This is such a strange comment to me. The issue with the AWS UI isn't that it's "ugly", the issue IMO is that it is the
exact opposite of the things you claim it is.
> the most bare bones UI
The AWS UI is one of the most cluttered, complex, complete-opposite of "bare bones" of almost any web app I can think of, except for maybe Salesforce.
>basically 'nudging' you as little as possible - a clean mapping of fields, to pages, to results.
My largest gripe with AWS is that it does not have a clean mapping of fields/pages/results. The flow of getting to "results" in one AWS service is completely different from the flow of getting to "results" in another. The launch wizard for ECS, for example, doesn't even follow the same paradigm that the launch wizard for EC2 follows. One of them has a clear vertical layout with successive config pages, while the other has a mixed vertical/horizontal layout with sub-pages.
When doing something as basic as launching an EC2 instance, the AMI selection page has "Select" buttons next to each AMI on the right side of the page, and clicking one takes you directly to the next page. And then on that very next page, the instance type selection, the format has changed. Now the way you select something is by clicking a radio button (which is on the complete opposite left side of the page!) and then clicking "Next" at the bottom of the page. Why do these two pages require completely different models of interaction when they are essentially accomplishing the same thing?
Even within the VPC service for example, some pages have clusters of information that are right-aligned on the page, while others put the same information at the bottom of the page. Some pages have the "Create new resource" button on the top left, while others have them on the right side. I could keep going... It's the total opposite of "clear mapping of results" to me, and certainly isn't anything close to "consistent".
I don't think AWS "nudges you as little as possible", I think AWS nudges you a lot, but nudges you in completely different directions for every single service, causing you to feel bounced around like you're in a mosh pit when you're having to switch between EC2, CloudTrail, S3, etc.
Even in Home Depot they at least have uniformity in how they arrange their aisles. The nail aisle has little buckets where nails are arranged by a specific ordering system, typically by type of nail and size. If you go an aisle over to plumbing, the pipe joints are all arranged in similar little containers, also with a sensible ordering system typically by type of pipe and size. If you go to the paint aisle, the displays are different but you can still expect them to be arranged in a sensible ordering system, such as by type of paint and color.
If they went the AWS way, the aisle of nails would just be 2-3 large tubs with a bunch of individual nails thrown in, while the plumbing aisle would have things organized in small tubs alphabetically by the name of the manufacturer, while the paint aisle would be condensed like a newspaper with the pages in order of Bob's favorite colors. It would be chaos.
Sorry for the rant. I respect that you apparently like the UI, but it's weird to me that we have such opposite experiences. You say "Home Depot understands it's just a faclitator" and that AWS is too, and I totally agree. But my opinion is that AWS completely fails at effectively facilitating.