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Ask HN: Why is there this trend to remove/hide useful features from software?

16 points by Ididntdothis ↗ HN
I just got to use the Books app in Catalina and I find it almost unusable for my audiobooks. Smart lists are gone, I can't figure out how to jump to specific track, I can't find find my files in Finder anymore.

Makes me wonder why they destroyed a perfectly OK software by dumbing it down to making it pretty much useless. What are the people that make these decisions thinking?

I honestly want to know. It doesn't make sense to put effort into a rebuild only to make something less useful.

10 comments

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spsrich2
It's Apple, right? There's no plan behind any of it, this is just how the app ended up
soulchild37
Apple management is going to shit, they don't dogfood their own app and they don't give a shit about UI/UX anymore as long as their sales figure keep increasing. There will be a slow and gradual increase of disgruntled mac user and then the sales will be slowly dropping from there on, it happened under Sculley and it will be repeated.

Steve Jobs was right : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AxZofbMGpM&t=1s

luckman212
Thanks for that video, hadn't seen it before. Damn, I miss having Steve at the helm.
CM30
I think it's down to a misunderstanding about UX design and usability. Basically, a lot of companies seem to get 'minimalistic, lacking in features' confused with 'easy to use', and assume the way to make their software more accessible to the general public is to remove all the more 'complex' features that were there before.

But this isn't the case; good design doesn't mean 'remove every feature except maybe three of them', nor does it mean 'hide features under layers of menus in case they scare newcomers'. It means to make the software easy to understand at a glance, and to make it so people with different use cases can get doing done.

We see the same trend in website design too. An assumption that good design means 'barely anything on screen at any one time'.

So yeah, it's due to a UX misunderstanding,

speedplane
> We see the same trend in website design too. An assumption that good design means 'barely anything on screen at any one time'.

A fair criticism, but this attitude largely arose in response to kitchen sink approaches to adding features for every possible use case that was extremely common until relatively recently.

Yes, good features should be added if they help users get what they want done, but it's also fair to push back a bit, and determine whether the feature that a user asked for is really in their best interest. Thinking critically about feature creep is largely a good development.

CM30
Oh, I agree with feature creep being something you have to watch out for, and there are definitely examples where adding everything and the kitchen sink has led to virtually unusable products/services (remembers that browser screenshot showing IE with about 20 custom toolbars)

But it's a balancing act overall. You need to know what the users will actually use and what they won't, prioritise things that more of the userbase will get some mileage out of, and move away from the idea that simple or complex is necessary better/good for any product.

chrisbennet
I agree. Apple just changes stuff for the sake of change. Good luck navigating photos for example.

But think about it; as a developer, you don't score any points for not modifying software that works great.

wingerlang
Seriously I get lost in Photos app each time I open it. I know it has a bunch of cool stuff, per day, location etc. But I have no idea where to find it and I only use it occasionally, so I just tap around until I stumble upon it each time.
ryanmccullagh
Speaking of Apple, I’m on my 3rd repair this year (bought in January) for a 2018 MBP. The problem is there is not a single laptop that can compete with the MBP. I’ve been back on my Linux laptop and it’s a pain to use, and not because of the OS.
buboard
Usually it's about control. Want a new feature that you could perfectly have if you had buttons to fiddle with? You re now gonna have to beg the programmers to do your bidding. Programmers used to serve their audience now it's the other way around