After auditing dozens of early-stage SaaS products, these are the patterns I see over and over:

1. Your onboarding asks too many questions before delivering value.

The first screen after signup should get users doing the thing they came for — not filling out a survey. Move your onboarding questions inline or delay them entirely.

2. Your empty states are actually empty.

When a user lands on a dashboard with no data, they feel lost. Show sample data, guided prompts, or a single clear next step. An empty screen is a churned user.

3. Your pricing page creates decision paralysis.

3 tiers max. One should be obviously the right choice for 80% of people. If your users are comparing features in a 5-column table, you've already lost them.

4. You bury your "aha moment" behind setup steps.

If your product's core value requires configuration, let users experience a preview first. Show them the result before making them do the work.

5. Your CTAs compete with each other.

Every screen should have ONE primary action. If you have "Start Free Trial," "Book a Demo," and "Watch Video" all above the fold, none of them win.

I run UX audits for early-stage SaaS products at SaaS UX Lab. If your trial-to-paid conversion is under 5%, there's low-hanging fruit to fix.