So, my last design manager was all about function over form, you know, "design, not art" kind of vibe. It got me thinking, why can't UX stuff be visually awesome too?

Usability and pretty interfaces, are they like mortal enemies? What do you guys think?

Entirely depends on the context imo. 

I work a lot on “internal” dashboards and on “user-facing” interfaces together, and that regulated the conditional use of “visual pleasantness” in design for me.

So, the idea was to make buying a used car feel all modern and cool, like you're getting your dream ride, you know? But the whole thing ended up just being way too serious and boring. In the end, it was just another online car seller.

They’re not really a dichotomy. Good software enables positive experiences and is unobtrusively beautiful. We don’t necessarily have to make a choice between the two when we design things.

Good design is aesthetic. Dieter Rams design principles

I never heard about this! and agree with this!!

it depends. Theoritically he's/she's right. That's what lecturer teach also in the design school. But it depends on the context and his/her character and skills too...for example if we build software for hospital maybe the needs of visually extreme appealing is lower than any B2C

“mlp not mvp”. There’s a time and place for reinventing the wheel and great design doesn’t make up for a bad service, but fun / joy is hard to quantify. Too many teams are cornered into delivering products devoid of fun because of risk averse leadership.

Maybe a bit over-referenced, but "Design as Art" by Bruno Munari touches on this—good design is both functional and beautiful.

that should be possible to have visually appealing, tho...maybe depend on the timeline and team effort too, otherwise that should be possible

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