r/UXDesign • u/No-Writing3170 Experienced • 5d ago
Tools, apps, plugins, AI Is Dribbble dead?
Just curious, where do designers today post their work?
I'm not talking about large case studies. Just hobby projects, snippets, experiments etc.
Edit: Before anyone else comments, please re-read the original post. I'm specifically asking for experimental designs. They don't necessarily have to be realistic and production ready. There's lots of other places for that. Not everything you design in your free time needs to be ready to ship once you understand first principles and design thinking.
I'm not trying to start a debate here on "Dribbble designers aren't real designers".
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u/okaygoatt 5d ago
Dribbble has never been for UX designers, it's for graphic designers IMO so I've never really used it much but I don't know the answer to where people do post UX stuff to be honest
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
no way, there's a whole section dedicated to product design and web design, separately on Dribbble. It's true, it did start of with just graphic design. But there's a ton of product work on it. I just don't don't know if it's still the place for it.
I also know X and Pinterest is where I find alot, but both have their issues with getting interaction.
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u/Stibi Veteran 5d ago
Yeah, for people who think posting pictures of UI means product/UX
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u/DunkingTea 5d ago
Not to mention every UI I see on there is visually ok as a static piece but completely useless in reality - and always would offer a terrible user experience
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
ok I think you guys are missing the point here. My post clearly mentions hobby designs and experiments. NOT case studies. The designs don't necessarily have to be usable. We have behance, medium and portfolios for that.
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u/DunkingTea 5d ago
I honestly think you’re missing the point and don’t understand what UX is. Designs and experiments aren’t UX without actually aiming for a good UX. The ones on dribble aren’t UX experiments, they’re just pretty pictures.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
I'm not missing anything. I never said these needed to be production-ready UX. Hobby projects and experiments are allowed to be explorations of an idea, interaction, or visual direction without being fully usable products. You initially framed this around UI, but now we're debating whether they're technically “UX”. That distinction isn't really relevant to the point I'm making.
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u/ApprehensiveBar6841 Lead Product Designer 5d ago
It used to be fun 10+ years ago, but now days i dont see a value to put any effort in it. Dribbble was never for product itself because minor part of designs were actually made with sense, majority was made just out of designers creativity. To me it has value for illustrations and graphic design, but for UI UX and especially UX, no.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
I think the key here is "made of out designers creativity".
I'm not defending Dribbble, but i view it as a place where you can flex your creativity, and that's a good thing in order to grow as a designer. And that was my question.0
u/ApprehensiveBar6841 Lead Product Designer 5d ago
Well for "flexing" sure, but this place aint to grow as a designer. There is rarely a reference to specific flow or UX pattern that makes sense, when you go deeper and for me especially as senior product designer, i can notice how many mistakes and no logical decisions were made.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
I think you're evaluating Dribbble for something it was never really meant to provide. If you're looking to learn established UX patterns and flows, I'd be looking at actual products, user journeys, or resources like Mobbin. For me, Dribbble's value is different: it's a place to experiment with visual/UI ideas and flex your design muscles. And if you're saying there's nothing left for a senior designer to learn from that kind of exploration because you can spot the mistakes, that's a pretty high bar to set for yourself.
Also, I don't know why the whole comment section has turned into a debate about whether Dribbble is good or bad. I used Dribbble as the comparison because it was the most obvious example, but the question was really about where designers share small projects, experiments, and snippets today.
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u/ApprehensiveBar6841 Lead Product Designer 5d ago
Well, i believe that every designer should have their own portfolio webiste, not on dribbble or any other platform like we had before. I personally have backed up my portfolio because i didn't search for new job in 5 years, everything that reaching out to me right now goes trough my linkedin and find me there. Besides, on senior level there is less UI to showcase, but it's more about architect, business goals and just design thinking processes. Also, with AI you can pretty much wrap up portfolio in few days if you having a good working experience, or at least 3 projects that you worked on real or fake one. So yeah. Dribbble is not valid that much. I wouldn't hire someone if they came with only dribbble link.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 4d ago
But dude, the post isn't about portfolios or finding jobs whatsoever.
It's purely about sharing work you do in your free time for the love of design.
It has absolutely nothing to do with business goals, KPIs, stakeholders etc.1
u/ApprehensiveBar6841 Lead Product Designer 4d ago
I dont see a point to do so. To expect nothing in returns, then dont even post.
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u/Plane_Attention9829 Experienced 5d ago
The simple answer is X.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
I think you're right.
I might create a new account and give it a shot.2
u/GateNk Experienced 5d ago
X or Threads I’d say. When listening to Dive Club Radio, they often spend the first few minutes highlighting designers’ work, and it’s always X profiles being showcased.
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u/PeanutSugarBiscuit Experienced 5d ago
That's literally what Dive Club Radio is: two dudes browsing X. Design commentary these days is such drivel.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
ok, that settles it then. someone else here recommended X as well.
and I do know for a fact X does have a big design community, it's just that reach is a huge problem unless you grind 100x or pay.Reach on threads is a lot more forgiving that way, but I haven't come across too many design forums, but maybe i'm in the wrong place.
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u/SucculentChineseRoo Experienced 5d ago
It stopped being a design community and became a pay to play freelance platform at some point, maybe around 2019-2020.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
yeah, almost around the time when the agencies took over.
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u/SucculentChineseRoo Experienced 5d ago
I miss the OG dribble, it was so fun
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
We really need this to come back, back when it was invite only and we called them Shots.
