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Home
UX Glossary
Experience Creep

🤯

Experience Creep

Products exponentially grow in complexity.

Similar psychology:

Tribalism
Curiosity Gap
User Delight

Likely impacts:

Productivity & Efficiency
Complexity & Understanding
Last updated: 03/11/2026

How to utilise this in your designs

When advanced tools have built up in the interface over time, you could offer a lite mode that strips away the advanced components, leaving a simpler version to use.

Stock detail page. Switching on a "Lite" mode, "Simple and Easy Experience" for "Long-term Investment", strips the chart of volume bars, axis labels, market stats and content tabs, leaving only price, monthly change and time ranges.
Example from
WeBull logo
WeBull

Try a simple mode with slightly larger buttons, clearer labels and fewer options shown at once, so the main actions are easier to find as the product grows.

Settings. Turning on "Simple Mode" switches to a minimal home screen with "Find a trip", shortcuts and plain service options like "Reserve a trip for later" and "Request a trip", replacing the standard home screen's food-delivery tab and suggestion grid.
Example from
Uber logo
Uber

One option is a separate mode that removes features like filters and notifications, so the core experience isn't buried under extras some people don't need.

Audiobook home screen. A row of filter chips ("Home", "Classifiche", "Serie", "Podcast", "English") and a notifications bell sit under the header; after scrolling down, both disappear, leaving only the "Home" title.
Example from
Storytel logo
Storytel

In an onboarding to-do list, consider collapsing the advanced items into their own section, so the basics come first and the extras are there for anyone who opens it.

Onboarding checklist. Below the "More Stuff" tasks, a collapsed, dimmed "Advanced Stuff..." section has an expand arrow; tapping it reveals further tasks such as "Customize your Launchpad", "Add a Plan to a task" and "Add your first Space".
Example from
Stuff logo
Stuff

It may help to let tooltips disappear after a few seconds, so guidance on a busy screen doesn't become another permanent layer of complexity.

Journal entry form. Under "Add media", the unlabelled media icons gain floating labels, "Photos + videos", "Audio" and "Location", explaining what each attachment option adds to the entry.
Example from
ABY Journal logo
ABY Journal

Possible impacts

Adding features release after release can bury everyday actions, so users may take longer to find them and complete routine tasks more slowly.

As seen in:
Discord logo
Discord
Suggested usernames, in one tap
Flighty logo
Flighty
A shortcut while searching

Each new feature makes sense alone, but together they may leave new users struggling to understand how the product works, making it feel harder to use than it used to.

As seen in:
WeBull logo
WeBull
It's WeBull, but lite
Uber logo
Uber
Uber's simple mode
Profile photo. A circular headshot of a smiling young man with short tousled hair and round glasses, suitable as an author avatar or user profile picture. No interface elements are shown.

Written by Peter Ramsey

Consultant to 100+ companies

Published: 25/08/2023