I agree that IRCC has a lot of room to improve. Their architects should be smarter. The new portal is integrated with the PR Card printing system which was not the case earlier. This is good since the applicants need not do anything else after the portal uploads. But, why they are asking for the same info which they already have? This is my guess,
1. Address: IRCC might have observed that many applicants do not update their address when they move even though it's a required step from the applicant.
2. Acknowledgement: They need it directly from each applicant. Not sure why they do not allow representatives to do this. The current system doesn't have the capability to distinguish applicant and representative emails.
3. Photo: I can think of only the funny side of it. Many applications are heavily delayed. They might have thought that our face contours have changed over the course
By the way, my application has the Submitted status with no change for individual assessment sections for months. But I have received the confirmation email. Awaiting credentials.