Why Do So Many Designs or Products Look The Same?

Playing devil's advocate, but as a startup founder who's strapped for time and money - isn't the pragmatic choice to be "inspired"[1] by designs which work?

When big companies have done all the hard work to prove that a certain design works (with millions poured into usability studies and what not), maybe it's ok to piggyback on their coat-tails?

[1] Obviously there's a difference between inspiration and plagiarism.

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