Why I Joined Dribbble: The Daily UI Challenge?

Dribbble is a platform where designers share their work, discover new ideas, and learn from one another. It’s a space where visual work takes centre stage, and where even a single screen can be worth sharing without needing a long explanation or a fully developed case study.

When I started exploring the Daily UI Challenges, I noticed that many designers presented just one screen, allowing the visuals to speak for themselves. I found that interesting, partly because it contrasts with how I usually approach design.

I started doing these challenges simply because I felt like it. I didn’t have a specific learning goal in mind at first, but I gradually realized that they could help me work on something beyond the design itself: how I present what I create.

When I started doing the Daily UI Challenges, my first design was quite spontaneous. It was simple, and it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

Then came the second one, and I added more explanations. By the third, I was already writing paragraphs and adding more and more context.

So I went back to a simpler approach: just the visuals.

I think this says something about the way I work. I have a blog, I write on Medium, and I’m also planning to use Behance to present my projects in more depth. I enjoy explaining ideas, exploring the reasoning behind a design, and putting things into context. But there are different ways to structure and present work, and I sometimes find it difficult to know when to stop.

The Daily UI Challenges are a good exercise for me precisely because they are so simple. Each challenge asks you to focus on something specific and show it. Yet even something as small as presenting an icon I had already designed and reused for a challenge became surprisingly difficult for me. Instead of simply showing the icon, I started adding cards and building a whole presentation around it.

I tend to complicate things that don’t necessarily need to be complicated.

So, for me, going back to the basics isn’t about doing less for the sake of it. It’s about learning to recognize what a piece of work actually needs, resisting the urge to add more, and allowing a simple idea to stand on its own.

Sometimes, the challenge isn’t creating something. It’s knowing how to show it.

Learning to Keep Things Simple

Throughout my design education, I’ve become used to explaining everything. I can easily put together a 30-page PDF with research, theory, context, and all the reasoning behind a project. I enjoy exploring ideas, understanding problems, and explaining why things work the way they do.

But sometimes, I spend more time explaining the work than thinking about how to present it.

This became apparent quite early in my Daily UI Challenges. My first design was spontaneous and simple. It did exactly what it was supposed to do. With the second one, I started adding more explanations. By the third, I was already writing paragraphs and providing more and more context.

Eventually, I went back to a simpler approach: just the visuals.

I think this says something about the way I work. Even when a task is straightforward, I tend to expand it, add layers, and explore possibilities beyond what is required.

For example, one challenge asked me to create a landing page about anything. Instead of choosing a simple subject, I decided to create 22 tarot cards. Another challenge involved presenting an icon I had already designed. I reused it, but then started adding cards and building a whole presentation around it.

Neither decision was necessarily wrong. I enjoy exploring ideas and experimenting with different formats. But these examples made me realize how easily I can turn a small exercise into something much bigger than it needs to be.

I want to learn to recognize when that extra work adds value and when it simply makes the process more complicated.

The Work Behind the Presentation

I have a blog, I write on Medium, and I’m also planning to use Behance to present my projects in more depth. I enjoy explaining ideas, exploring the reasoning behind a design, and putting things into context. Different platforms offer different ways to communicate, and I don’t think every project needs to be presented in the same way.

There is another aspect of my process that I want to improve.

When I work on a project, I can become so focused on the research, the thinking, and the decisions behind the solution that by the time I reach the final presentation, I’m exhausted. Sometimes, the part that suffers is precisely the part that allows others to see what I’ve actually created: the mockup, the video, or the prototype.