There seems to be a constant battle between making something work right and making it look good. I see this in software, vehicles, home furnishings, etc. But there is one simple fact that seems to escape many:
If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter HOW good it looks.
I look at projects like Ubuntu, KDE, Windows, and Amarok. These projects all seem to have leaned too heavily to the "look good" side of the equation in recent times and have thus run into problems with stability, missing functionality, and general usability. But leaning too far to the other side of the equation is just as troublesome. The project may be incredibly functional, but at the sacrifice of a useful, attractive, and reasonable visual design. Without a decent interface, most people will tend to avoid/ignore/remain ignorant of the project.
KDE and Windows 7 seem to be shifting back to a more balanced approach, while Ubuntu seems to be to heavily focused on how pretty it is. I can't really say where Amarok is in the equation at the moment, but last I looked it had swallowed the vanity pill and was more worried about how "cool" it looked.
As with any balance, things will shift but tend to average out over time. Or a project stays blind to the needed balance and evenutally dies. I hope Ubuntu fixes this relatively soon and resolves the stability issues I've encountered.
/ rant off.