Function consistently trumps form, especially in technology. On Sunday, Nintendo launches the latest instalment of its Mario Brothers franchise for the Wii console – a game that visually, at least, has changed little in 15 years. Yet the Wii’s inventive approach to gameplay has proved far more popular than competitors’ greater graphical wizardry. And it has done so not just by expanding the market to women and the over 30s. Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 have together sold 25m consoles so far to date in the US, almost 30 per cent less than their predecessor boxes after the same time on the market.

The lesson appears to hold true online as well, in spite of designers’ desire to perpetually refine and update. Privately held Craigslist has risen to dominate online classified advertising – taking four-fifths of the US market’s traffic, according to Comscore – while appearing wilfully to ignore any suggestion that it should modernise the look of its site, largely unchanged since the 1990s. Ease of use and price (most ads are free) have seen off slicker upstarts. Similarly Apple’s current success is built on attractive gadgets, but the minimalist design follows from its commitment to simplicity of use.