They say "put politicians on minimum wage and see things change".
This is a similar proposal.
I initially wanted to conduct it myself, and write an article about it ("Going undercover as a minnow for a week" - kind of like ...investigative journalism among the minnows) but then I got a much better idea:
Steemit creators / administrators should try posting as "newbies" for a week. In this way they will see, first hand, what isn't so readily apparent when having a high-rep / high-SP account. At that moment, they'll know exactly what to change to make the platform work better for the lower-ranking users and decrease attrition rates.
Alternatively, if they don't have time, they need to use some relative (mother, brother, sister, etc) to do the same and get (at least) the second-hand experience and feedback from people they know and trust.
I'm pretty certain the insights gained will be invaluable.