Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful: A .NET CMS Story

As I go about my day marketing Sitefinity, I’ve noticed a recurring theme. At times it appears that one of Sitefinity’s greatest strengths: our usability and clean interface, is viewed by some as a disadvantage. It’s akin to a beautiful woman also being exceedingly smart.  She’s often dismissed because of her looks, with nary a glance at her accomplishments.

There seems to be sub-set of .NET developers that prefer to struggle. I guess developing a big messy web project is a challenge, and personally gratifying to resolve. They labor through cumbersome interfaces, inefficient functionality and limited tools. Perhaps it’s a badge of honor. Afterwards, they can order a t-shirt touting “I survived a lousy CMS” or “my development project took twice as long as it had to.” Tell war stories over a brew…

Do developers think Sitefinity CMS is too good to be true? Too pretty to be a powerful business tool? Since when is being attractive a negative? Being quicker and more efficient a detriment? Shortcuts bad? I feel a little like I’m in upside-down land.

We’re a great product, and an innovative business asset. Can someone tell me why packaging this all in an attractive, easy to learn interface is a BAD thing? 

I encourage your clarification. I’m totally struggling on this one, people. Cheers!