I'm curious to find out why you use Dribbble and what you hope to get from it. There are a great many reasons - including, but not limited to, looking for feedback, getting a pat on the back or 'getting your name out there' - to use Dribbble.

What are you looking to get out of it?

To inspire and to be inspired. If I do something I think is good, I post it hoping it will help others see a solution or style that maybe didn't exist before. Sometimes I'll ask feedback of others as you can never be 100% certain, and there are plenty of experienced designers willing to lend a hand.

Absolutely - there are tons of crazy talented people on there most of whom are nice people.

How do you feel when you ask for feedback but get a bunch of 'likes' instead? Does that satisfy you as far as knowing you did something right or would you prefer someone took the time to write a considered and constructive breakdown of your post?

For me its two things. First, I love finding new and original work on there. Usually it leads to getting to know the designer on Twitter/Skype — which in itself, is awesome. Second, it's my main source of work. A few early shots are personal spare time projects that hopefully snowball and lead to actual client work. That's my goal. To feed my family.

I like to keep track of what other designers are doing and what projects they're working on. So more, keeping up to date with the startup side of things.

I also like revisiting every now and then as it usually inspires and motivates me to continue working hard and stretch my creativity.

Unfortunately it's one of the last places I go for feedback. I think the whole concept of posting a teaser can be a bit flawed. A small image will lead to 'small' comments.

With the last update they did, Dribbble rather quietly changed their tagline from "What are you working on?" to "Show and tell for designers" which I think might be partly responsible for the paradigm shift I've noticed of late: people only posting highly polished, final work rather than works-in-progress. Now, this is obviously mostly down to personal preference, but I still think the change in tagline has been an influence on people's attitudes.

I think people use it as a place to show what they're capable of. I know I'm afraid to show WIP that may highlight weaknesses and imperfections. I'm silly.

To me, Dribbble is a place that perfectly represents the circle of inspiration that exists within our industry. You often see this demonstrated in the trends that overtake the popular page at times (most recently Weather Apps and Swiss Army Knifes) - whereby the community come together to provide alternate and varied solutions to the same problem (or brief). It's not competitive, it's enjoyable to have those moments of "Wow, why didn't I think of that?" - it pushes us to question our own designs.

Through this inspiration we can grow and push ourselves as designers and that to me is the main strength of being part of the Dribbble community.

Well said Dan. I definitely agree those trends that sweep through as a great way to see alternatives to a common problem - however I can't help but feel some folk get on board to ride this wave not because they have their own solution but because of the potential to get a few more followers.

Am I cynical?

I am guilty of having only posted 2 shots so far, and both are of finished personal pieces. I predominantly use Dribbble for inspiration and for finding talented creatives that I hadn't heard of before. I'm aware that I may need to outsource skills in the future (illustration, icons, app dev) and following specialists in these fields is a good way to keep track of them and see their more recent work up until I may need them.

I think Dribbble will go down the path of being a show and tell for more finished work instead of work in progress as that is what people want anyways. I suppose it's just a natural evolution in a community as the people using it find they have a different need and use an existing place to scratch that itch.

Adam, I don't think that's cynical - I honestly feel that it's probably true.

One thing that I feel is a hindrance with the gaining of followers is that some designers turn into different people - it seems to be an ego boost and to me that's sad.

They then proceed to get stuck in a rut whereby they only post work that will please their followers and forget to experiment and push the boundaries of design. It's sad to see.

Design shouldn't be confined. We must play with design to find the best solutions - Dribbble was originally better suited to that. People gave critique and you played with their advice to output something even more wonderful. Now, people get offended by critique because they only post the finished goods.

"They then proceed to get stuck in a rut whereby they only post work that will please their followers and forget to experiment and push the boundaries of design"

This. Oh my god this.

Dribbble is what people want it to be. I find it useful for inspiration when you get vague briefs or its for something you haven't really done before. Its nice to get recognised for work you post there, and the 'hire me' button has really helped me when I freelanced.

I have evolved a lot since I joined Dribbble, which happened like more than a year ago. Back then, my main focus was to be better at what I do. Gradually, I have improved because of it. Also, I have been exposed to tremendous talent and people, which has influenced the way I think of Dribbble.

