Because Even The Smallest Of Decisions Can Affect The User Experience

When Apple decided to remove the “time remaining” estimate with their macOS 10.12.2 update, the reasoning behind this product decision (accurate or not) affected not just how users perceived this MacBook “Pro” fix, but Apple itself.

“It's not that the battery is not providing our stated all day battery life, it's that our time remaining is not accurate,” Apple basically says.

“It's how you're holding the phone.” Sorry, wrong problem – same antennagate adjust the level users should know better reasoning.

At least, one blogger accurately nails it with the images he uses to describe this fix: Apple fixes MacBook Pro battery life by removing time estimate

Apple's reasoning is a bit like saying that the ETA on Waze or Apple Maps should be removed, because you know, there are random accidents, traffic, bumps, whatever that might affect your arrival time.

Users get the fact that the time remaining feature was an estimate that varied on many factors. However, it was also a useful gauge to help us adjust our usage before we actually did run out of battery life.

In short, a crafted PR spin to remedy a questionable product fix seems to just lower the time remaining to stay an Apple user estimate.

Add dongles here, remove a jack there, charge more for this while removing its cable are all product decisions that affect the end user experience.

Product decisions add up to a final UX impression that needs to matter for any business.

falling blocks and apple

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