Bad UX Examples: 15 Real Mistakes and How to Fix Each One

Bad UX is when websites are hard to navigate, apps are hard to onboard, and checkout sites don’t tell you about charges until the very end. This kind of design fault makes simple tasks tougher to accomplish and could cause clients to turn away.

However, a lousy product design is not invariably a horrible customer experience. A pretty interface can nonetheless confuse users, hide important information or make basic activities unduly hard.

These concerns can impact consumer delight, trust, conversions and retention for entrepreneurs and product teams. Even little usability faults can be expensive if they disrupt critical client journeys.

In this blog, we will consider 15 examples of awful UX, why they are bad and how to remedy the problems. You’ll learn how to spot usability flaws , prioritize repairs and whether a UX audit is appropriate . 

What Makes UX Bad?

Bad UX happens when users do not understand information in a digital product, or have trouble navigating an interface, or fail to complete their intended goals.

Wrong instructions, inconsistent interactions, missing material, unnecessary activities and design choices that place corporation goals over user needs generate bad user experiences.

For example, an online business that shows attractive pictures of the products but only reveals the price of shipping at the very end of the order. The UI could be beautiful looking but the unexpected expense is annoying and breaks the confidence.

The FTC’s dark-pattern alert states that some interface designs may deceive consumers into making choices they otherwise would not. This is an important difference. UX should be about enabling people to make educated decisions, not forcing them to do what they don’t want to do. 

The most useful way to understand bad UX is to examine real-world patterns, their consequences, and the practical changes that make products easier to use.

15 Bad UX Examples and How to Fix Each One

The following bad UX design examples cover common problems across websites, mobile apps, SaaS dashboards, and online stores. Some are widespread design mistakes; others are manipulative patterns that can harm customer trust.

Each example covers the problem, the impact, and an actionable fix you can use in your own product, which have been given below:

1. Confusing Website Navigation

Think of a SaaS website with 12 top level menu items, imprecise category titles and multiple drop down menus. A visitor wants to see pricing, but needs to go through many areas to get it.

This is a poor example of UX since it encourages the user to guess where information is located. Visitors can depart without discovering the features or services that are important to them.

Where it happens: Company websites, SaaS systems, ecommerce shops

How to solve this:

• Group related pages under familiar, unambiguous categories.
• Use descriptive labels like “Pricing,” “Features,” and “Resources.”
• Primary navigation should be reserved for the most important destinations.
• “Test the menu on people who don’t know your product.”

If you are improving your site, see where users are coming from to find key pages. A clear B2B SaaS customer journey map can help you find redundant navigation steps.

2. Complicated Checkout Processes

A consumer clicks on a product to add it to their cart and then is hit with pages and pages of questions, having to create an account and a confusing payment process. What should be a straightforward purchase becomes a frustrating task.

The commercial impact can be significant. According to Baymard Institute's cart abandonment research, the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is 70.22%, based on 50 studies. Its research also identifies extra costs and complicated checkout processes among the reasons shoppers abandon purchases.

Where it lives: E-commerce and subscription websites

How to fix:

• If you can, allow guests to check out.
• Remove fields that are not needed to complete the order.
• Display shipping, taxes and total price upfront.
• Show clear progress indications in the multi-step checkout.
• Show error warnings next to the relevant field for each field.

An excellent benchmark to see where you're losing the most people is checkout completion rates.

3. Poor Mobile Responsiveness

A website could look fantastic on a desktop, but not be easy to use on a phone. Text is cut off, buttons are so little and you have to zoom in to see product info.

This dilemma is particularly challenging for customers researching or shopping for products on their mobile devices.

Where it is used: Websites, dashboards and web apps

How to resolve this:

• Create layouts that respond to various screen sizes.
• Facilitate pressing of crucial buttons.
• No horizontal scrolling for normal website content.
• Make forms and navigation fit smaller displays.
• Test on real devices, not just desktop previews.

If your product is heavily reliant on mobile interactions, you should take a critical look at your mobile app UX design before you embark on a makeover.

4. Low-Contrast Text and Inaccessible Colors

Light gray writing on white is beautiful and clean, but sometimes hard to read. It gets worse if you see the same combination of colors in the form labels, navigation or critical instructions.

