Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Last year, I was working with a B2B SaaS client struggling with user onboarding. Their product was solid, but new users were dropping off after the first session. The founder showed me a folder of screenshots from competitor apps—all looked identical. Clean. Minimalist. Boring as hell.
"We need to stand out," he said, scrolling through the same generic dashboard layouts everyone in their industry was copying. "But all the UX inspiration galleries show the same stuff."
That's when I realized the problem. Everyone was looking in the same places for inspiration—Dribbble, Behance, competitor analysis. No wonder every product felt the same. The best UX inspiration doesn't come from your industry. It comes from industries that solved similar problems in completely different ways.
Here's where this insight led me: I stopped studying SaaS onboarding and started studying video game tutorials. I looked at how e-commerce solved review automation for my review management client. I applied restaurant ordering flows to complex B2B workflows.
The result? Interfaces that users actually remembered and wanted to use again.
Here's what you'll discover in this playbook:
Why browsing competitor UX is killing your innovation (and where to look instead)
My cross-industry inspiration framework that led to 3x engagement increases
Specific industries and platforms where I find the most lovable patterns
How to adapt inspiration without copying (the legal and ethical way)
The systematic approach I use to turn inspiration into lovable user experiences
Industry Reality
Where designers go for UX inspiration (and why it's broken)
Walk into any product design meeting and ask "where should we look for inspiration?" You'll get the same predictable answers: Dribbble for pretty interfaces, competitor analysis for feature ideas, and maybe a few "best practice" articles from design blogs.
This creates what I call the Design Echo Chamber. Everyone's studying the same sources, which means everyone ends up with variations of the same solutions. It's why every SaaS dashboard looks identical, why all e-commerce sites follow the same layout patterns, and why users can navigate your competitors' products after one session with yours.
Here's the conventional wisdom that's actually hurting innovation:
"Study Your Competitors"
The logic seems sound—see what works in your space and improve on it. The problem? Your competitors are probably copying each other too. You end up with incremental improvements on mediocre foundations.
"Follow Design System Standards"
Design systems are great for consistency, but they're terrible for differentiation. Material Design and Apple's Human Interface Guidelines have created a world where apps are functionally identical.
"Look at Design Inspiration Sites"
Dribbble and Behance showcase beautiful work, but most of it prioritizes visual appeal over usability. These platforms reward what photographs well, not what converts well or creates lasting user engagement.
"Analyze Best-in-Class Products"
Everyone studies Slack, Stripe, and Notion. These are great products, but copying their patterns for your completely different use case is like wearing someone else's clothes—it might technically fit, but it doesn't look right.
The result? A homogenized digital landscape where users expect everything to work the same way. There's no delight, no surprise, no reason to prefer your product beyond features.
That's when I realized: if you want to create lovable UX, you need to stop looking where everyone else is looking.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The breakthrough came when I was struggling to solve an onboarding problem for a complex B2B tool. Traditional SaaS onboarding patterns weren't working—users were overwhelmed by feature tours and abandoned during setup.
Instead of studying more SaaS products, I did something different. I spent a weekend playing mobile games, specifically analyzing how they teach complex mechanics to new players. Games like "Clash Royale" and "Monument Valley" had solved the exact same problem: how to teach complicated systems without overwhelming users.
The gaming industry had cracked the code on progressive disclosure, contextual learning, and intrinsic motivation in ways that business software hadn't even attempted. They understood that people learn by doing, not by reading or watching.
I adapted those game onboarding principles to the B2B tool:
Instead of a feature tour, users immediately performed their first real task
Instead of setup wizards, features unlocked as users needed them
Instead of help docs, contextual hints appeared at decision points
The result? User activation increased by 180%, and support tickets dropped by 40%.
This success led me to systematically study other industries for UX solutions:
For Review Management: I studied how Trustpilot and Amazon automate review collection in e-commerce, then applied those workflows to B2B software. The cross-pollination worked—clients started getting testimonials automatically.
For Complex Workflows: I analyzed how restaurants handle order management during rush periods. Those systems inspired a new approach to task prioritization in project management tools.
For User Engagement: Fitness apps had mastered habit formation and progress visualization. I borrowed their streak mechanics and progress bars for productivity software, increasing daily active usage by 60%.
The pattern became clear: the best UX solutions often exist in industries that face similar challenges but approach them from completely different angles.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After five years of cross-industry UX hunting, I've developed a systematic approach to finding and adapting inspiration. Here's my exact framework:
Step 1: Problem Mapping (Not Solution Hunting)
Before looking for inspiration, I clearly define the core user problem—not the interface problem. For example, instead of "how do we design a better dashboard," I ask "how do we help users quickly understand complex information and take action."
