UI design along with UX design are two different but very interconnected beasts.
It really does take a special kind of autist to do a special implementation that works. No one working in the field will be looking here for answers or recruiting, so it's all shitposting, really. That's ok.
Sometimes you get a very special relationship between an exceptional UI developer and Programmer. See the work of White Tie along with Justin Frankel who not only developed WinAmp - the very first .mp3 player that revolutionised not just the computer world but the music world too. They developled certain frameworks (WALTER), and they have had the best in the business spend a lot of time deving things that just work. Nick Moritz is one. Great artist and sound designer. Some people even charge a few bucks to use these frameworks, sorry, templates, sorry, gui designs or wtf they are called. Fair enough - they took a couple of months of hard work to make up as anyone who has ever tackled this shit can attest. These guys are top of their field.
So that is Programmer and core developer along with GUI designer, with a bit of UX thrown in. Thing is, they can't stop Reaper being absolute shite on the ui/ux front. Too many menus, no consistency between elements. Same old same old problems. And these have the best in the business who don't do it for money but do it for love. Them's the boys you need on your side, and you still can't crack it. Reaper was maybe not the best example to give, but it's a case in point in Gui/UX design.
The whole VST framework containing all the DSP needed is a clusterfuck when you have to put it together with Gui/Ux code. That is where people like Airwindows shine:
https://www.airwindows.com/
Chris is a genius. He just cuts out the GUI entirely. No UX either really. You can donate a few bucks monthly if you like. All for free pretty much. He had his plugins integrated in to DAW programs like Tracktion and is now part of the up and coming teams that do old and unused but open source VSTi's like Surge. They will be tackling ShortCircuit next, among others.
Real nerds, doing real nerds work. Loving it, working hard, all for free. Just about.
The relationship between code and ui designer and ux designer is a hard road to go down. Usually the Ui designer is the Ux designer and vice versa. And if you have discrete partners to help with that, it hinders as much as it helps.
I won't PL but I found my niche. You'll never guess what it was. I don't mention it. It's abstract.
Just chatting shit. There's been some good posts about this and I wish the other posters chatting shit would just chat about it more, generally. There's a shit tonne you can learn from people like this, and even if you can't go in to specifics, the generalities really inform on some subjects as well.
Good stuff. Just adding my 2c. I'll add more, and on other subjects as well, if others do too.
Every PL I've ever thrown out just throws shit further off the trail from me. This is getting closer. But still...
Great thread. Keep chatting shit!