The least they could do is write up something as unhinged as that old Pepsi design strategy document.

https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-arnell...

I feel the same way when my AWS console asked me to take survey on the EC2 console. I replied that I don't know which version I was meant to comment on since it changes every other week, and that I hope someone gets there performance bonus. My favorite question was "it feels modern". Like just leave the damn thing alone. Rather than worrying about useless small tweaks like a gradient, make sure the core features of the product work.

What’s frustrating about tech industry is that they are probably getting paid multiple hundred thousands of dollars for this. Meanwhile I know of engineers at Google who are being managed out for “performance reasons” after being gaslighted into working 60+ hour work weeks.

I often think about how much more cost effective some companies' products would be if they would decide their product is "done" and that they accepted moving on into a cash cow type of phase.

There are major websites and web-based products like Craigslist, Wikipedia, and Steam that are handling insane Internet traffic with comparatively tiny levels of staffing when compared to YouTube or other giants.

I think those companies have accepted that there is no rush to make major innovations or changes and that hiring a large army of talent is far less cost effective than having teams that are small enough for everyone to know each other.

Clear sign of a bloated corp.

This kind of decision is also probably easily bike shedded.

There's a lot that goes that you don't notice, or that you easily forget about when you make a comment like this.

The introduction of a gradient and accent actually enables and makes it more natural to use more eye-catching effects on the platform. For example, when a YTer says "subscribe", a rainbow (IIRC) animation plays on the subscribe button. When you like or subscribe, an animation plays that now has more color to it. These animations feel satisfying and I dare say have measurable impact.

At the same time, the changes are so subtle that users hardly notice a change that they will have difficulty getting used to, and also already present components do not look out of place if they don't get refreshed.

That is what an experienced design team is paid to do. Complaining about seeing no drastic change here is like complaining about engineers making no user-facing effect when they refactor the underlying systems in preparation for future developments.