5 UX pitfalls derailing your digital projects

Every organisation that invests in digital platforms hopes to delight users and drive real outcomes.  

Far too often, projects stall or fail because of avoidable user experience mistakes that eat into budgets and frustrate users.  

Drawing on insights from James Ferguson, Sherwen’s Head of UX, we’ve identified five common UX traps that derail digital products.

We’re helping designers avoid these by outlining practical steps to spot and dodge each pitfall.  

With these in hand you can bridge the gap between technology and experience and build solutions that truly work for your users and your business.

#1: Assuming stakeholders are the user

One of the most persistent misunderstandings in UX projects is when people in charge believe that their own opinions stand in for genuine user needs.

This leads to wasted cycles debating preferences and then building features that nobody wants or needs.

When leaders insist their own view is what users want, teams spend weeks polishing features that nobody uses. Deadlines slip and budgets blow out. Worse still, trust between stakeholders and design experts erodes because expectations are never met.

How to avoid stakeholder conflict

1. Gather every idea and compare it with genuine user feedback. Run informal interviews or quick usability sessions early on.

2. Prototype and test before you build. Even a paper prototype can show why an idea will fail with real people.

3. Bring stakeholders along the journey. Share snippets of user feedback at each stage so everyone understands how real users behave.

Teams that put user insight at the heart of decision-making spend less time on rework and more on features that deliver real value.

Make user research the constant reference point and shift the focus from opinion to evidence. Stakeholders will learn to trust the process and to speak the language of real users.  

#2: Designing in silos makes platforms feel fractured

Many enterprises break work into product teams or squads and expect each to deliver its own piece of the platform.

Without a strong central strategy this leads to inconsistent styling and fractured flows.‍

Splitting work into isolated squads without a shared UX vision leads to jarring transitions and rising support tickets. Users get confused when one module looks and feels entirely different from the next.

How to achieve a holistic design

• Establish a shared design system and style guide that every team uses.

• Hold regular cross team reviews where each squad demos its latest screens.

• Use collaborative tools such as shared component libraries and centralised pattern repositories.

When you treat UX as a collective responsibility and enforce common standards teams can move fast without losing consistency. Users experience a seamless journey and your support burden falls.

To get Sherwen's team on the same page, we run an innovation sprint and/or design sprint to anchor decisions in user insight.

Before any launch, we validate flows with UX testing methods that move the needle to prove real-world impact.

#3: Taking mobile for granted loses on-the-move users

In the rush to launch features many teams still design primarily for large screens and then simply stack components for mobile.

This lazy approach delivers clunky flows and missed opportunities on the devices people use most.

James warns us:

Mobile behaviour and expectations differ greatly from desktop. Small screens demand clear priorities, touch friendly elements and fast load times. Simply scaling a desktop layout does not cut it.

Practical guidance for true mobile first design

1. Begin wireframes on the smallest screen and build upwards. This forces you to prioritise content and actions.

2. Design around one hand use and thumb reach. Place primary actions where thumbs naturally rest.

3. Optimise performance by lazy loading images and deferring non-essential scripts.

4. Test on real devices in real environments, not just in browser emulators

Treat mobile-first UX as a unique challenge and create experiences that feel native to the device.

Users who get a smooth, tailored mobile experience stay longer, convert more often and recommend products to others.

#4: Choosing the wrong metrics undermines your case

Shipping designs without clear KPIs makes it impossible to prove UX value. Leadership sees little impact and may cut future budgets.

James points out:

You might track conversion rates in ecommerce or retention in a SaaS product. You might use monthly active users or task completion time. The key is to pick metrics that link directly to your business goals

Best practice in UX measurement

• Define one or two primary metrics before design starts, such as conversion rate or task completion time.

• Include perception metrics like the System Usability Scale or ALF Q to benchmark usability and desirability.

• Present improvements in financial terms, for example a five-point rise in SUS can correspond to a double-digit revenue uplift.

• Review metrics regularly and adjust design priorities based on real-world data.

When you measure the right things, you can tell a compelling ROI story.

Clear measurement transforms UX into a strategic asset rather than a discretionary cost.

#5: Not embracing the tools of tomorrow

Traditional research and manual testing take time teams often do not have.

New AI-powered tools can accelerate insights and stress-test prototypes at scale.

James highlights the potential of deep research assistants:

He is also keen on synthetic users:

Ways on how to integrate new AI tools

• Run competitive and user-behaviour research in minutes using AI assistants.

• Simulate dozens of user journeys with synthetic testing platforms before live trials.

• Generate early mock-ups from simple prompts then refine them with design expertise.

• Combine human research sessions with AI summaries to uncover deep insights faster.

Experimenting with these technologies allows your team to focus on higher value tasks, strategic design challenges and iterate more often.

When speed is crucial, Sherwen's AI Advance solutions compress days of desk research into minutes.

Ready to tackle your UX challenges?

Avoiding these UX traps can save your organisation time and money while creating digital experiences that truly delight.

Ground decisions in user insight, enforce shared standards, treat mobile as a first-class citizen, measure what matters and embrace the latest tools.  

At Sherwen we guide businesses through every stage of this journey. Wherever you are now and wherever you want to be we can help you close the gap between technology and experience.