This is an old-school accessibility problem. WebAIM Million 2026 research indicated 83.9% of the million home sites assessed had evident failures of low contrast typography. Automated testing will find some accessibility issues, but not all.

Location: SaaS Dashboards, Landing Pages, Mobile Apps

How do you do it:

• Text must be in great contrast with the background.
• WCAG 2.2 accessibility standards Level AA Minimum contrast ratio 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
• Combine color with other status indications .
• Test charts. “Buttons.” States handicapped. Error messages One at a time.

The visually pleasing interface should be readable for people with limited eyesight and under different viewing conditions. 

5. Forms With Unclear Labels and Error Messages

Use a sign-up form using placeholder text rather than permanent labeling. The instructions disappear as you start typing. When the form rejects an entry, it only states “Invalid input” and doesn’t inform you what was wrong.

Then users need to guess which format is needed and try again.

The address: Registration pages, Lead forms and account settings

How to repair it:

• INPUT1 The input is clearly and consistently demarcated.
• Examples of when a format may not be recognized include:
• Explain validation errors in simple words.
• If submission fails, keep valid info.
• Focus on the exact area that needs focus.

Please use a valid work email (e.g. name@company.com). Test pilot with representative users to find confusing fields before launch. 

6. Intrusive Pop-Ups and Newsletter Overlays

A visitor reads an article for an answer. And before they can read it a newsletter pop-up takes over the page." And another pops up when they try to close the previous one.

This kills the user’s goal before the website has delivered any value. The overlay makes the page very hard to navigate on mobile.

Where to find it: Content sites, e-commerce stores and SaaS landing pages

How to fix it:

• Put off non-essential prompts until a visitor interacts with the page.
• Make the close button obvious and welcoming.
• We want to know what sort of individuals they are.”
• Make sure pop-ups operate with keyboard and assistive technology.
• Mention a benefit and then ask users to sign up.

Use conversion data and usability testing to determine if an overlay is genuinely helping visitors or interrupting them.

7. Hidden Fees and Unexpected Costs

Customer checks merchandise with a $49 price tag. Sometimes, during checkout, you may get shocked with an extra service fee or shipping charge or a necessary add-on that pushes the total higher.

This is more than a pricing problem. It creates uncertainty at the exact moment a customer must decide whether to pay.

Baymard Institute's checkout abandonment research identifies extra costs as a leading reason shoppers leave checkout.

Where it occurs: Ecommerce checkouts, trip bookings, subscription purchases

How to fix this :

• Display known required fees on product page or start of checkout
• Please explain explicitly about taxes, delivery rates and service charges.
• Before you pay, review your order summary with line items.
• Extras optional
• Don’t assume pricey add-ons are ok without explicit permission.

Transparent pricing allows customers to make informed decisions, and minimizes surprises. 

8. Forced Account Creation Before Purchase

To make a purchase, first-time customers must create a password, confirm their email address and fill up a profile on the store.

The business wants more registered users, the buyer wants to make the transaction.

Where it occurs: Retail and booking websites on the Internet

How to repair it:

• Provide a guest checkout option.
• If applicable, please request the creation of an account after purchase.
• Tell them what’s in it for them to register.
• Don’t ask for more information than is necessary for the transaction.

If you require registration to utilize the service, let consumers know why before they start. Make the steps predictable. Keep the form brief. 

9. Weak Search and Irrelevant Results

customer types in a product or feature and returns unrelated results. The search function has no common synonyms and the filters do not limit down the list.

Searching takes more work. And is not useful to rapidly have the information

Where to find it: eCommerce catalogs, knowledge bases, and SaaS dashboards

How do you solve it:

• Support for frequent misspellings and synonyms.
• Show relevant filters depending on the search word.
• If no results are discovered, return explicit feedback.
• Keywords New keywords: Similar Items:
• Allow searching from most of the UI.

Look for terms that have zero results. They can find problems in your product catalog, your documentation or in your information architecture.

10. Unclear Buttons and Inconsistent Interactions

Imagine a dashboard with options like ‘Continue’, ‘Proceed’, ‘Next’ all on the same screen. Their aims are not clear and the major action is almost indistinguishable from later ones.

Users don’t know what will happen if they click it, therefore they are hesitant.

