders struggling with UX issues. Our experienced team can help you discover a clear path through your UX design decisions and challenges to a SaaS product that resonates with users. To get started, schedule a free consultation with our team.
Explore our UX/UI design services →
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