[Sigia-l] Does interface design matter?

[Trenouth, John]

Perhaps not.  Look at MySpace, CraigsList.  Of course some would say
that while CraigsList is pretty low on aesthetic quality, that same
no-nonsense design helps users achieve their goals more easily.  So in
that sense the ui still matters very much.  I guess the answer depends
on what aspect of the ui design you're talking about.  Aesthetics?  Ease
of use?  Ease of learning?  Etc.

Yahoo's new email is basically Oddpost with a new bubbly skin--they
bought oddpost a while back.  The original Oddpost ui was pure elegance.
It had virtually all the functionality of a desktop email application,
in a simple elegant muted grey ui.  And it supported both POP and IMAP
in case you really still wanted to use your installed email client. 

Unfortunately not many people know this.  I think at the time Yahoo
bought them they only have a few thousand users paying $30 a year for
their service.  

It looks like this may be yet another case of a superior product failing
in the marketplace.  Perhaps a product's success is due more to
marketing and promotion than to design and quality.  The triumph of
mediocrity--I'm not sure I like that very much.