Where it occurs: Mobile apps, dashboards, online apps

How to repair it:

• Use action-oriented labels, e.g. “Download report” or “Save changes”.
• Create a clear visual hierarchy for the primary and subsidiary duties.
• Use similar button styles on relevant screens.
• Give visible feedback after an activity.
• Do not engage in damaging behaviors without sufficient confirmation or undo choices.

A good interface design informs the user what they can do, and what each action will do. 

11. Confusing Onboarding and Unnecessary Setup

A new user registers up for a project management tool, only to be faced with a long questionnaire, the need to invite colleagues, the configuration of many parameters and watching tutorials before reaching the main dashboard.

The setup process slows the time when the user gets value from the product.

Where it happens: SaaS products, productivity apps and subscription services

How to fix:

• "Just ask for information you need to ask.
• Users are able to skip optional setup procedures.
• Provide reasonable defaults.
• Direct users to one useful first action.
• Add sophisticated features when they become necessary.

A good SaaS customer onboarding guide will get users to their first meaningful outcome without extra friction.

12. Dark Patterns That Manipulate Users

Dark patterns are design choices that lead consumers to make conclusions they wouldn't otherwise make. For example, making 'Accept all' obvious, yet 'Reject all' hard to find. Or advertising that resembles system buttons. Or the use of words that makes people feel awful and makes a fair option unattainable.

The Federal Trade Commission’s dark patterns report looks at ways to obscure, delete or undermine consumer choice.

Used In: E-commerce Sites, Privacy Settings and Subscription Services

How to repair it

• Choose smart things.
• You may accept or decline these cookies.
• What is meant by consent?
• No screwing with button text. No guilt-trip messages.
• Cancel and privacy controls are easy to find.

Dark trends can erode trust, even if they lead to more short-term sign-ups or higher earnings. “Build for informed agreements, not for accidental ones. 

13. Difficult Subscription Cancellation

The consumer wants to terminate their subscription but cannot find the option in their account settings. They have to contact for support, listen to lengthy options or repeatedly decline retention offers. It makes a decision previously made by the customer excessively complicated.

Where this happens: SaaS products with subscriptions The streaming services.

How to solve this:

• provide cancellation controls under a decent account/billing tab
• Set the access expiration date and any outstanding fees.
• “Make feedback optional.
• Make it easy to cancel.
• A simple way to know if you are subscribed.

Signing up should be as easy as canceling. If people can join online, why shouldn’t they be able to cancel online, without additional roadblocks? 

14. Poor Error Handling and No Recovery Path

A file is uploaded by a user. Or fills out a payment form. “Something went wrong. The UI doesn’t inform you of this, doesn’t provide you a way to recover, doesn’t tell you if it succeeded. Users could do an action repeatedly, lose work, or submit a transaction in error.

Location: Where it occurs: File uploads, payment flows, online apps, and account settings.

How to repair:

• Explain the problem in user terms.
• What users can do now.
• Save entered information wherever possible.
• Display progress for long-running procedures.
• Make sure there are no double submissions by checking success activities.

Sorry, we could not save your file. It's over 10MB. “Please choose a smaller file and try again.”

Good error handling tries to anticipate difficulties, and lets users recover without having to start over. 

15. Poor Accessibility and Keyboard Navigation

Some interfaces are mouse only. Keyboard users can not access essential controls, there are no attention indicators and screen readers can not accurately detect form fields and buttons.

Some people cannot do the task on their own because of these problems. They can also make it harder for users to use the product when they are working with an unfamiliar interface or without a mouse.

WebAIM Million 2026 found that 51% of the homepages scanned had detectable problems with missing form-label. The findings show just how prevalent basic accessibility problems still are.

Use it on: Websites, SaaS dashboards and mobile interfaces. 

How to fix it:

• Provide keyboard navigation for interactive areas.
• The focus indications are easily evident.
• Names for form fields, buttons.
• An example of this is the image, below, where a man is reading at a library. headers and semantic controls
• Use Semantic Headings and UI Elements
• Test using automated accessibility tools and navigate manually with a keyboard.

Follow WCAG 2.2 as a technical reference, then validate the experience with real users where possible. Accessibility is not a finishing touch. It is part of making your product usable by the people it is intended to serve.

Good UX vs. Bad UX Examples

Knowing the difference between good and bad UX helps you spot what should be changed. It doesn’t have to look good to work well. The design has to help people perform what they have to do clearly and efficiently.

