UI | Hacker Farm Blog

This post is simply going to be a collection of some places that I go for Design inspiration. As a designer for mobile and web, sometimes its hard to come up with original work that also adheres to best practices. It’s a fine line that we have to walk. On the one hand there is a ton of user research that will tell you the best placement for information and UI elements and even the best colors to use. And on the other hand you want to create something original and new, or at the very least express yourself in some way.

These are thetop 3 sites that I turn to for inspiration. But rather than just list them, I’m going to explain why I like these sites specifically over the many other options out there.

Dribbble

I know this site is probably already on every designers favourite list. I just cant get away from this website, it is an amazing collection of all types of design work from mobile UI to flyers. If this website isn’t on your list – it needs to be. SICK – that’s the only way to describe what Dribbble has created.

Chrome Experiments

At first glance you are probably thinking ‘WebGL and Facial Recognition for inspiration?’. The answer is – yes, this site has some of the smartest people pushing the boundaries. Chrome Experiments is really great because it showcases hardware accelerated graphics that use nothing other than the Chrome browser. The main reason I like this site is because it shows me just how powerful the browser is – the browser that we design for daily.

We can do some amazing things with HTML/CSS/Javascript and it is easy to get stuck in the swing of mundane, simple, and basic. I like to push myself to really think – ‘What can I do that is difficult, cutting edge? How can I push the limits of my own work with the latest CSS3 tech or Javascript?’.

Designspiration

At first I didn’t really like this site. It reminds me of Pinterest and I hate Pinterest. While you might be a fan of the popular pin board – infinite scroll bombardment of death – I’m not super fond of mindless scrolling. What I found that I like about this site is that there is a lot of artwork and design work that is in completely different design fields. Architecture, fashion, sculpture, image manipulation, there is a wealth of really cool stuff here.

I am a big fan of looking to other fields for inspiration. After all, a well designed website is a bit like a beautifully designed building or a perfectly decorated living room, when you see it you just know ‘wow, this is amazing’.

In a perfect world it works a bit like this: Some idea for a product is born, yay!

A user experience guy spends hours and hours researching current/potential users, their history, patterns, likes, dislikes, what flavor of kool-aid they drink, how often they go to the bathroom, etc. Then this guy works with a designer to come up with a beautiful solution. Next, the designer works with a front end developer to write the code to get the new products user interface built. Sometimes an SEO dude will also come in and do his thing (if the product is a website).

After some back and forth, there it is: a masterfully crafted piece of art that solves the bane of someones existence, or allows them to check email faster. Whatever the product, at this point it is ready to be handed off to other developers who hook it up with real data.

Wait a minute, I do all of that. Everything you just described is all me. Whats going on here? Am I being bamboozled? Yes my friend. Yes you are. But, it’s ok! This is the place where many designers and front end developers are finding themselves. Being responsible for so much can be daunting. It might not be the best for a product or a company but for you the person, finding yourself in this position is awesome!

Front End Developers are sometimes responsible for the users experience, designing the user interface, and building out that experience. That is a lot of pressure. Fortunately, it is also a great opportunity to build out your skill set and open some doors.

There are hundreds of job listings that use the terms ‘Front End Developer’, ‘UI Designer’, or ‘Web Designer’. They all have different criteria based on that companies specific needs – or their interpretation of the job title. Sometimes you will be the designer and developer, sometimes you will just be a designer who does some research, other times you will not design at all, “just write the code you code monkey!”. The point here is that there is opportunity to master a lot of different skills and chase after the one you enjoy the most. Becoming good at user experience, user interface design, web design, seo, front end, etc. will allow you to be a very flexible and desirable professional.

I know what some UX experts and position purists out there will tell you. “This will only hurt the product and the user and there’s no way one person could master all of these things or do them all in one job.” And they are correct. There is no way to completely master each one of these and be the best of the best in everything. You can, however, become very good at them all and learn to use the right tool at the right time and make a positive impact.

To all my fellow Front End/Designer/UI/UX professionals out there who juggle multiple skills. You are not alone and you are becoming valuable!