Right now, Dribbble, for me, is a very dangerous yet very useful place. You can get lured by trends and senseless 'redesigns' of any web/mobile app, which get a lot of likes. Or, correctly, become a like-whore. I treat it like a place to show-off my work and gain some popularity. I treat feedback as a secondary objective. I barely get feedback. I think the reason why people don't give feedback is because some people being overly egoistic.

@Haziq - fair point about the feedback. I've gotten frosty receptions to leaving criticism before (I'm not one to point out something I don't like without offering up a solution) and I feel this is largely due to the attitude Dribbble (and any other website that has a 'like' feature) instills in people. They get used to getting a ton of likes, so when someone comes along and points out a decision they have made might not be the best solution, they act out because they are used to just getting adoration.

For me dribbble serves more then 1 purpose. I'm currently still a student and like to learn from others and from my own mistakes.
My daily target with dribbble is:
1. find people that I find interesting, also to decide which style is really what I like, and create something of my own around that style to be original at best.
2. When looking at work of others make screenshots and make a PDF with do's and don'ts they have in there work, so I can learn from that(no matter if I'm right or wrong, its for the learning curve).
3. To get inspired for designs I've never made or saw myself doing at all. for example Adam's Climacons, made me interested in drawing icons and make them one day.
4. To get some work once I've posted enough shots + pro acc

@Adam
For that purpose, I am wireframing a redesign concept for Dribbble which places commenting before liking. The very design of Dribbble is built for likes. The commenting area is like an orphan that no one loves.

I don't like to pinpoint people but there are quite a few ignorant 'designers' whose only reasoning for a bad design is either 'I like it this way' or 'It's just for fun'.

That is hilarious. So what if it's for fun? Does that qualify you to make a bad design and overlook its flaws?

Also, isn't this a little off-topic? ;)

@haziq mir
I rather hear it's a bad design + some critics about it so I can improve instead of saying it's just for fun. It's a shame people tend to do that but, as you've said, even if it's just for fun shouldn't it still be pretty good or atleast a attempt to?

But then again this comes down from person to person, also people that do got invites on dribbble should know who there inviting, isn't that really where it al starts?

@Michael Westerhof
Agree with you on most points.

I think Dribbble should go and shut the accounts of people who don't post or at least block commenting for people who simply spam.

About the invites - totally, yes.

also most people seem to misunderstand the concept of valuable feedback/commenting. I now see more I like this a lot comments then before because people are afraid because they don't comment. When I for example totally like something and see nothing wrong or too odd, I just press like and read trough comments to see if I then can feedback, if not then it's just a like. Other wise I politely describe what I think or wrong or ask why some decision is made.

Hope I can put out more work soon only got 3 shots. Also this is questionable for me, some people push out shot after shot where others only do the good shots.

I have stumbled upon an interesting article on Tech Block about Dribbble's state: thetechblock.com.

I think it is covering some of the reservations some of us have in regards to how Dribbble has become more of a show-us-what-you've-got type of website, like the one Haziq has about the commenting system which is neglected. I wholeheartedly agree with him, the base of Dribbble shot is the amount of likes it receives.

From my perspective, it's a nice little feature, but it may misguide young and aspiring designers into thinking that "likes" are all that matters and if a shot has enough of them (you set the threshold), it's error-free/perfect.

I have joined the dribbble community 8 months ago. In the first couple of months, I really tried to provide constructive feedback, because I was thinking "that's what dribbble is for". But I somehow lost my motivation, maybe because of the interface -as Haziq mentioned-, or maybe because giving feedback to designers you don't know is really hard. Some people get offended. Some people don't want to hear what's wrong with their work. I rarely write comments now, and dribbble is definitely not the first place I go to get feedback.

However, although I don't get constructive feedback, dribbble has helped me improve myself as a designer, a lot. It provided me with so many great opportunities, and I couldn't be more grateful.

I work at a studio with quite big clients, so I can't ask for feedback because the projects are confidential, so I limit to post my own student work (I rarely do freelance work).

As an observer, or "passive" user, it serves me a lot to get references and spot good designers. Also, the bucket and swatch tools are very useful when I'm lost in the Pantone wheel.

In my place -student and intern- it's a place to learn.

I use Dribbble for inspiration purposes mostly, since I don't have an account (yet), I'll really appreciate to give feedback to some of the awesome works I see every day.

