Design challenges impacting SaaS growth: What are some of the things you're facing?
Hey fellow PH folks,
After 25+ years in design and selling my own design system; Cabana for a six-figure exit (maybe more next time ;), I've noticed consistent patterns in how specific design issues directly impact key SaaS metrics.
I'm curious: What design-related challenges are currently impacting your product's growth? For example:
User activation below expectations
Feature discovery problems
Conversion bottlenecks
Retention issues tied to product experience
Why I'm asking: I'm researching the direct connection between design decisions and business metrics. In my experience, strategic UI/UX improvements often deliver better ROI than new features - sometimes with just hours of implementation time.
Some results I've seen with clients:
17% improvement in conversion rates through visual hierarchy changes
46% faster time-to-value through onboarding flow refinements
32% reduction in support requests through clearer error messaging
Would love to hear:
Which design issues most impact your key metrics?
Have you seen direct correlations between specific design changes and business outcomes?
Do you have a systematic approach to design improvements, or is it more ad-hoc?
Looking forward to learning from your experiences and sharing insights.
Cheers,
Marc.
Replies
Hmm.. that’s true. In many cases, improving UI/UX alone can lead to a better ROI.
Our main focus is making sure users can find key features right where they anticipate them upon first interaction—since that’s a core part of UX.
minimalist phone: creating folders
One pattern that I observed is that too many buttons on the page only divide the attention of visitors. Especially, when you are at the starting point – you should have only one goal and button – to acquire a new customer. But can see many new companies with new pages how they insert 10 various buttons leading to 10 different places. Diversity is good, but in later stages.
Can you share more about what you've found? What design patterns can drive metrics in good directions?
Graphify
@steveb Good question
Graphify
Funny enough, I was literally thinking about this recently! Balancing new features vs. design improvements is such a tough call. Right now, I’m debating whether to invest more time into refining the onboarding flow (which I know isn’t great yet) or focusing on building out more features since my product is still in beta.
I know a smoother onboarding could boost activation & retention, but at the same time, without key features, users might churn anyway. 🤷♂️
Curious, how do you prioritize between polishing UX vs. adding functionality, especially in early-stage SaaS? 🚀