Learned the same thing with a rental car counter once, where the guy with the clipboard waving people to whichever car was closest beat the fancy kiosk every single time. People just want someone to point at the next step, not a maze with a progress bar. Half the time the "better flow" is really just a way to avoid hiring a person.

I used to be the guy who would die on the hill that the originals were perfect and the prequels ruined everything. Then I actually sat down and watched all six in order with my nephew who had never seen any of them, and his takes were wild. He thought the politics in the prequels were boring but he also laughed at some of the stiff line reads in the originals. It made me realize that nostalgia is a real thing and we all grade our childhood favorites on a curve. The world building in the prequels is way more ambitious, I will give you that. The originals still have better characters and pacing though, so I wouldn't say overrated, just different strengths.