{"id":17656,"date":"2023-04-04T11:44:04","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T11:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uxmag.com\/?p=17656"},"modified":"2023-04-04T11:44:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T11:44:06","slug":"copying-designs-doesnt-work-and-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uxmag.com\/articles\/copying-designs-doesnt-work-and-heres-why","title":{"rendered":"Copying Designs Doesn\u2019t Work, And Here\u2019s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s a type of cognitive dissonance that haunts designers: the genuine desire to be truly innovative and original whilst simultaneously trawling the web for inspiration and design ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I doubt many designers sit down with the intention of copying Airbnb, Apple, or Stripe. But they\u2019re such beautifully-designed experiences that it\u2019s hard not<\/em> to be inspired to some degree \u2014 even subconsciously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the limitless optionality of a blank Figma board can be overwhelming, the answer is rarely to copy someone else. The plagiarism issue aside, it\u2019s tough to replicate the magic of another user experience and not lose the magic that makes it work<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you actually understand why it\u2019s worked? Have you lost the secret sauce somewhere in the replication? Can you then innovate your own ideas onto them?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, let me give you an example of an industry where it\u2019s been commonplace to copy what works from younger and more agile start-ups: banking<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I published some of the findings from a 900-day study of 12 banks in the UK called The\u00a0UX of Banking<\/a>. As a lifelong reader of Smashing Mag, I wanted to give you all a modified excerpt from\u00a0that article<\/a>\u00a0and then some advice on\u00a0how to effectively take inspiration from others<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monzo Bank Was Heavily Copied In 2020<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2020 (when I started this study), I was critical of how most of the incumbent banks handled basic card management features. They lacked context, the designs themselves were really poor, and there were basic usability issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New features, like freezing your card or showing your PIN inside the app, were simply added as new rows \u2014 similar to a settings page. This was the predictable risk of adding new functionality for decades without rebalancing the core user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mobile
Mobile bank card management features in 2020: Barclays, First Direct, HSBC. (Large preview<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But, unburdened by how things used to be<\/em><\/strong>, Monzo, Starling, and Revolut seized the opportunity to design something that felt intuitive for this new paradigm. This example is from the UK, but it\u2019s true of many global brands, like Robinhood, Venmo, N26, and CashApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2020, there\u2019s been a noticeable effort to replicate what works inside the UK banking scene, and the experiences are looking very similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The interface of the Monzo app in 2020. (Large preview<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In particular, the order and positioning of the most common card management features \u2014 as shown above on Monzo in 2020. This is what\u2019s clearly been a massive \u2018inspiration\u2019 to other banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Modern
This is how the banking UIs look like today, just a few years later. (Large preview<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is true both of the visual aspects of design (i.e., how it looks) and the functional architecture of managing your card (i.e., how it works).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barclays might have more than 80,000 employees, but it looks like they have the same grey Figma habits as the rest of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Risk Of Copying\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now let me show you an example where copying can get you in trouble: chasing \u2018click-parity\u2019, copying a simple flow that you don\u2019t understand, and not considering that often the best experiences are the longest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the number of clicks it takes to order a new card with each of the 12 banks I\u2019ve been following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
With Metro Bank, it takes only 4 clicks to order a new card, and with HSBC you will need 12 clicks. (Large preview<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As an analyst (and at first glance), it might look like Metro has the best user journey. But in this instance, the number of clicks is the wrong metric to care about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There appears to be very little positive correlation between what I believe are the better experiences (e.g., Revolut, Monzo, and Starling) and the number of clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather, having too few clicks is more likely to be an indication that there\u2019s not enough context<\/strong> (or that it\u2019s crammed into one screen).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost like the obvious cheat codes of design: use more padding, space things out, and give yourself more room to add context.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s consider a few nuances to this specific user journey (i.e., losing your bank card):<\/p>\n\n\n\n