A comprehensive comparison between Good and Bad Ux is given below:

The biggest difference is intent. Good UX minimizes unnecessary effort, and allows consumers to be in charge. Bad UX confuses you, makes you do things you don’t want to do, or makes easy things more difficult than they need to be.

How Does Bad UX Affect Conversions and Revenue?

Bad UX can hurt your conversions by making it harder for your customers to understand your offer, trust your product, or complete key tasks.

Visitors may be confused by a pricing page and so less likely to select the suitable bundle for them. If the checkout is excessively complicated, customers will walk away from a purchase. A bad onboarding experience can mean that a new subscriber never gets to the value they were expecting.

The impact will depend on the goods, the audience and the seriousness of the problem. But there are, however, some things which require particular notice:

• Reduced conversion rates Visitors can leave without having to join up, request a demo or buy anything.
• More expensive support – complex interfaces lead to more questions, complaints and calls for support.
• Usability concerns are ongoing and can mean clients won’t come back.
• confidence erosion: Hidden costs, unapproved charges, and difficult cancellations can undermine confidence.
• Harder to use: Important tasks might not be possible for those with disabilities.

The greatest technique is to tie UX improvements to measurable business goals. Track conversion rates, task completions, support tickets, onboarding progress and client feedback before and after changes. 

How to Identify Bad UX on Your Website or App

To identify bad UX on your website or app, look for signs that users struggle to navigate, find information, or complete tasks. Analyzing user behavior and feedback helps you pinpoint usability issues and understand what needs improvement before investing in a complete redesign.

The 4 key ways to identify bad UX have been given below:

1. Review Your Analytics

Begin with what you already track. Check for strange drop-off points within sign-up forms, checkout processes, onboarding flows, and other critical journeys.

For instance, if a lot of people are hitting your pricing site but not many are signing up for a trial, see if your pricing, calls to action, or plan comparisons are confusing.

Analytics can tell you where a problem is occurring, but they often don’t tell you the whole reason why.

2. Conduct Usability Testing

Let representative users perform actual actions without step-by-step instructions.

See how they do . Can they get info? Look at the labels? Mistakes, recover from ? Do things yourself? They know the product and can see problems the in-house teams can’t.

Discover how structured testing can help you find and validate these issues with usability testing for SaaS products. 

3. Audit Accessibility

Automated methods can be used to find detectable problems with contrast, missing labels, alternative text, and other accessibility requirements.

Then manually test keyboard navigation, focus indications, form errors and major interactions. Automated scans are a good start, but they can’t tell you if a whole experience is accessible.

4. Review Customer Feedback

Browse support chats, customer reviews, survey feedback and cancellation feedback. Look for recurring complaints about confusing settings, missing functionality, unexpected charges, or complex workflows.

Recurring issues are likely to highlight exactly the friction spots to look at.

Which Tools Help Find Bad UX?

There are different tools available to study usability concerns. Select tools that answer the questions you have, rather than collecting tools just to have tools.

So that you can easily know which tools you should use, a table has been given below:

These tools offer distinct types of proof.  Analytics can show you patterns, session records can show you interactions, and usability tests can show you how people understand an interface. 

To get the greatest outcomes, integrate quantitative data with direct feedback from users.  Don’t make big design decisions based on a single heatmap or an algorithmic score.

Which UX Problems Should You Fix First?

Fix UX problems that have the biggest impact on users first. Prioritize issues that frequently occur, prevent users from completing important tasks, or disrupt essential features like payments and signups. Minor visual issues can wait until critical usability problems are resolved.

Take actions against your UX problems as per following examples:

Take actions against your UX problems as per following examples: this ranking is a beginning, not a law of nature. A visual mistake can be critical, if it hides an action to be taken . A more visible discrepancy may have little practical consequence.

A simple technique to prioritize is to score each issue against four questions:

• How many users are having this problem?
• How much does doing the task muck up?
• How critical is the impacted work to the business?
• How much work will it take to fix?

These answers will help you create a prioritized backlog. Test your most important assumptions before you commit to a costly makeover.

When Should You Consider a UX Audit?

Consider a UX audit when users struggle to navigate your product, conversions decline, or usability issues affect the overall experience. It helps identify problems with usability, design consistency, accessibility, and key user flows so you can prioritize improvements effectively.

