To what end? They think people care too much about UI design?

It sounds like the Verge writer is trying to demonstrate that he has a perspective wider than any of the principals like Systrom and the FB management team, and is thereby entitled to judge them. (Systrom is effete, and the FB team is ruthless.) It does wear thin.

That Systrom checked out but was also checked-in enough to throw a fit over the direction facebook decided to go in his absence/checked-outness.