Based on a journal entry written on August 5th, 2020.
I’m reflecting on ways to improve my design skills. I’m comfortable building simple UIs with Bootstrap, but leads to a familiar generic look. It’s convenient, but alternative CSS frameworks could stir something up.
Perhaps I should dive deeper into Boostrap itself. Customizing core elements or drawing inspiration from public Bootstrap themes. These could bring more personality to my designs.
Past Projects
Not all my past work has been generic. The original UX of my app Reiterable featured customizable app sizes on a strangly configured dashboard. While imperfect, these attempts taught me a lot about experimenting with layout and interactivity.
There is also these unpolished idea on Reiterable called Outlines. At the time, I was interested in exploring a knowledge map concept. There is a hierarchical structure with links connecting items. I envisioned it as a way to see relationships between things. You would do something like create a list of all your database tables and components in your code. With bidirectional links between components that use a table and tables linking to related tables, you could explore how things interrelated. The UI for Outlines uses colors and icons for different concepts that makes it distinct.
Flexbox
One CSS feature I lack experience with is Flexbox. It could be crucial for better layout management. Flexbox appears to allow precise placement and alignment of elements—similar to Java Swing’s GridBagLayout, but simpler and more intuitive. With Bootstrap 4 supporting Flexbox, I should experiment with it to explore more adaptable designs.
Front Page Design
I’ve only created one application front page, and while it was functional, it lacked polish. A stronger front page design could elevate my skills. Many of the most impressive pages I’ve seen incorporate sophisticated scroll effects and animations. These add a layer of interactivity, although they can become cumbersome. Excessive animations hinder the user experience in my opinion.
Creating subtle, seamless animations could be a valuable exercise. Understanding how to trigger animations on scroll, or how to orchestrate entry and exit effects for images, would be a great skill learn.
Color and Backgrounds
Most applications I’ve worked on stick to a white background. Exploring creative backgrounds could be a fun way to develop a more distinctive style. I’m thinking about slow-moving, color-changing visuals using SVGs and D3 for smooth transitions. This would also give me a chance to work on building color palettes that align with an app’s personality.
Finding the Right Balance Between Features and Design
As I consider these design improvements, I question whether my focus should shift more toward enhancing app features. Design is essential, but balancing it with functional improvements is important. I want to improve my design skills in a way that complements meaningful features rather than design for its own sake.
Improving my design skills will take experimentation and patience. By exploring new CSS frameworks, learning Flexbox, experimenting with animated effects, and balancing design with feature development, I hope to build interfaces that are both functional and visually engaging.