Audit if any of the following:

• You have visitors coming to your website, but not a lot of qualifying leads.
• Customers quit checkout, or have trouble onboarding.
• Support queries often feature confusing qualities. 
• Your interface has grown inconsistent as new features were added.
• You are preparing to redesign a product or launch a new minimum viable product (MVP).
• Customers report usability problems, but your team cannot identify their root causes.

An audit should be more than a laundry list of visual inconsistencies. Link each result to a user problem, describe the severity, and offer a realistic next move.

If you need expert help for your team, check out the UI/UX design services of Orbix Studio to see how product design work can solve usability and interface issues.

In product development, there are big changes in your product, it is also helpful to analyze the relationship between wireframes, mockups and prototypes for your team to catch problems before development. See the wireframe vs. mockup vs. prototype guide for an explanation of these design stages.

How to Prevent Common UX Mistakes

Prevent common UX mistakes by integrating regular usability testing and design reviews into your product development process. This helps you identify potential issues early, maintain a consistent user experience, and ensure that existing problems do not return.

The ways to prevent common UX mistakes are:

Involve Users Before Development

Test early concepts with representative consumers, don’t wait until the finished product is finished. Wireframes and interactive prototypes allow you to identify confusing navigation, incorrect labels and superfluous steps before they become costly to fix.

Establish Consistent Design Patterns

Build reusable components. Interaction rules and common names. Sharing a design system between designers and developers may help prevent contradictory patterns from appearing on different screens.

Include Accessibility in Every Release

As part of your regular quality assurance process you will need to check: color contrast, keyboard navigation, form labels, focus indicators and error messages.

Think of accessibility as something that isn’t a one off. New features and interface changes can introduce new barriers.

Measure the Results of Every Important Fix

Define success before changing a design. Simplify Onboarding & See if More Users Complete Setup. When you re-implement checkout, track completion rates and payment errors.

Compare the results to a proper baseline or carry out a relevant experiment. This allows you to cut through the regular noise of user behavior and see the true advantages.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are examples of bad UX?

Bad UX may be anything from hard to navigate sites to cumbersome checkout procedures, unclear form labeling, unwanted pop-ups, hidden costs and poor mobile responsiveness. These shortcomings might make it tougher for users to complete their tasks, and thereby undermine confidence in a product.

What are the most common UX mistakes?

Common UX mistakes include uneven UI design, too many steps, unclear calls to action, unavailable material, inadequate error handling and complex onboarding. Sometimes these challenges occur because the teams become so focused on the aesthetics instead of what the consumer needs.

What is the difference between bad UX and bad UI?

Bad UX is when the entire user experience is problematic, for example, if the navigation is not obvious or the checkout process is difficult. Bad UI indicates the interface is hard to use, for example there is low contrast, the buttons are inconsistent in appearance or the text is hard to see. Bad UI = Bad UX. UI isn't the same as UX. Bad UI means bad UX.

How does bad UX affect conversions and revenue?

Bad UX might result in fewer conversions if consumers are confused by pricing, can’t fill in forms or can’t checkout. It may also increase support expenses and turnover with clients. The effect on the company relies on how serious the problem is and how frequently it occurs among consumers.

Are dark patterns considered bad UX?

Yes. "Dark patterns are manipulations or methods in design that lead consumers to do things they might not otherwise do. Think sneaky opt-out methods, deceptive agree buttons and vague subscription clauses. These tactics diminish the control of the user and may impact the trust of the client.

Which tools help identify bad UX?

There are some technologies that can help you identify usability problems. Some of them include Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Clarity, Lighthouse, WAVE and Maze. They help with user behavior assessment, accessibility testing and usability testing among other things. These tactics and customer data allow you to better understand where consumers are struggling.

Which UX problems should you fix first?

Pay attention to the things that prevent the user from doing things like broken checkout, failed payments, inaccessible signup forms. "Then fix onboarding & navigation, unclear pricing concerns. The order of addressing topics is based on user impact, frequency, business importance and difficulty to implement.

Final Thoughts

Bad UX case studies show that even small design errors can mean more work for customers. When navigation is confusing, checkout is difficult, controls are inaccessible, or the interface uses manipulative design patterns, digital products are less usable.

Start with your most critical user experiences. Use analytics, usability testing, accessibility testing and feedback from users to identify the most important issues.