I'm a conductor, composer, and publisher. For me, appearance trumps playback every time.

As a conductor, rehearsal time is precious; the clearer and more predictable the appearance/layout, the less time wasted.

As a composer, the more professional the music looks, the more seriously the players will take it.

And as a publisher who takes great pains to make our music instantly playable and readable, most of the compliments we get from customers are about issues of appearance.

So while playback is important when I'm wearing my composer hat (it's good to be able to "proof listen" and make a decent demo audio), if I had to choose, appearance is the whole ball game.

That said, of course I'd rather not have to choose. :-)