ShaunaGM 💚🪦Hampshire CollegeMay 15, 2023

I'm looking for examples of UX/interface design where:

* users started using a feature in a way that wasn't intended (can be for good or for ill)
* the product team responded by removing the feature entirely

Also very interested in interfaces where there is an obvious feature that users would want/need that's not provided, and that feature is obviously not provided because it's against the interests of the company who makes the software.

Can anyone think of examples which fit?

Show threadStewart Russell

@shauna old example: the Amstrad PCW was a cheap word processor box from the 1980s. It had a slow cpu, floppies and little memory, so its spell check scrolled the document text through display memory. Some users used this scrolling display to proof read.

Later, the word processor software (LocoScript) was ported to the PC. It was faster and had enough memory that it got rid of the slow-scroll spell check. This disappointed users, despite being many times faster.

May 15, 2023 at 7:33pmWeb
Show threadFoolishOwlJan 20, 2025
@scruss @shauna That reminds me of when I replaced a 300 baud modem with a 1200 baud modem (or was it 2400?) and found that text scrolled by too fast to read.