Practice. Find UIs that you like and figure out why you like them. Find software with good UX and pick out what makes it good. Duplicates those details in your own projects, or even just in mockups.
Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
51–59 of 59 posts
Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#52It's much easier to get people involved (even if it's just to give you advice on how to fix things) if they can use the app.
That really helps me get to the finish line, because I'm not thinking I'm going to launch the app in this state. I'm just trying to get it to the next checkpoint. Either I fix the UI/UX or get other involved who can.
Alternatively, UI kits are really cheap (some are free), on sites like ThemeForest, just pick one of those and run with as best you can. There will be rough edges, but for the most part the app will look good enough.
Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#53Target your projects for people who don't care about how pretty an app is. Think HN, and Craigslist.
> Think HN, and Craigslist.
This advice is true for the 90s. Not anymore. In 2017, people expect even your MVP Web App to be responsive, and at the very least not fugly.
Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#54I would say that your best bet is to stick with an established front end library. Bootstrap[1] is the most well known, but there are others such as UI Kit (not to be confused with Apple's UIKit for iOS)[2]. If you'd like some additional advice, feel free to contact me (email should be in my profile). [1] https://getbootstrap.com/ [2] https://getuikit.com/
Be aware that these still require you to have at least a basic understanding of CSS and HTML (the more you need to customize it, the more you'll need to know). Nothing crazy, but don't expect it to be a drag and drop designer. For Bootstrap (UI Kit might be the same but I haven't used it) your best option is to look at their examples[1], find one you like, then view the source code from it. Use that as your starting…
Yeah, but mostly you just need to apply their CSS styles.
Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#55Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#56I would say that your best bet is to stick with an established front end library. Bootstrap[1] is the most well known, but there are others such as UI Kit (not to be confused with Apple's UIKit for iOS)[2]. If you'd like some additional advice, feel free to contact me (email should be in my profile). [1] https://getbootstrap.com/ [2] https://getuikit.com/
Be aware that these still require you to have at least a basic understanding of CSS and HTML (the more you need to customize it, the more you'll need to know). Nothing crazy, but don't expect it to be a drag and drop designer. For Bootstrap (UI Kit might be the same but I haven't used it) your best option is to look at their examples[1], find one you like, then view the source code from it. Use that as your starting…
"But like I said: any customizing, tweaking, etc will require you to know some HTML and CSS."
That's the easy part. Knowing what you want it to look like, that's the hard part.
Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#57Read books on UX and learn it. You don’t need to be a UX expert to understand what a comfortable user experience looks like.
Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#58I'm going to take a different angle: Don't build a GUI if you don't have the skills to build a GUI. You won't be able to compete on features in the long run, and you certainly won't be able to compete on design in the short run. And certainly not without devoting 100% of your time towards it. Instead realize that there are three primary types of interfaces that are in wide use today: GUI, API, and CLI. If you're a ba…
> So instead of building a GUI, build and API
This is a good idea. Indeed, if the software is useful enough, people will build free, open source GUIs and CLIs for your API. Just look at the open source mobile apps and CLIs popping up with DeepL translation system, for example.
Re: Ask HN: What to do as a back-end dev and with many app ideas but can't do UX?
#59I've started building a few side projects and experienced the same frustration. I'll use one of my recent projects as an example. Here's the first version of the landing page : https://imgur.com/a/BDNgl and here's the current landing page : https://www.hostedcomments.com/ Even though the current version could be improved significantly, I graduated from receiving comments such as "The current one doesn't motivate me t…
I think your advice on page flow in good. Here's a couple of additional ideas that could help your current page:
1) increase the left and right margins for your nav menu to match the margins of your other page elements, like the price menu.
2) Change the color of the card icons, making them all the same color.
3) Use a palette maker like http://paletton.com or pre-set palettes like from http://www.colourlovers.com/ But next one is important!
4) For UX/UI beginners, USE AS FEW COLORS AS POSSIBLE. Maybe even just one accent colors along with several shades of blacks or greys. Maybe then use colourlovers or paletton to help add one additional color and ask for input. The number one mistake I see backend devs making when they make frontend sites is using lots of different colors that don't work together (btw, even very talented designers usually use no more than 2-3 colors along with various shades of white/grey/black).