Copying Designs Doesn’t Work and Here’s Why – Smashing Magazine

There is a type of cognitive dissonance that haunts designers: the genuine desire to be truly innovative and original while simultaneously scouring the web for inspiration and design ideas.

I doubt many designers sit down with the intention of copying Airbnb, Apple or Stripe. But these are such beautifully designed experiences that it’s hard not to be inspired to some extent – even unconsciously.

While the limitless option of a blank Figma board can be overwhelming, the answer is rarely to copy someone else. The plagiarism issue aside, it is It’s hard to replicate the magic of another user experience and not lose the magic that makes it work.

Do you really understand why it worked? Did you lose the secret sauce somewhere in the replication? Can you then innovate your own ideas on it?

First, let me give you an example of an industry where it was common to copy what works from younger and more agile start-ups: banking.

Today I published some of the findings from a 900-day study of 12 UK banks called The UX of Banking. As a lifelong reader of Smashing Mag, I wanted to give you all an edited excerpt that article and then some advice how to effectively take...