Cargo cult UX describes the practice of copying design patterns, UI elements, or user flows from other products, often popular or “successful” ones, without understanding the underlying principles that make them effective (or whether they’re even appropriate for your context). In other words, borrowing the form of good design, but not the function.

ORIGIN

The term comes from “cargo cults” observed in the South Pacific after World War II. Islanders built wooden replicas of airplanes, runways, and control towers in hopes of attracting cargo planes full of goods like those that had arrived during the war. They mimicked the outward appearance of the phenomenon, without understanding the real reasons behind it.

In UX, the metaphor warns us not to assume that copying visual or interaction patterns from successful companies will automatically lead to success in your own product.

WHEN

You’re most likely to encounter cargo cult UX when:

• Stakeholders ask for “a homepage like Apple” or “a dashboard like Google Analytics.”
• Designers use UI kits or clone competitors’ designs without questioning fit.
• Teams assume that because a big company does it, it must be best practice.
• Design decisions are made based on aesthetics rather than user needs or research.

Cargo cult UX is especially common in early-stage products or redesigns under pressure to “look modern” quickly.

WHY

Imitating others feels safe. Seeing a successful pattern gives the illusion of certainty and speed: “If it works for them, it must work for us.” But good UX is context specific. What works for a large e-commerce platform with millions of products and users may not work for your niche SaaS or internal tool.

Cargo cult UX can lead to mismatched interfaces, confused users, and wasted development effort, because it ignores your unique users, goals, and constraints.

HOW

Here’s how to avoid cargo cult UX:

• Start with users. Base your design decisions on user research and actual needs, not assumptions.
• Question patterns. Ask why a pattern works elsewhere before adopting it. Does it solve a similar problem?
• Test locally. Validate borrowed ideas in your own context with prototypes and usability testing.
• Educate stakeholders. Explain that successful products work because of thoughtful end-to-end design, not just shiny UI.
• Focus on principles. Learn why certain patterns are effective so you can adapt them intelligently.

PRO TIP

If you feel tempted to copy something you saw in another product, write down what problem you think it solves in your case. If you can’t articulate the problem clearly, don’t implement it.

EXAMPLES

• Adding a hamburger menu just because “that’s what apps do,” even though your app only has two sections.
• Copying Instagram’s infinite scroll feed for an enterprise dashboard where users prefer paginated tables.
• Forcing a minimalist “Apple-like” aesthetic on a complex workflow tool, making it harder to use.

CONCLUSION

Cargo cult UX reminds us that great design is not about appearances alone, it’s about solving the right problems for the right users in the right context.

Also known as: Mimicry design • Superficial UX • Form over function