I would definitely say that Craigslist is succeeding despite a lack of good design. Their model of site structure works, but that doesn’t mean that some visual polish couldn’t be added to increase the user experience. Craigslist has done a lot of good by not over-designing. The problem is that they have also under-designed. Striking that balance proves very difficult.

Unfortunately, many of my designer friends who went through college with a traditional, print background just don’t get it. They still believe that a beautiful looking site can conquer all, and they are not referring to the Experience design field. They are referring to e-commerce and other information heavy sites!!! Designers need to put their egos aside, realize that web design transcends being merely “another print project” or “art piece.” Whether we like it or not, facts and numbers take precedence over feelings and plain old intuition.

Here’s a thought to ponder or argue over…Although the Craigslist sight is supposedly an excellent example of organization, its visually design is underpar. What if the site structure remained exactly the same, but a designer did some minor tweaks to the typography and color choices? Could that possibly make the site at least a little more presentable? Or would it ruin its current success?

After working directly with information architects, I have come to the accute conclusion that we designers have a lot to learn from them. In addition, I would suggest that they are just another flavor of the design profession. If any of you have the opportunity to work with a good group of information artchitects, jump at the opportunity.

And yes, back in the day I did many splash pages and unecessary flash intros.

Your comments about AJAX are particular insightful in this way. Who would have thought that users may come to expect that simply choosing an item from a drop-down list or checking a check box would cause the page to change in some way? And yet, we are beginning to see this shift, particularly with more experienced web users. Being aware of these shifts and trends can make us better professionals to provide optimal experiences and reduce the frustration of all applications. Of course, with every new trend things may go awry, but paying attention to the numbers will definitely offset these missteps.

Regardless, kudos on this article. It is great to have an advocate in the design realm. I hope that the collaboration between designers and pure user experience professionals increases (along with mutual respect), because when this happens, I really believe that the web can finally evolve into something greater than it is, for companies, prosumers and users alike