An 'academically good UI' should be easy to understand. Sure, that doesn't mean people will use it, but the ability of users to understand the UI is pretty fund

An 'academically good UI' should be easy to understand. Sure, that doesn't mean people will use it, but the ability of users to understand the UI is pretty fundamental - if they can't understand it, the UI is not 'academically good'. Some places like Craigslist choose to maintain their rougher UI, since a slick UI will scare off some users.