To help people position your product in their heads effectively, points of parity (e.g. analogies) and points of difference are very useful.

The 'X for Y' is a way to express both at once "it's like X but it's different because it focuses on Y". However, as you say, it only works well in limited situations and can come off as very cliché.

During customer development, I recommend leading with the input / output description and then letting the recipient clarify using their own 'point of parity'.