Upfront Summary:

• Avoiding costly design mistakes by staying away from untested design inspirations

• Get inspired with award-winning designs in your niche industry

• Ditch unreliable design inspirations from sites like Dribbble

• Gain valuable insights from your audience's favourite products by asking for feedback

• Create a product that not only looks great but also meets your customers' needs.

Copying untested design inspirations is a costly mistake!

Don't Let Marketing Steal the Show

Stop confusing marketing with product design. Lots of folks make things just to match their advertising plan, without thinking about what their clients really want. And that's where they go wrong! Your product should be the hero, and your marketing should enhance its features.

To put it simply, your marketing collateral shouldn't be dependent on your product's appearance alone. Try removing the product shots from your marketing material and see how effective it still is.

Award-Winning Design Inspo

Want to find good design ideas that work well for your customers? Check out special websites that give out awards in your field! These websites are great because they focus more on solving problems than just looking pretty.

If you're in healthcare or finance, look for sites that recognize outstanding companies in these spaces. You can also search for social impact or customer experience-driven services that align with your values.

Guidelines for Creativity

Creative restrictions are incredibly important. Use these guidelines to get started:

• Avoid relying on sites like Dribbble for inspiration.

• Don't limit yourself to looking at the competition for ideas.

• Ask your audience what products they like and use the most to gain valuable insights.

  
  

By following these guidelines, you can push yourself to think more creatively and come up with designs that truly stand out.

Pretty isn't enough

A lot of people think of their product like a painting, something that's only supposed to look pretty. But it's actually more important to make sure your product works well and helps people. So, don't just focus on making it look good - make sure it's useful too!

Design for Functionality

For instance, if you look on Dribble, you will see lots of financial dashboards that look like kids' video games. In reality, professional finance dashboards don't look like that. If you want to improve the lives of professionals with your product, don't make it look like child's play.

Think Outside the Box

Take a break from the usual sources of inspiration and explore new avenues.

Try This! - Find 10 unique sources of inspiration, avoid competitors and design sites. Just explore.