CHAPTER 7 Designing Adaptive Interfaces
a veRiTable buffeT of inTeRaCTion
As a tool, pattern libraries have been with us for quite some time. Most
JavaScript libraries have their own UI patterns (e.g. YUI, jQuery UI, Dojo
Digits) and several standalone UI frameworks such as Bootstrap and
Foundation have captured the popular imagination of late. But I am a firm
believer that one size does not fit all. Don’t get me wrong, I think tools like
Bootstrap can be really helpful for prototyping and testing interactions,
but I hate the idea of deploying a site built entirely on it. I feel this way for
many reasons, some of which I’ll summarize here:- verbosity
In an attempt to create a universal UI framework, the code behind the
scenes is often bloated or requires that we bloat our code in order to make
use of their grid system or widgets. - excess
In most cases, a UI framework (or even a JavaScript library for that matter)
includes more options and components than we actually need for our sites.
And, if we don’t remove unused CSS and JavaScript, it can create perfor-
mance issues for our customers. - Philosophy
Buying wholeheartedly into a UI framework locks us into a narrow way of
thinking and building, which may not align with our way of thinking or
how our team operates. For instance, Bootstrap is made to be responsive, but
it comes from a desktop-first perspective, rather than a mobile-first one. - aesthetics
UI frameworks have a certain aesthetic and it can sometimes be difficult
to escape that. Failure to break out of the stock UI mold means our sites
end up looking almost identical to every other site out there that’s using
that framework.