Intuitive or obscure?
the user does not value the tool for the sake of the tool (...) they value it for the results they can obtain with it
When something is designed with hidden functionality, lacking any inbuilt guidance on how to use it - or even an indication of the existence of the function itself - this is arrogance. This is presuming a primacy, an importance of the tool to the user. But the user does not value the tool for the sake of the tool; they do not value the tool as a testament to the cleverness and superiority of the designer; they value it for the results they can obtain with it If the results are important enough to them, users will learn how to access and apply hidden or convoluted functionality. They will learn how to work within poor UI's. But for those who can benefit from the tool, and want to, but do not have a strong enough incentive to master the tool, the UX becomes frustrating and inefficient at best.
The arrogance of poor design is presuming that the tool is important enough that people will invest themselves to master it. In some cases this is true; for example, the professional design tools of Adobe, or the engineering tools of Autodesk (not that these aren't without their shortcomings). This "uber-clever" design is one of the hallmarks of both Microsoft and Apple products: they both offer UI's that require the user to look things up and learn ways of working with the software that could have been in-built.
Good design does everything it can to make functions apparent, the usage simple and intuitive, and instructions or commands clear, and connected directly to the widget in question.
Inspired by many things, but finally, the faucet on my kitchen sink, which slides with great resistance just a few millimeters to switch from pour to spray. I tried to find this functionality, knowing it existed, but the UI was so poor I could not. A simple diagram, a little iconograph emblazoned on the faucet itself, would solve this issue. Then, no one would need to be an expert in the secret design of this particular faucet to be able to access the in-built functionality.