[tehwayne]

It really depends right? Some users are looking for an experience, some users are looking for a service, and most users are somewhere in the middle. But depending on your product, your users may expect different things.

For example, if you have a site for coders, having a technical but not completely clean site would be okay as long as it functions (service works as advertised). Of course these same users would probably appreciate good site design more later down the road. On the other hand, if you're making a site like amazon for the typical internet user, an organized site with clear call to actions may be best (good user experience). But later if you change stuff it might freak users out if you're not careful.

Not sure if my input really helps explain anything other than that each site is probably different (I know, I know, I'm a genius...) but I guess what I'm saying is think about how the users are using the site and why, or even better, go out and meet them to ask them.