Jira is how it is because almost any product that grows to be that flexible will develop the same problems.
replyThey failed to rearchitect it to something suitable for the inherent flexibility though, so it remains a disaster area, but one that is uniquely able to fit the whims of any manager that can then mandate it for everyone else.
Maybe the workflows, etc., are inherent complexity, so that any similarly-flexible product will have the same problems.
replyBut the awful client-server architecture, where anything you do takes several seconds of waiting for the client to send who-knows-what to the server and get data back, even selecting something from a dropdown... that is absolutely just Jira. A competing product would be able to deliver much, MUCH snappier UX. Jira is just the crappiest, slowest UI that I have ever had the displeasure of being forced to work with.
I invite you to write such a trivially flexible workflow system, and see what happens to the performance of your user interface.
replyThey needed someone over there with the power to say no.