Jay's well-considered redesign of the PeakD user interface makes sense in many ways, and I think they would make for great improvements across the various front-ends we use on Hive. I'm not a designer, but I can see how they add value and bring clarity to the UX.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
While there is truth in that, it isn't the whole story.
One consideraion of a rdesign which encourages more engagement is onboarding new members, Just as important is the retention of the new members who were just onboarded.
Even if a UI is clean, it still needs to be planned out to provide a superior UX. When the UX proves to be less optimal than expected, that gives a new member more incentive to stop using the UI and possibly even abandon Hive. The best examples of this situation involve searching and filtering: What good is the front-end if searching for content is a hassle?
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and strategic upgrades aren't mutually exclusive, and both current and proposed UIs can be in place until it is determined that the proposed UI is indeed better than the current UI.
We can say what we want about the policies in place at Apple. However, since the dawn of the iPod era, nearly everyone will agree that the design of Apple products is superior to the point of being legendary. That alone was enough to keep many users of Apple products in thhe fold. Something similar could happen with Hive if any redesigns are handled with care and consideration.
In the background as well is the perspective any potential outside investors have when they encounter Hive in any of its facets. They may not be expecting a UX like what's offered by the Big Tech apps, but they want an experience that makes them feel good about what they discovered during their research on Hive. They may have come for the profits and earnings, but they can say they stayed for the user experience.
Thanks for the kind words, @magnacarta ! I aimed for each change to add significant value/clarity. :)
I totally agree about your next points. There are opportunity costs, retention-aspects, and investor-facing aspects involved.
I have a few issues with Apple, but I agree with you, their design is usually a cut above in so many ways, and it shows, and it's a big reason why they command so much attention and loyalty. When I design something, I take a lot of inspiration from them.
Although I'm not sure why it posted 4x, I do appreciate your comment and insights, thank you, and wishing you a great day! 🙏
While trying to post my comment to your post I kept getting an error message indicating failure to post; I'm not sure why it was happening.
The wonders of modern technology.
UPDATE
I deleted the duplicate posts. Again, my bad.
Haha, all good, totally understandable, and thanks for cleaning them up 🙏