In the Windows 2000 era, you didn't need a product tour or a tooltip onboarding flow because the UI was self-documenting. If a feature existed, it was in the menu bar. If a shortcut existed, it was underlined.

Today, we’ve replaced functional density with clean whitespace. We hide essential features under hamburger menus and invisible long-presses to make the UI look good in a Dribbble shot, then we wonder why we have to spend millions on UX research to see if users can find the Settings button.

We’ve moved from User Interfaces to User Puzzles. We’re essentially forcing every user to learn a new language for every single app they open. It’s a massive, collective drain on global productivity, all for the sake of brand identity.