Overview
At Finite Wisdom, our strength is programming — we develop compelling functionality for web applications. Our strength does not lie in user interface design. That requires a skillset that emphasizes a strong aesthetic sense. The good news is that there are off-the-shelf user interface templates that one can buy for a mere pittance. We then blend our custom functionality with a user interface template that’s been selected in order to deliver a complete solution that is compelling in both its functionality and its visual design.
Example
Previously, we developed a web application that demonstrates an integration with Harvest, a time tracking application used by over 40,000 companies including Finite Wisdom. We use it to track the number of hours we bill each day to each of our clients. Harvest provides an API that one can use to retrieve this information and present it in your own user interface.
Before
We created a user interface that is pictured at right. The interface is clean and simple, but not exactly visually compelling.
Click to enlarge
After
We selected a user interface template titled Super Admin 2.1 Responsive Admin, pictured at right, from the collection of templates available at WrapBootstrap and purchased a license for a mere $19. The breadth and depth of the template is quite impressive, made more so by the price.
Using this template, we recreated our Harvest demo. It sports a healthy dose of panache over and above the original user interface. You can see the result pictured below, or can try it out yourself.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Going forward
Going forward, we intend to use this template as the foundation for a slew of new demonstrations. As we create new demonstrations, we’ll post new blog entries, introducing you to each one.