Images: Cheers and jeers for user design

Good design is increasingly important to the success of new products, experts say, given the added complexity of new technology embedded in many devices we touch today. Consumers are looking for user-friendly products, whether they're buying an MP3 player, cell phone, television or car navigation system. That explains why fewer products and services stand out in the consumer market. Here's a list of home runs and foul-outs from the past five years.

Video-sharing site YouTube came from nowhere two years ago to capture a world stage on the Web and $1.65 billion from its new owner Google. Design geeks say that's largely because YouTube made watching online clips so easy. Unlike even its owner's Google Video, YouTube doesn't require visitors to download a video player or sign up for an account to watch a clip of a kid with his light saber. Plus, the video typically loads super fast.