Introduction
Why do once‑useful platforms and products that delighted users slowly become hollow shells that prioritise growth over quality? That slow decline — called enshittification by Cory Doctorow — is now mainstream thinking alongside Ed Zitron’s idea of the Rot Economy. For product leaders this isn’t a cultural rant: it’s a practical threat to retention, margin and trust. This article explains the mechanics behind the decay and, more importantly, what CPOs and CTOs can do right now to stop it.
The long view: cycles repeat — and that’s useful
Technology goes through waves: utility, scale, optimisation, and then often, degradation when incentives diverge from user value. We’ve seen this before — with search monetisation, the two waves of mobile, and the earlier platform booms. These cycles teach a simple lesson: scale exposes misaligned incentives faster. When a product’s primary success metric shifts from user value to short‑term growth signals, rot follows.
The mechanics of enshittification and the Rot Economy
Doctorow’s original essay and Ed Zitron’s the commentary around the Rot Economy make the same structural point: platforms optimise for intermediaries (advertisers, merchants, investors) not end‑users. There are three technical and organisational failure modes that accelerate this:
- Self‑preferencing and rent capture — features and rankings shift to favour platform owners or paid partners, undermining neutrality and trust.
- Short‑term KPIs over durable metrics — daily active users, installs and ad revenue beat long‑term retention, lifetime value and product health.
- Monoculture of tooling and closed systems — closed APIs, opaque algorithms and tight platform control reduce competition and create fragility.
Look at the backlash to algorithmic personalisation and AI experiments in consumer products: users notice when recommendations go stale or when features seem designed to extract attention rather than add value. The recent criticism of Spotify’s heavy AI experiments and the perceived deterioration of discovery is a practical example of this dynamic (see coverage in MIT Technology Review).
Three practical strategies product leaders can use today
Stopping the rot isn’t about moralising; it’s about designing incentives and systems that keep the user at the centre. Here are three actions that CPOs, CTOs and CEOs should put into practice.
1. Re‑align metrics to durable user value
Replace vanity metrics with metrics tied to user outcomes. Examples:
- Measure retention cohorts by task success, not just session frequency.
- Track trusted engagement — repeat task completion with low friction.
- Segment health metrics by source to detect self‑preferencing early.
When boards ask for growth, present scenarios that show the long‑run margin impact of degraded UX. Use experiments and A/B tests that prioritise lifetime value over short spikes.
2. Build governance that protects product purpose
Introduce lightweight but effective guardrails:
- Decision frameworks that require a “user value impact” assessment before monetisation changes.
- Cross‑functional review boards to scrutinise partner deals, algorithmic tweaks and design changes.
- Transparency requirements for ranking changes and third‑party promotions.
These don’t have to be bureaucratic. Think of them as a product debt control process: stop adding systemic liabilities disguised as short‑term gains.
3. Design for composability and reversibility
Technical and commercial flexibility reduce lock‑in and allow course correction. Practical steps:
- Modular architectures so discovery, ranking and monetisation can be iterated independently.
- Open or exportable data options for users and partners to reduce vendor lock‑in.
- Feature flagging and rapid rollback plans for monetisation experiments that harm user experience.
Governance, ethics and market structure
There’s a macro layer here. Enshittification is easier when market power is concentrated and governance is weak. Product leaders should lobby internally and externally for fairer platform practices — publish rules, open APIs where possible and support ecosystem partners who add independent value. That’s not just principled: a healthy ecosystem improves product resilience and reduces regulatory risk.
A recent example and what it teaches us
Spotify’s recent AI experiments and the critical response to its 2024 Wrapped illustrate how rapid, attention‑seeking features can damage trust when not grounded in clear user benefit. Reporting in MIT Technology Review and other outlets documented user dissatisfaction where the product felt engineered for metrics instead of delight. The lesson is simple: if your experiments could plausibly make users feel the product is worse, intervene earlier and design reversibility into those experiments.
Final thoughts
Product rot is not inevitable. It is the predictable outcome of misaligned incentives and brittle systems. The antidote is neither nostalgia nor pure regulation: it’s deliberate product leadership. Re‑centre metrics on durable user value, introduce guardrails that defend product purpose, and design systems that can be reversed when they stray. Start by auditing one high‑impact monetisation or recommendation flow this quarter. If you can prove that your short‑term experiment preserves or increases lifetime value, you’ve made a strong case for sustainable growth — and avoided another entry into the history of enshittification.
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