The quick interface is what led me to initially start using Google Mail. 'Plain Jane' is fine if there are benefits to exhibiting pared down menus. It's human nature to sometimes make sacrifices for speed.I don't think I mentioned when Gmail first began offering 'themes'. I found getting rid of a little white space seemed immediately acceptable. I liked and still use Tree. Yet just to show you how intently I focus on the task rather than the window dressing, it took me several weeks before I realized the theme changed to reflect what was occurring outside my real window.
When the forecast is rainy, the theme shows gray clouds and showers. When, the sun is out in the sky, it's out on my screen too. It's not an earth shattering change, but it doesn't interfere with the usefulness of the site. Maybe computers should learn to be quirkier on a whole range of fronts. I wish the design teams at EA would lend a hand creating user interfaces. I wouldn't mind a bit of simple on-screen fun, even in the most mundane computing tasks.