[boboroshi]

Good design starts with good usability. There are no tech shortcuts (bootstrap or otherwise) to this. Your application's interactions are probably unique. There may be some design patterns (God, I hate the abuse of that phrase) that apply.

Bootstrap, etc are simply tools used to implement interfaces. They are not magic bullets. Design, like programming, takes time. It's not about gradients or drop shadows, but those are tools used in design.

It's often an iterative and collaborative process. It is not, however, "Agile". You can't design the interaction for a piece without looking at the whole.

Find someone who cares about interface, interaction, and usability. Ideally they can do graphics, html, and css. Ideally they've done some user testing before or are just really good at getting users. If you find someone like that, be prepared to pay. The good ones are few and far between and all that I know are gainfully employed or have hourly rates exceeding $200USD/hr.

If you want to learn more about this, there's a library of stuff out there. But just reading a bunch of books won't suddenly make your UIs prettier. But if you implement what you learn, it may improve their functionality. And that's far more important.

[chris_dcosta]

This is a "form follows function" argument. Which of course has its supporters and I'm one, But there is an argument that "it's what you leave out that makes it good" which means you are thoughtfully not putting in elements - and this requires good judgement.

Maybe I'm getting old, but it is just quite amazing that engineering / CS graduates have this sense seemingly "built-in".