Update: Microsoft has an insatiable appetite for poor UI design, it seems. One more reason you should have taken my warning more seriously.

Several weeks ago, Skype has upgraded their Mac client with a horrendous and borderline insulting user interface. Too much white space, an over-abundance of modal controls, inconsistent interactions and intrusive features that no one needs.

Worse still, instead of admitting that the UI is inherently flawed and doing something to fix it, they launched a design contest to cover it up. I mean c'mon guys, your so-called team of experts could have spent some time redesigning the app instead of screening amateur entries.

When we first launched our new Mac app, we were delighted to see so many custom styles emerge from the design community, so we thought we’d make it official.

Also reads as: When we first launched our new Mac app, we were surprised to see many custom styles emerge from the design community in an attempt to fix the crappy UI that we rolled out, so we thought we’d make it official hoping it goes unnoticed.

Now some of you might be wondering why you should not answer their call, after all, it would benefit everyone, especially pixel junkies like many of us. Well, consider the following:

• UI design is serious business and we are making a living of it. We enjoy giving away free stuff because we love what we do, but that's no reason to work Pro Bono for a for-profit organization. If you don't get my point, try to convince Skype and Fring to let you make VOIP calls on both platforms before you decide which to pay.
• I would have given a blind eye to the bullet point above, did Skype admit their misstep and work to fix it first before letting customizers join in the fun. Painting a cracked wall won't prevent it from falling down.
• Such design competitions are a disguised form of spec work; they transform design into a commodity with often subpar results. There is no way in hell any company would launch an engineering or accounting competition^[1]. Yet, many are starting to consider this route when it comes to design in order to cut costs, and it seems to be working for them as long as there are some who care little about design as a serious career path. This only shows how much these companies look down upon design, as if their products weren't enough a proof of that already.

If you care about your credibility and dignity as a designer, please, please spread the word, retweet, let others know. You will be few to read this, but your action can make all the difference.

Footnotes

1. Thanks for pointing me out to the Netflix Prize, but the sole fact that this counter-example got mentioned several times is a good enough proof that there aren't probably many instances of such competitions.