I like the back-end programming in service and database layers. Mainly because I was never able to figure out how to build decent user interface. I'm talking about GWT and Swing.
The biggest pain for me is selecting the layout strategy so if you could address mainly that, it would be really helpful.
If there's no UI/usability expert in the team then try to achieve the bare minimum - having the user interface behaving as expected without bugs. There are few approaches and my favorite is using the Presentation Model introduced by Martin Fowler.
Keep all the state of the UI in a POJO. This decoupling will enable you to have the UI logic testable without need of displaying the UI itself.
You are going to be criticized for the look and feel of the UI but the functions are going to be executed extremely well.
You can look into HCI principles, they'll be VERY helpful. A really good book I recommend on the matter is "The Resonant Interface" by Dr. Steven Heim.
As far as 'layout strategies' go. My golden rule is "don't spend time figuring which one layout will suit a UI, when a nested layout is the best option".
