UX Benchmark

Use this when you need to evaluate how competitors or comparators handle similar user flows, extract reusable UX patterns, and identify where your product can differentiate through better experience design. This is a UX-focused complement to market-positioning competitive analysis.

Related skills: Use /competitive-analysis for market positioning analysis. Pair with /ux-audit for your own product's assessment. Feed patterns into /funnel-analysis for conversion benchmarking.

Process

Step 1: Gather inputs

Ask the user to provide:

1. Your product -- what it does, who it's for, the flows you want to benchmark
2. Competitors/comparators -- 2-4 products to evaluate (direct competitors, adjacent products, or best-in-class examples from other industries)
3. Flows to compare -- the specific user tasks to walk through on each product (e.g., onboarding, search, checkout, settings)
4. Evaluation focus -- what matters most? (Speed, simplicity, delight, accessibility, mobile experience, information density)

Step 2: Flow walkthrough

For each competitor, walk through each target flow and document:

## Flow Walkthrough: {{Flow name}}

### {{Competitor A}}
- **Steps to complete:** (count)
- **Time to complete:** (estimate)
- **Friction points:** (where the user hesitates, errors, or backtracks)
- **Delight moments:** (where the experience exceeds expectations)
- **Notable patterns:** (interaction patterns, copy patterns, visual patterns worth studying)
- **Screenshots/evidence:** (reference specific screens or interactions)

### {{Competitor B}}
(same structure)

Step 3: Heuristic comparison

Score each product across UX dimensions for the target flows:

## Heuristic Comparison

| Dimension | Your Product | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C |
|-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| **Task completion speed** (fewer steps = better) | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |
| **Error prevention & recovery** | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |
| **First-time usability** (no training needed) | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |
| **Information clarity** (labels, hierarchy, copy) | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |
| **Visual consistency** (design system coherence) | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |
| **Mobile/responsive quality** | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |
| **Accessibility signals** (visible a11y effort) | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |
| **Delight & polish** (microinteractions, feedback) | (score 1-5) | (score) | (score) | (score) |

Step 4: Pattern extraction

Identify reusable patterns and anti-patterns across competitors:

## Patterns Worth Adopting

| Pattern | Seen in | What it solves | Adaptation for your product |
|---------|---------|---------------|----------------------------|
| (e.g., inline validation with positive feedback) | Competitor A, B | Reduces form errors by 30-40% | (how to apply it) |

## Anti-Patterns to Avoid

| Anti-pattern | Seen in | Why it fails | Your product's risk |
|-------------|---------|-------------|-------------------|
| (e.g., modal confirmation for non-destructive actions) | Competitor C | Interrupts flow, increases abandonment | (are you doing this?) |

Step 5: Gap and opportunity analysis

## Where You're Behind

| Area | Gap | Who does it better | Impact |
|------|-----|-------------------|--------|
| (area) | (what's missing) | (competitor) | High / Medium / Low |

## Where You're Ahead

| Area | Your advantage | Competitors' weakness | How to protect |
|------|---------------|---------------------|----------------|
| (area) | (what you do well) | (what they do poorly) | (how to maintain the edge) |

## Differentiation Opportunities

| Opportunity | Why no one does this well | Effort | Impact |
|-------------|--------------------------|--------|--------|
| (opportunity) | (market gap) | High / Medium / Low | High / Medium / Low |

Step 6: Review

Ask the user:

• Are the competitor selections right? Anyone missing?
• Do the scores match your experience using these products?
• Which patterns are most relevant to your current roadmap?
• Should I create stories for the top opportunities using /story-write?

Output location

Present the benchmark as formatted text in the conversation. The comparison table and pattern extraction are shareable with the design and product team.