So what’s a designer to do?!

Well, use Dribbble (like the title suggests, duh). The way I use Dribbble changes based on which phase I’m in:

When I’m between projects

When I’m starting a project

During final polish

When I’m defending one of my crazy design decisions

Using Dribbble When I’m Between Projects

Note: This phase doesn’t actually exist since I have a backlog of side projects projecting out until I’m 162 years old.

BUT! There are brief moments in my day where I come up for air and take a look around the design world, usually by opening a new tab to do real work, then promptly getting distracted by the bright colors I see in the Panda Extension. What follows is a Dribbble click-hole for the next hour.

I once took a class where a professor had us collect examples of objects and patterns we liked — either from photographs or clippings from these ancient artifacts called magazines (from the latin for “advertisement picture books”). At the end of the semester, we turned them in and she’d write a magically accurate description of our style preferences.

This act of continuous collecting is a great way to use Dribbble for UX designers seeking to learn visual design on the fly. Always keep an eye out, whether it’s an illustration, a logo, or other UI compositions you like (but can’t immediately articulate why). Eventually, you’ll look back on these and either see how your tastes have matured, or find inspiration.

Quick Tips for using Dribbble between projects:

Periodically take deep dives into Dribbble’s homepage via Muzli (Muzli) or Panda (Panda) to get a sense for active trends.

Be calculated in who you follow so that your own Dribbble homepage starts to align with your personal taste.

Like or Bucket random things you are fond of to reference later, even if they’re not immediately relevant to your current project.

Using Dribbble at the Beginning of the Project

To be clear, “the beginning” is the point at which you have already done real customer/user/market research, and completed some whiteboarding or sketching sessions. So call off your UX Process Police Force when I use the word “research” rather loosely throughout this section.

Once you sit down to start laying some serious pixels, you’ll inevitably have mocked up some new interaction you have no idea how to design (that’s okay!). So then you start silently praying, hoping that someone on Dribbble has done this before.

Truthfully, Dribbble isn’t really the best at this part because it isn’t conducive to showing off UX patterns. There are a bunch of decent pattern sites out there (which I also use), but this post is all about how great Dribbble is, so we’re gonna make it work.

For example, let’s say you are an old-timer and still use the word “wizard.” So you do a quick Dribbble search and come up with a mix of UI wizards and actual wizards:

Do this search for yourself to see that old wizard dance.

Add “UI” after it and your results get a little bit better:

Looking better.

From there you can find something that starts to look like what you’re after. Now, click on the buckets it’s been added to to see who else has bucketed it. We’ve determined our search term was pretty terrible, so we’ll just hope someone else is better:

I think that second guy likes UX. Still unclear.

And look at that…my man Ron! A whole bucket called “Wizard.” You have a great starting place now. No excuses.

Quick Tips for using Dribbble at the beginning of a project:

Try a few search terms with varying levels of specificity to give you more diverse results.

Create a bucket and be sure to save anything that’s close.

Don’t save anything super old. Gross, nobody likes inner shadows any more. (please ignore this if this trend happens come back in style when you read this).

Do a Reverse Bucket Search on items you really like to find users who have already done the work for you.

Using Dribbble During Final Polish

Once you’ve churned out a few screens and established a visual direction, you’ll always second-guess things. For me, it’s shadows. Every time I try to do them myself, something is off.

I have no shame going back to Dribbble, copying an image into Sketch, and then adjusting my shadow until it matches. Sometimes I’ll even adjust the transparency of the screenshot, lock it, and design underneath it so I can match my design. Clearly I have no shame. Or ethics. Or talent. I’m not really sure where I stand, but I am sure that this method has helped me turn my visual design skills from non-existent to fairly decent.

Quick Tips for using Dribbble during final polish: