I agree - design by committee is probably the culprit.
Generally, when one (or a couple) experienced designers get their hands on a UI, it turns out alright. Its the 'mish-mash' effect where multiple people try to control the look and feel, where things go south.
This can be because of a literal committee, but it can also be due to poorly designed software trying to take away design decisions from the designer.
Just take a look at the mess CSS made of things in the browser. For years, it was easier to design something that looked good by just hard-coding an interface in a native language...
Generally, when one (or a couple) experienced designers get their hands on a UI, it turns out alright. Its the 'mish-mash' effect where multiple people try to control the look and feel, where things go south.
This can be because of a literal committee, but it can also be due to poorly designed software trying to take away design decisions from the designer.
Just take a look at the mess CSS made of things in the browser. For years, it was easier to design something that looked good by just hard-coding an interface in a native language...