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?
@shauna for the second category:
Interoperability and data export are two major features withheld from users by monopolistic companies, such as FB and MS. Withholding data export in particular is used to trap users on a platform. MS has done this from the beginning.
FB still doesn't provide "most recent first" ordering for many users, or a "friends-only" feed. I happen to have those available in my FB app, but many don't, as features vary from user to user.
FB doesn't provide a non-changing UI, making it stressful in many small ways. I don't mean lack of new features-- new features are fine-- I mean a UI that is not constantly changing in order to run continual A/B testing on the user. I have heard from a former employee that this is an integral part of their business model, and so they couldn't really change this.
Shauna GM
James M.