When you build a web application, do you use a template for the UI or just build it yourself?
Struggling with Web App Design Satisfaction
Website with free UI templates that I can use?
How to use website templates?
What is web app design?
How does web app design differ from website design?
What steps are involved in the web app design process?
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The question is in the title, really, but I'm curious about how you go about building a new web application. I love going through the templates at Theme Forest and thinking about how I might use the template to build a beautiful web application. My first ever web application I built the UI framework from the ground up and, frankly, its design reflects this. However, now I can simply buy a good theme and build my web app using the theme. But this also brings in extra overhead that I don't really need (extra plugins, extra JS code, the "flashy-ness" of the templates sometimes are too much). Perhaps the vanilla "build-it-myself" is a better approach because it keeps the footprint to bare minimum.
I just wanted to get your thoughts on this topic. Do you build web apps with a template? Do you make the design yourself?