"oooh let's not put too many buttons to scare users away", "they got 22 inch screens, let's just waste space for no good reason, it looks modern and airy"
The crucial difference between then and now is the amount of whitespace.
Usage can't be it, because I use a ton of software that I despise and get depressed by, but only because I get paid to do so, or the app is so niche there isn't a viable replacement.
You'd have to actually talk to your users. But that requires genuine human investment, so it doesn't scale. It doesn't come in the form of a third-party SaaS with a pretty dashboard, generous free plan, and integration via single <script> tag.
In short: they could measure this, they just don't bother to.
I seriously think that's what's going on.