I recently started reading parts of the book Enshittification. The title sounds crude but it did its job by catching my eye. Also it’s something that I think we all feel in our bones is happening. I mean, doesn’t it feel like almost every digital product gets worse over time?
In the beginning, things are always clean, filled with useful features, not too many ads, not too much pressure. You download something and it’s nice, looks good and just works. Obviously that’s the phase where companies sometimes sell at a loss and are extra nice to get as many people to sign up as quick as possible.
Then eventually things start to shift. You get shown more ads, there are suddenly pop-ups, features that were once free disappear behind subscription paywalls and/or an algorithm gets introduced that noone really asked for. Not all at once but slowly so everybody has time to get used to the latest shittification before the next gets introduced.
Reading the book felt a bit like hearing what I was feeling anyway. Products don’t seem to stay good. They get optimized, monetized, stretched, squeezed until what is left is just a worse and more expensive product. And I think we all notice it. We complain about it to friends (or at least I do).
But we still keep using everything.
And that feels like the weirdest part. There’s this shared feeling that things are getting shittier, but also this shared acceptance that this is just how it is. Like it’s bad weather you can’t change.
While reading, I kept thinking about how normal this has become. Not even shocking or scandalous anymore. Just normal, which is kinda depressing if you think about it too long, no?
What’s just as depressing is how many intentional decisions are behind this slow decline. None of this appears by accident. Someone designs these extra steps, someone decides where the ad goes and someone removes the privacy settings that used to be easy to find. It’s all intentional, even if it’s framed as “improving the experience” or whatever.
I don’t even read this in a super dramatic moral way. It’s more like noticing a pattern that’s been sitting in the background for years. It feels obvious. Of course this keeps happening. Of course growth and profit push things in this direction. Of course users are not really the priority forever.
Still, there’s something interesting about putting a clear name on this shared feeling. We all feel that menus get more confusing or question why instagram changes the menu bar around for the xth time ,because why?? Choices also get more limited unless you pay. And it’s not just one specific app, it’s every app.
I’m not even sure what the right reaction is. Delete everything? Maybe. Accept it? Not great.
Noticing and becoming aware of it seems like a good first step.
So yeah, that’s where I’m at after reading a few parts of this book. Not a huge revelation, more like a vague confirmation of a feeling that was already there. But it does reinforce a rebellious feeling inside of me to do better with my design and to never be part of an enshittification process for the sake of money-making.
