Mastodawn

Serious question: as a user (not as a developer!), have you ever seen substantial improvement in a piece of a software from a ground-up rewrite?

In other words, have you ever used (but not co-developed) something where the developer(s) decided on stopping evolutionary work and instead embarked on a substantial rewrite, and the outcome as you saw it firsthand was a real improvement?

If so, please state your example. Please stick to personal experience, rather than hearsay. Thanks!

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andros Feb 24

@xahteiwi In UX, or UIs, often.
From a business logic or backend perspective, I wouldn't know. If the transition is done correctly, it should be invisible to me.

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Florian Haas Feb 24

@andros "Often" is not an example; I asked (with a reason) for specific examples.

I also asked about improvements noticeable to users; if something is "invisible" it is not a noticeable improvement.

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andros Feb 24

@xahteiwi For example, my bank's app. They improved the contrast, font size, and content hierarchy; they eliminated recurring modals in favor of dynamic structures (new steps or dropdown menus), added more contextual buttons, and made the help chat always visible.
Another example is WhatsApp; the navigation bar was moved to the bottom on Android, resembling iOS. Minor, but it improved accessibility.
Another case that comes to mind is the Renfe website (the Spanish state-owned train company). There was a huge amount of work involved in updating part of the backend, including the user experience. All of this was done without affecting users.

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Florian Haas Feb 24

@andros How do you know your bank app's UX improvements (or WhatsApp's) were the result of ground-up major rewrite?

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andros

@xahteiwi Redesigning an app or website isn't just about code. There are other tools and technologies involved. I don't know about the code itself (I have no proof, but it doesn't seem that far-fetched), but the most plausible scenario is that the UX designer had to create new prototypes, the project owner had to define new workflows, and the graphic designer had to create new files.