The old style vs substance debate

[amykhar]

Around here, the argument about whether cool styles matter much when it comes to creating a popular site crops up every so often. The same conversation is going on out in blog world as well. I posted this in the lounge instead of in the coder's forum so that design people can join in the conversation.

Some starter quotes:

The point is, when you put someone who is primarily a designer in charge of your interface, you?re going to get a pretty interface. But, unless he is a designer that is aware of his own biases, he?s going to sacrifice some degree of usability for the sake of his pretty design.

I?m not saying that pretty advertising doesn?t have it?s place. But I do think that the web is a VERY different medium with very different reactions.

Back to my own thoughts. We've had flashy, cool banners for years. Most of us couldn't make hosting costs with the things. Now, we have plain google text ads, and many of us are able to cover costs and even finance improvements to our sites or put a little money in our pockets.

From another article:

sites that have ugly designs are well known to pull more revenue, be more sticky, build better brands, and generally be more fun to participate in, than sites with beautiful designs.

He joins a good list. Google. Is it pretty? No. Craig?s List? Pretty? No. MySpace? Pretty? No.

In my own experience, I have tried a lot of different styles over the years. And, invariably, my users demand one thing - a basic variation of the vbuletin default style with color changes and minor changes to make popular features easier to access.

I catch some flak here from time to time because I don't do much style-wise with my site. And, I tend to get a bit anxious about it and go try some new style technique in response. But, I am going to say for once and for all - I'm through with slick styles. Instead, my work is going to center on efficiency and useabilty.

Your thoughts?