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This, exactly. Rapid iteration on user control surfaces is good; rapid iteration on public APIs is bad. Edit to say — rapid iteration of UX is good as long as

This, exactly. Rapid iteration on user control surfaces is good; rapid iteration on public APIs is bad. Edit to say — rapid iteration of UX is good as long as it’s goal-aligned and has an endpoint. Set a goal, iterate and measure until you achieve it, then leave it alone.

mitthrowaway2 2y ago
Yes, please leave it alone. Nothing prompts me to leave a service I've been with for a long time than a UX "refresh" after I had years of experience and setting everything the way I liked it.
- rkuodys 2y ago
  I think this is such an interesting issue. On one hand as a system developer, you want to keep existing customers happy with what they are used to. On the other- you want to grow and acquire new ones which requires upgrades to existing processes till you reach a limit - you need a new ui/ux. And what do you do? Maintain N versions?
  - bigstrat2003 2y ago
    The problem, as usual, stems from businesses prioritizing growth above all things (including the existing customers). There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a stable business that turns a respectable profit, but modern day American business culture is allergic to the idea.
stackghost 2y ago
I can't think of a UI/UX iteration in the last 10+ years that felt like an upgrade. Reddit, Gmail, Twitter, Windows, Android, touch screens replacing actual buttons, etc. they all used to be better but big companies seemingly can't help themselves from making their product worse.
rqtwteye 2y ago
"Rapid iteration on user control surfaces is good; rapid iteration on public APIs is bad." I think rapid UI iteration is bad once a product has reached a certain maturity. I absolutely hate it when a tool I use often, suddenly changes its interface without any discernible benefit. I am fine with yearly changes but the constant churn is really annoying. MS Teams is a big offender here. They constantly change stuff but nothing gets better, just different. And a lot of UX guys seem to feel it's best to take away features that only a few percent of users are using. Compared to the progress we made in 1990s and 2000s, it feels like most companies are just moving buttons around and making UI elements more difficult to distinguish but otherwise they are out of ideas for actually useful stuff.

mitthrowaway2 2y ago

Yes, please leave it alone. Nothing prompts me to leave a service I've been with for a long time than a UX "refresh" after I had years of experience and setting everything the way I liked it.

rkuodys 2y ago
I think this is such an interesting issue. On one hand as a system developer, you want to keep existing customers happy with what they are used to. On the other- you want to grow and acquire new ones which requires upgrades to existing processes till you reach a limit - you need a new ui/ux. And what do you do? Maintain N versions?
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  The problem, as usual, stems from businesses prioritizing growth above all things (including the existing customers). There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a stable business that turns a respectable profit, but modern day American business culture is allergic to the idea.

stackghost 2y ago

I can't think of a UI/UX iteration in the last 10+ years that felt like an upgrade. Reddit, Gmail, Twitter, Windows, Android, touch screens replacing actual buttons, etc. they all used to be better but big companies seemingly can't help themselves from making their product worse.

rqtwteye 2y ago

"Rapid iteration on user control surfaces is good; rapid iteration on public APIs is bad." I think rapid UI iteration is bad once a product has reached a certain maturity. I absolutely hate it when a tool I use often, suddenly changes its interface without any discernible benefit. I am fine with yearly changes but the constant churn is really annoying. MS Teams is a big offender here. They constantly change stuff but nothing gets better, just different. And a lot of UX guys seem to feel it's best to take away features that only a few percent of users are using. Compared to the progress we made in 1990s and 2000s, it feels like most companies are just moving buttons around and making UI elements more difficult to distinguish but otherwise they are out of ideas for actually useful stuff.