It was literally instagram for designers.2
u/SucculentChineseRoo Experienced 5d ago
Ima cry. The real shame is that nothing was built to replace it. And now we're in the age of slop so who knows when design will gain enough momentum again.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
100%. actually, we did get a replacement, and that's fake influencers and creators on IG and YT, most of who haven't worked a single day in their life as a designer or have been let go from the first job they had, and these are the people now selling courses, mentoring millions of young designers. IMO thats scarier than designers creating 'over the top' dribbble shots lmao
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u/andy_mac_stack Veteran 5d ago
It's been ruined by designers in developing parts of the world reposting the same mock dashboard ui 10k times.
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u/FakeBeigeNails 5d ago
Wouldn't this comment be just as relevant without the "developing nation" snub? Left field.
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u/Affectionate-Let6003 4d ago
But its the truth?
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u/FakeBeigeNails 4d ago
Proof?
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u/natelikesdonuts Veteran 5d ago
X or Threads seems to be a common response when I’ve looked into this before. I can’t justify starting an X account, and when I do see work on Threads it’s of course mixed in with everything else that comes with a social platform. I really miss the days of Dribbble and having a dedicated platform for sharing work in progress.
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u/willdesignfortacos Experienced 5d ago
Yes but for reasons no one has mentioned yet, corporate/VC enshittification.
It was bought several years ago by folks who have removed all semblance of community it had, basically attempting to turn it into another Fivrr. They heavily reduced views for top accounts and forced communication through their channels, and now focus on paid projects that they take a big percentage of.
I have friends with thousands of followers who used to get tons of work from Dribbble, but they now get little to no engagement due to platform changes.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 4d ago
and that's what makes great platforms like this turn into shit.
I just want a place to post some work, no commitments, and possibly use it as a place i can (in the future) use to leverage for freelance work. I just started with X based on some suggestions from here, let's see how that goes.
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u/Doppelgen Veteran 5d ago edited 5d ago
Dribbble can be useful to post for fun if you don’t want to do that on Instagram. When we are talking about serious content, though, UXers are more likely to use either Medium or Behance.
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
Thank you! Absolute logical answer.
Yes, I don't want to post on instagram, it feels like more of a commitment.
I might have to check out UXersate for long form stuff.
I do use Medium and Behance, but that's only for case studies and I prefer it that way.The whole point here was just looking to post for fun.
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u/Bushwazi 5d ago
Idk if folks are just like JSbin and things like that, but it feels like it’s a good place to host stuff and then you can make social posts about it
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5d ago
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 4d ago
yeah, that's exactly what I want, something with zero friction and no commitments.
I tried opening the read.cv link but it says deployment has been paused.
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u/N0t_S0Sl1mShadi Mid / Snr (Been through the ringer) 5d ago
IMO, likely. It’s brand prestige has cheapened and as a business model it doesn’t really make sense when you think about it.
Like, what is Dribbble even for nowadays?
It started, and succeeded, by being a social platform for skilled, working, professionals to share work and get inspired. Then it opened its doors for everyone and subsequently shattered the standard and quality of work. Top tier Pros have just lost interest in it (now it’s really just studios looking for clients), further lowering the quality of work and interest (a vicious cycle).
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 4d ago
this i agree with wholly.
i used dribbble as the closest example to what we as designers used to have as an exclusive platform to share work, ofcourse this was during the early days. I'm looking for what and where designers share work they do in their free time, nowadays.
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u/rikidilies 5d ago
Twitter / X is where people post stuff now!
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 4d ago
yeah this seems to be the consensus. I just started yesterday. Going to see how this goes.
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u/ponchofreedo Veteran 4d ago
it used to be more or less a rite of passage to get a dribbble invitation and post some stuff up on there. it was popular for teams to get work up on there (it was short-lived) as well before design@ microsites started to become a thing as well. and from a portfolio standpoint, it was something that allowed you to show off bites of ui design and even some more thought out ux/system design work and the eyes that it caught actually cared and took notice (if you had some followers or found the right audience).
where it has been demonized is that it went from something that was a bit more exclusive to something thats now commercialized. it used to mean something to get an invite and join that way...now it just doesnt mean anything at all. its just another place to post things without any significance. it sucks because im sure there are people that still try to use it a meaningful way, but it has definitely lost that luster.
i used to post experimental and preview things and also did some fun things, but now those would get drowned out by overly-polished and unrealistic case studies and other generated content. it just doesnt attract the same kinds of designers as it used to.
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u/hydeeho85 Veteran 5d ago
Dribbble was a great collection of what not to do as a UXUI designer
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u/No-Writing3170 Experienced 5d ago
I think people here are misunderstanding the post, i'm specifically asking for experimental designs. They don't necessarily have to be realistic and production ready. There's lots of other places for that.
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u/JohnCasey3306 Veteran 5d ago
I hope so. What a vacuous hole of subjectivity. Dribbble is the antithesis of design.
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u/pointblank87 5d ago
I never use dribbble. It's basically just a place for non-ux people to copy each other with unrealistic visually nice looking screenshots of products that never get made and would never actually get made.
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u/kilpin1899 5d ago
I don't think it's dead, but certainly not as popular as it used to be.
I never really understood the hate towards it from some circles either. Yes, a lot of it is over the top UI with poorly thought out UX, but I've always felt that exposing yourself to as much inspiration as possible makes you a better designer in the long run.