The enshittification of tech: The symptoms, cause, and the cure
Allow me a brief rant: I was recently on my way home after attending Agile India. At the airport, I needed my boarding pass to gain access to the building. But I was unable to retrieve it from the British Airways app. Talk about a high-stakes and stress-inducing moment—it was unclear whether I’d be able to get into the airport and make my flight because the app wasn’t able to perform a basic and necessary function.
I wish I could say that this moment took me by surprise, but unfortunately, it’s all too typical of my experience with BA over the past few years. While they bill themselves as a premium carrier, the customer experience is much more like what you’d expect from a budget airline—it’s clear that they’ve made deep cuts to their design, research, and even product.
And they’re far from the only ones.
The enshittification of tech: The symptoms
What I experienced with BA was a symptom of this broader enshittification of tech (for more on this topic, I recommend Cory Doctorow’s keynote, “Disenshittify or die!”). Here are just a few scenarios that will sadly sound all too familiar:
Humans are increasingly replaced with AI, especially when it comes to customer service. And this is despite the fact that 52% of adults say that AI makes them nervous—not exactly the recipe for a positive interaction!
Once beloved products are becoming bloated with bolted-on features to the point where their main purpose is obfuscated and it’s hard to use them the way we once did—most of my favourite apps and services have experienced this in recent years. Sometimes their intentions appear to be good, but in the process of trying to be as helpful as possible, they end up overloading us with choice.
Or in other more nefarious cases, companies seem to intentionally make their services inaccessible, burying key features under an avalanche of CTAs we didn’t ask for or making it impossible to get the support we need.
How did we get here? The causes
We’ve all seen these symptoms and experienced them firsthand. But why is this happening in the first place? I can see a few causes:
A lack of design strategy means there’s no coherent customer experience.
A lack of connection to the customer means companies no longer understand what problems they’re solving for their customers.
Focusing too much on how the work looks on an accounting spreadsheet leads to a short-term cost-saving perspective instead of creating long-term value for the customer. I’m reminded of Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner referring to EBITDA as “bullshit earnings.” Another side of the same coin is placing too much emphasis on building vs. discovery because of accounting for the work differently (Capex vs Opex). If we aren’t investing in learning more about our customers’ needs, we aren’t going to serve them in the long run or de-risk what we choose to build.
What does this mean for you? An invitation
So what does this mean for you? As a person who is shaping company strategy, technology, and customer experiences, I hope you will see this as an invitation. We can all do better—and we should.
It was 2011 when Marc Andreessen wrote, “Software is eating the world.” Back in those days, life and business as we knew it were being disrupted by software. And today we find ourselves in another environment that’s ripe for disruption.
I understand that in our current climate, everyone is being asked to do more with less. The majority of organisations I speak with are still going through rounds of redundancies and making cuts across their product teams.
Even if this describes your situation, I’d urge you not to lose sight of the value you’re offering to your customers.
Here are a few guiding principles to keep in mind:
Design a coherent experience strategy with a focus on core jobs to be done.
Invest in healthy discovery practices to co-create your customer experience with your audience to ensure you’re solving their most important problems and opportunities.
Focus on the work that needs to be done, not just how it looks on a financial spreadsheet.
Working this way leads to happier and more loyal customers, but it doesn’t end there. Connecting work to a greater purpose (helping people solve their pain points or achieve their goals rather than just focusing on the financial benefit for your company) also leads to retaining top talent. This creates a virtuous cycle since engaged and motivated people perform better, attract other talent, and lead to better company performance.
Need help bringing any of these concepts to life? I work with companies on a range of thought and practice partnership engagements to solve your complex and ambiguous problems (and the well-defined ones, too!). Get in touch—I’d love to hear from you!
