> A site trying to be as big as possible wants to attract everyone. But a site aiming at a particular subset of users has to attract just those—and just as importantly, repel everyone else. I've made a conscious effort to do this on HN. The graphic design is as plain as possible, and the site rules discourage dramatic link titles.

I have heard from users that the minimal graphic design here is intentional, but I did not realize that the creator of the site confirmed it (and so early on, too).