Great examples. I think functionality overrides appearance, at least until competition steps in. Reddit and YC are examples of spartan design but great loyalty

Great examples. I think functionality overrides appearance, at least until competition steps in. Reddit and YC are examples of spartan design but great loyalty among readers young and old. It's the idea and the execution first followed by the quality of design. We see it all the time: small company comes up with cool product but not-so-cool packaging/marketing. Once they become successful, they hire people who make their packaging/marketing as good as the product. I guess I fall on the side of "Product First, Marketing Second." It could be that a great website design is more about marketing than product but I don't know.