[priomsrb]

Ugliness aside, there are some things that don't work very well in a plain spreadsheet vs a UI. For example large paragraphs and images.

Part of conveying information should be about making the information easy to digest. Sometimes a spreadsheet fits that bill. Other times a crafted UI works better.

[fermienrico]

It does if you create large cells and stick paragraphs in. Make sure the width of the cell is enough for 12-15 words. Images also work just fine. It truly boils down to "uglyness" and not functionality. "Easy to digest" is a subjective term.

Excel sheets are essentially rectangular grid with borders. Grids have been used since the 60's in graphic design, primarily championed by the Swiss Grid System (Josef-muller brockmann, et. al).

So if you say that excel sheets are not a good instrument to convey information, you're saying that a grid like structure is not good at laying out information in a logical, understandable fashion. Which is provably false - everything from Tax forms to road signs, every bit of graphic design professionally conducted uses the grid system.

Think a bit deeper than just aesthetics and ask yourself, what exactly is an excel sheet? It is a bunch of boxes. Whether those are div elements or excel cells, what's the difference? Padding and margins?

[tjchear]

I agree with this to some extent. The aesthetics, even if it does almost nothing for functionality, unfortunately does influence people's impression and opinion, and ultimately, their decision to open their wallet. When the SaaS world is filled with players who each bring something to the table, aesthetics sometimes becomes a tie-breaker, so to speak.