10 UX Mistakes SaaS Startups Make (and How to Fix Them)
Lessons from 100+ SaaS Product Launches
Building a SaaS product is hard.
Scaling it without losing users along the way? Even harder.
After working on over 100 SaaS products from early MVPs to post-Series C platforms I’ve seen the same UX mistakes show up again and again. The good news: most of these aren’t hard to fix once you know where to look.
Below are 10 of the most common UX issues I see in growing SaaS teams, along with how you can address them before they turn into churn.
1. Designing for Features, Not Flows
A lot of product teams fall into the trap of designing each feature in isolation. They build what’s next on the roadmap, hand it to design, and ship it… without considering how users experience it as part of a broader workflow. But users don’t care about feature releases; they care about achieving outcomes. When flows feel disjointed or disconnected, users get confused or drop off before completing their goals. To solve this, you need to zoom out and design around end-to-end journeys, making sure each new feature fits into an existing, seamless path.
2. Treating Onboarding Like a Tutorial
When onboarding feels like a static checklist or a step-by-step instruction manual, it misses the point. Tooltips and walkthroughs can provide orientation, but they rarely help users see real value. The purpose of onboarding is to help people experience success fast. If they can’t see what your product can do for them within the first few minutes, they’re likely to leave and never return. The better approach is to guide users toward a meaningful outcome as quickly as possible, personalizing the journey where appropriate.
3. Trying to “Wow” Instead of Guide
Design teams often want to impress users with beautiful visuals, slick animations, or clever microinteractions. While aesthetics are important, they can backfire when they compete with usability. A flashy product that lacks clear guidance or intuitive structure leads to friction, not delight. Good design helps users accomplish what they came to do — fast and without confusion. Use visual flair strategically, but never at the cost of momentum or clarity.
4. Inconsistent UI Patterns
As SaaS products scale, inconsistencies start to creep in. This is especially true when different designers or developers contribute without shared standards. One screen might have primary buttons in blue, another in green; forms might follow different structures; modal interactions vary by context. These inconsistencies don’t just look sloppy. They increase cognitive load and erode user trust. A basic design system or component library can go a long way in enforcing consistency and improving the overall experience.
5. Overloading Empty States
Empty states are often overlooked in product design, but they’re critical moments in the user journey. When users encounter a screen with no data, it’s a prime opportunity to educate, guide, or nudge them forward. Instead, many products fill that space with dense paragraphs of text or, worse, leave it blank with a generic “No results found.” That sends the wrong message. It feels broken or incomplete. Instead, design your empty states to be helpful. Offer clear next steps, examples, or even a touch of personality to keep users engaged.
6. Burying the Upgrade Path
Users who hit paywalls or limitations in your product are signaling interest, but too many SaaS products make it difficult to act on that intent. If upgrade paths are hidden in account settings or lack clear value messaging, users may never convert. Worse, they might grow frustrated and churn entirely. Monetization should be part of the user experience, not an afterthought. Make upgrade options visible at the right time and place, and ensure your premium value is clearly communicated.
7. Over-Indexing on Visual Polish
It’s easy to get caught up in perfecting the UI — clean spacing, modern typography, beautiful animations. But polish doesn’t solve deeper UX problems. A sleek interface with poor information architecture or confusing navigation still fails the user. Visual design should enhance an already usable experience, not mask broken ones. Focus first on validating flows and usability, then layer on polish to build trust and brand credibility.
8. No Feedback Loop with Real Users
Designing in a vacuum is one of the fastest ways to ship the wrong solution. Internal opinions, while important, can't replace actual user feedback. Without regular testing or observation, product teams make guesses — often costly ones. Even lightweight research like watching user sessions, sending micro-surveys, or running 5-user tests monthly can surface major issues early. Make feedback part of your product rhythm. Not just something you do before a big release.
9. Skipping Onboarding Personalization
Not all users have the same goals, context, or familiarity with your product. Yet many onboarding flows treat everyone the same. That’s a missed opportunity. Personalization doesn’t have to mean heavy segmentation. It can be as simple as asking one or two questions up front and adapting the experience based on the response. Users feel seen when onboarding reflects their intent. And when they’re shown what matters to them, they’re more likely to stick around.
10. Confusing Freemium with Free-for-All
A freemium model can drive massive growth. Or it can create confusion if not designed well. If users don’t understand what’s free, what’s premium, or why they should upgrade, the model backfires. Too much friction and users leave. Too much access and they never pay. The key is to align your free tier with activation. Let users succeed just enough to see the value, then prompt an upgrade when they want more. And make sure those upgrade prompts are timely, contextual, and frictionless.
Final Thought
Most SaaS UX problems aren’t about capability. They’re about clarity, consistency, and timing. The fixes often don’t require massive redesigns. Just a smarter approach to how product and design work together.
If any of these sound familiar, or if you want a second set of eyes on your UX, I offer free 30-minute product audits for SaaS teams.
Let’s make your product easier to love.
