This sounds like the sound could be said of OmniFocus. OF2 isn’t cute or playful but it is also a powerful too. When OF2 first came out, it was blasted for losing its UI from OF1 - mainly custom themes and the layout that increased data density. DEVONthink, like OmniFocus 2, gets blasted for it ugly UI but is still loved by bloggers. After using devonthink, I have learned to look past it’s “ugly” UI. It’s not cute to look at and it’s not a toy. It works and I use it a lot.