The short version is you used to be able to explore a system fairly easily and with some pleasant in system travel time. You would scan, then move closer for a detailed scan of interesting planets.
They then worked on an exploration update for a year which added no new content to explore just added some mini games to take more time to explore the same content. So the flow became system mini game scan, then mini game scan each planet. The mini game consists of pattern matching.
So as a game designer that offends me. Adding no new content and adding mechanics which are simply and transparently time wasters with no progression nor interesting decisions is poor work in my view.
Context, when you scan an object you can sell that scan data for credits later. Bonus if nobody else has scanned it before etc. If first to discover you also get your name tagged next to that object so other players see it. I really like that core design but was disappointed by their adding friction to access it.