UI Frameworks: Because no one wants to look at a website that appears it was designed in the 1990's
06 Oct 2017
Website design has dramatically improved since the beginning of the World Wide Web. Personally, I remember designing a website in my middle school class on Geocities using only basic HTML. Back then, fonts were bland and mostly the same (I’m looking at you Comic Sans) and the most eye-popping effects were rainbow text and sparkle effects. Since then, the use of CSS files has greatly improved both the flow and look of web pages. Uninspired web pages can be easily improved using CSS to spring new life into them, by implementing eye-catching fonts and designs while not overly complicating the website itself.
My own knowledge of HTML and CSS was very limited, so learning Semantic UI was a bit challenging at first, as you would expect when learning a new programming language. However, the online tutorials make it easy to implement design ideas that you make have. The many features of Semantic UI make it fairly streamline when designing a web page, such as easy implementation of grid and containers to allow to align certain elements in the web page, and sleek buttons and menu options for links and user input. Overall, learning and using Semantic UI allowed me to design and modify web pages without too much stress, and producing quality content that I would expect from hiring a professional.
Nowadays, you need to have a professional looking website that is eye-catching yet easy to navigate. Semantic UI was perfect for this, as it grants you nearly total control over the entire page, and include scaling elements which support various resolutions, from phones to tablets to desktops. This feature was extremely useful because I have personal experience dealing with websites that aren’t mobile-friendly. Understanding the design aspect of coding helped me realize that not only does your code have to work, but it needs to look good at the same time, and powerful tools such as Semantic UI are valuable in achieving this.
An example mock-up of Murphy’s Bar and Grill using Semantic UI.