Comment by somat

The other thing that can hurt an applications usability is over fitting for the new user. It is an important aspect, but it feels terrible to be effectively stuck in baby mode all the time.

The hard part is how fitting for the new user and fitting for the experienced user are sort of opposites in interface design. For new or occasional users who will only use the thing a couple times a year, you want a deep design, gently guiding someone unfamiliar with the application through each step in turn, lots of modes/clicks limited information in each. For the experienced user a shallow design is best, information dense, everything in one action, never hide anything. The best designers can sort of navigate this paradox, but for most you have to focus on one and shim the other.

As for design focused design, where the point is how good it looks, well, that sucks for everyone. But it looks good in the ads.