Ok, I'm tempted to go back to it, thanks for sharing your experience! I have had some ideas similar to what you describe. I wonder if you've seen https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/uxntal.html. Some of the projects listed here might be of interest to you either https://malleable.systems/catalog/

That malleable systems manifesto really resonated with me. I actually did a project recently where I tried to adhere to that sort of ethos: https://pickles976.github.io/Hari-Recipes/

It is nice to see others with similar feelings.