It does not paint a picture that opens the mind to understanding. It is, rather, an arbitrary mathematical system that has become the standard for perhaps half of all western astrologers. But without a symbolic understanding of this technique, we are accepting it on faith and by experience. Each astrologer is going to resonate with different techniques. The magic, then, lies in the practitioner, not in the technique.
Many astrologers interpret house cusps very precisely.
Transits and progressions, too, are reported when crossing cusps. Hindu Bhava system reads the middle of a house its strongest point 5. He told me that each one is correct within its own system, that is through its particular lens. Each represents reality according to its own rules, perfect in its own universe, but dumb to all the rest. While Placidus is the most popular house system, such diverse 20th century astrologers as Dane Rudhyar and Charles Jayne used the Campanus system which has some great logic going for it.