Re:Widget-Maker – A Flutter UI Builder
by chrisweekly on Monday October 28, 2019 @09:28AM
(#21376750)
Good points. These same challenges abound in other similar contexts [eg Storybook vs Sketch / Figma plugins for React component design and dev... or way way back in the day (late 1990s), WYSIWYG HTML editors (Dreamweaver was amazingly good at balancing usable generated markup with decent GUI controls, esp. compared to M$ FrontPage)...
The designer:developer handoff remains a tricky challenge. The best solution (tho hardest to reach) is to find that rarest of breeds: the FE engineer w/ strong design skills or highly technical designer, one person who can competently design and prototype and code, all in the target paradigm. At the other extreme (sadly common, even in late 2019) is the chasm represented by a non-technical visual designer producing pixel-perfect [ie, print-oriented] mockups and layouts in Photoshop, paired with the web developer who's tasked with translating these raster inputs into responsive, interactive experiences. So few organizations are equipped to bridge that gap with anything like the requisite skillsets, workflows and tools.
Bret Victor brilliantly highlighted this problem (the lack of immediate connection for a creator between their tools and their creations) -- and a stunning demonstration of what solutions could look like -- in his remarkable presentation way back in 2012. Absolutely required viewing for the uninitiated.
The designer:developer handoff remains a tricky challenge. The best solution (tho hardest to reach) is to find that rarest of breeds: the FE engineer w/ strong design skills or highly technical designer, one person who can competently design and prototype and code, all in the target paradigm. At the other extreme (sadly common, even in late 2019) is the chasm represented by a non-technical visual designer producing pixel-perfect [ie, print-oriented] mockups and layouts in Photoshop, paired with the web developer who's tasked with translating these raster inputs into responsive, interactive experiences. So few organizations are equipped to bridge that gap with anything like the requisite skillsets, workflows and tools.
Bret Victor brilliantly highlighted this problem (the lack of immediate connection for a creator between their tools and their creations) -- and a stunning demonstration of what solutions could look like -- in his remarkable presentation way back in 2012. Absolutely required viewing for the uninitiated.
https://hacks.mozilla.org/2012/04/bret-victors-inventing-on-...