I used to care more about beautiful... but now it's all about functional for me - and its important to consider that sometimes beautiful gets in the way of fun

I used to care more about beautiful... but now it's all about functional for me - and its important to consider that sometimes beautiful gets in the way of functional. It shouldn't, but it can without proper design. I say "used to care" because I earn my income from using a computer, and anything that gets in the way of my efficient use of said computer is a problem. I've found problems with both Windows and Linux (Ubuntu, Gnome with and without Unity) that impeded my work; not always to do with the 'beauty' nearly as much as with the 'design' and workflow. It should be as easy possible to accomplish tasks, not as beautiful as possible to accomplish tasks. Keyboard shortcuts rock, mouse only sucks. Design with usability in mind, but above all... design first!