Planning
info
See Planning and Design for more information on the planning phase of the SDLC.
Decide on Architecture
If you already have an architecture in mind, jump to Plan the UI
If it is just a web app to be built, consider the below Front End, Back End and Database Architecture options. If it also needs to be a mobile app, consider the below Mobile Architecture options.
- Ask AI to recommend an architecture with justification - see the Obsidian note on AI Prompts here
- Review the below architecture considerations against the AI output and verify it makes sense
Front End Architecture
- Considerations:
- or not?
- (Server side rendering) or (Static site generation) required?
- Options:
- CRA (Create React App)
- Vite.js
- Next.js
- Recommendations (from Robin Wieruch):
- Vite.js for client-side rendered React applications
- Next.js server-side rendered React applications
- Astro for static-side generated React applications
Back End Architecture
- Considerations:
- Need to investigate
- Backend development is more than writing endpoints for frontend
- Options:
- ExpressJS
- NodeJS
Database
- Considerations:
- Should it be or ?
- How am I going to query my database? Via a client? By the CLI?
- Consider TypeORM or Prisma for type safe access to your database
- Options:
- Sequel DBs:
- Xata
- MySQL
- Postgress (recommended)
- No Sequel DBs:
- Firebase
- MongoDB
- PlanetScale
- Supebase
- Sequel DBs:
References
Hosting
- Considerations:
- How much will hosting the site cost?
- What features does the hosting provide?
- What access protection does the hosting service offer for limiting access to your app or database?
- Options:
- Netlify (free)
- Vercel
- Heroku (cheap)
- DigitalOcean (cheap)
- Amazon RDS (expensive)
- BlueHost (basic)
Mobile Architecture
Plan the UI
Inspiration
For inspiration for projects, check out the following resources:
- Design Tools
- Design Inspiration Sources
Colour Selection
-
5 Colour Tips to enhance your UI Design
- Understand brand colours
- Understand the mood of the app/design
- Use colour palette generators - Coolors
- Alternatively, use colour theory using a colour wheel - Adobe Colour Wheel
- Use the 60-30-10 rule
- Alternative Colour Palette Generators
- Dark Mode Design Guide - Dark Mode UI Design - Organizing Color Variables and Naming
Fonts
- Font Selection
Design Guides
- Dos and Don'ts for UI Design - 4 parts
- 6 Things UI/UX Designers Forget to Design
- UI/UX Micro Tips Best of 2022
- Improve your UI with these successful UX Laws