I hate the like button (in every 2.0 website). I don't think that's feedback. I think it's more than a regression of the social networks.

If you want to be critic, write about it.

Of course, if someday I can register in Dribbble, I'll ask for written critics, because I want to know HOW to improve myself as a designer.

I have been trying to decide for myself how I will use Dribbble as I have been recently invited. I agree with most here that the like button is a miss and confuses me as to what the purpose of Dribbble actually is. From what I see, it seems to be a bit of a popular contest which would be an enormous let down.

But it does give me something that I think could be very useful and that is the ability to store and catalogue tid bits of work.

For simplicity and professionalism, I prefer that my online portfolio stay clean and to the point, but it is also nice to show that I am active and working constantly, Dribbble shots can show this. They can show activity, progress, and attention to detail no matter how small.

That is nice I think...

Before being a dribbbler, I used Dribbble as an inspiration source.. It's where I could get roam around and come up with ideas inspired by the best people in the field.

I also recently was invited and I'm very careful about when and what I post on Dribbble. It's so 'elite' that you have to have A+ work that you're posting.. unless you're a pro baller like Rogie, Tim Van Damne, Idiot.. anything they post will get likes out the arse.

But what I would want to get out of the community now that I'm a part of it, is real criticism. No two-word comments. If you have time to like, you have time to type a couple of sentences about the good/bad parts of the design.

Also, if I got work through Dribbble, that would be a plus.

« It's so 'elite' that you have to have A+ work that you're posting » (@Jaylin)

I don't agree.

Dribbble looks more like « chewing the chewed ».

The showcase part of Dribbble might have its good points, but as a reference for fresh and really creative works it totally sucks, at least in my point of view.

I can't find that feeling of discovering something new. There are around 10 different streams and you have to step inside these if you want to be part of Dribbble.

Thus, I consider Dribbble as a nice package of « I've-already-saw-that-somewhere-yesterday ».

They should change the title to « Show and tell for designers who fit our criteria of what design should be »

I sometimes think dribbblers's feedback isn't the best one, because it comes from people that are not familiar with the project. They may be great designers, but they unknow the brief or the client's expectations completely. I'd prefer to share it with people I know and know the atmosphere of the project.

I've received better feedback at Forest (an open alternative of Dribbble).

Small offtopic -branch it if you like- what do you use to track your time? Harvest? Basecamp? So1o? I've been looking for a completely free dead easy to use just to track my hours but didn't find one.

I agree, i'm not sure that the feedback given on Dribbble is as it should be.

Going back to the original idea of Dribbble "What are you working on" I think shots should be just that, works in progress. This would allow more dialogue in my opinion.

Poster could post a shot explain how s/he ended up there, where s/he intends to go, or if s/he feels lost and not sure why.

S/He could explain their techniques if asked, supply PSD's etc...

Users could ask questions and/or give advice based on the shots details.

I think in this way it could become a much stronger tool/resource for designers, especially those of us still learning, which is pretty much all of us.

I'm looking to get feedback, encouragement, and critique from the design (and developer) community. To be able to share what I'm doing currently, to show teaser shots, but to also give resources away, to give back to the community in a sense.

I don't know about you, but I personally feel that the whole popularity game played by a percentage of Dribbblers is getting old fast, and makes it harder for emerging designers like myself to become noticed.

There are benefits though, I have been able to share a bit of myself, and meet great individuals, especially those with high yet humble statuses, e.g Visual Idiot (he's well known, yet doesn't act above everyone, instead is humble, and down to earth).

More importantly, I would like Dribbble to go back to its core message, 'What are you working on?', to be more about sharing what one is designing, sharing techniques, ideas, resources etc, and revolving less around popularity, big names, and how many likes and buckets one gets.

Maybe we need to get rid of the popularity page, likes and just focus on the latest shots, and first shots, if someone likes something, they comment about liking it. Newcomers shots are made aware of, and current shots are shown within the past minute.

Simple.

And get rid of the pro plan I say. Some designers get bigheaded after becoming 'pro' and buying Dribbble stickers (then sticking it on their iMac and taking a shot of it).

« Liked / Popular » is different from « Good / Skilled ».

Any ranking system has this inherent problem.

Dribbble making no exception.