This flies in the face of 40 years of UI design. Muscle memory is a good thing. Muscle memory is exactly the point where you don't have to think about it at a low level. Imagine if they completely and wildly rearranged automotive UIs at the slightest provocation. Suddenly, your brake is on the right because somebody thought it looked better over there. Admittedly, Spotify changing their interface has much less risk for harm than non-standard automotive layouts. However, the idea still holds.
Hell, if something caused the icons on my phone to be rearranged, I'd be pretty damn mad. According to the logical end of your viewpoint, phones randomly rearranging the icons would be a good thing because you have to relearn everything?
There are ways to truly foster neuroplasticity. This ain't it.
I'm very good at learning a new user interface. The problem is when you change things up, you take someone who has become proficient and drop them down a few pegs when you change up too much. Ever wonder why, even with the changes that are present, the core concept of an application like Photoshop is still there, virtually unchanged? One or more edit windows, a toolbox, option panels, and menus. Even though it's been expanded on, the window layout of the latest Photoshop CC is very much rooted in that of the earliest versions.
Hell, if something caused the icons on my phone to be rearranged, I'd be pretty damn mad. According to the logical end of your viewpoint, phones randomly rearranging the icons would be a good thing because you have to relearn everything?
There are ways to truly foster neuroplasticity. This ain't it.
I'm very good at learning a new user interface. The problem is when you change things up, you take someone who has become proficient and drop them down a few pegs when you change up too much. Ever wonder why, even with the changes that are present, the core concept of an application like Photoshop is still there, virtually unchanged? One or more edit windows, a toolbox, option panels, and menus. Even though it's been expanded on, the window layout of the latest Photoshop CC is very much rooted in that of the earliest versions.