Then I brainstorm industries that solve similar problems:
Information comprehension: News apps, weather apps, financial terminals
Quick decision making: Trading apps, emergency response systems, dating apps
Complex data visualization: Scientific software, sports analytics, flight tracking
Step 2: The 3-Industry Rule
For every UX challenge, I study solutions from at least three completely different industries. This prevents me from just copying one approach and forces me to synthesize multiple solutions into something new.
For a content creation tool, I studied:
Video editing software (timeline management, version control)
Music production tools (layering, collaboration, real-time feedback)
Architecture software (spatial organization, component libraries)
Step 3: Pattern Extraction, Not Interface Copying
I don't screenshot interfaces—I document the underlying patterns and behaviors. For example, from gaming, I extracted:
Progressive disclosure: Revealing complexity gradually as users advance
Contextual tutorials: Teaching within the actual workflow, not separate training modes
Achievement psychology: Using completion and progress to maintain engagement
Step 4: Adaptation Testing
I prototype the adapted patterns quickly and test with real users. The key insight: patterns that work in one context need modification for another. Gaming achievement systems work in productivity apps, but the rewards need to be professional, not playful.
My Go-To Inspiration Sources:
For Onboarding & Learning:
Video games (especially mobile strategy games)
Language learning apps (Duolingo, Babbel)
Cooking apps with step-by-step instructions
Fitness apps with guided workouts
For Complex Data Display:
Financial trading platforms
Air traffic control systems
Sports analytics dashboards
Weather forecasting apps
For Workflow & Task Management:
Restaurant point-of-sale systems
Emergency dispatch software
Manufacturing control systems
Event planning platforms
For Engagement & Retention:
Social media platforms (especially TikTok's algorithm)
Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify recommendations)
Habit tracking apps
Dating apps (user matching and engagement)
Cross-Industry Mining
I systematically study 3+ industries for every UX challenge, extracting behavioral patterns rather than copying interfaces
Pattern Library
I maintain a database of UX patterns organized by user psychology and core function, not visual style
Rapid Prototyping
I test adapted patterns quickly with lo-fi prototypes before investing in high-fidelity designs
User Behavior Focus
I prioritize understanding why patterns work (psychology) over how they look (aesthetics)
Using this cross-industry approach across multiple client projects has produced consistently better results than traditional UX research:
Quantitative Results:
User engagement increased by an average of 120% when applying cross-industry patterns
Onboarding completion rates improved by 180% using gaming-inspired progressive disclosure
Support ticket volume decreased by 40% when interfaces became more intuitive
User retention at 30 days increased by 65% with better engagement patterns
Qualitative Feedback:
Users consistently described these interfaces as "refreshing," "intuitive," and "different in a good way." Most importantly, they remembered the products and recommended them to colleagues—the true test of lovable UX.
The business impact was clear: products with cross-industry inspired UX had higher user satisfaction scores, lower churn rates, and stronger word-of-mouth growth than those built with conventional patterns.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the key insights from five years of cross-industry UX research:
Your competitors are copying each other - Looking outside your industry is the only way to find truly differentiated solutions
Problems are universal, solutions are contextual - The same core challenges exist across industries but are solved in wildly different ways
Users crave familiar novelty - They want interfaces that work like nothing they've seen before but feel immediately intuitive
Adaptation beats adoption - Directly copying rarely works; understanding and adapting patterns for your context does
Behavioral patterns outlast visual trends - Focus on why something works (psychology) rather than how it looks (aesthetics)
Industries with constraints innovate faster - Look at sectors with tight limitations (mobile games, emergency systems) for elegant solutions
User behavior research beats user opinion research - Study what people actually do in high-pressure situations, not what they say they prefer
The biggest mistake I see designers make is limiting their research to their own industry. The most lovable UX comes from combining the best patterns from multiple domains into something uniquely suited to your users' needs.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS Products:
Study gaming for onboarding and user progression systems
Look at financial software for complex data visualization
Analyze productivity apps from different industries for workflow patterns
Create a pattern library organized by user psychology, not features
For your Ecommerce store
For E-commerce Stores:
Study restaurant ordering systems for checkout flow optimization
Look at streaming services for recommendation and discovery patterns
Analyze social media for engagement and retention mechanics
Test cross-industry patterns with your specific customer behavior data