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What's your source of realistic mobile UI inspiration, not just dribbblesque rubbish?

over 5 years ago from , Product Designer at Vivy

Hi there,

I'm struggling with finding a good source of inspiration for mobile app user interfaces (Android/iOS).

Dribbble is pretty much useless, as most of the designs are not feasible, based on unrealistic requirements or non-existing problems. My main source of inspiration for some time was Pinterest, although now it's hard to dig through outdated solutions and reposts from Dribbble-like websites, so apart from my own research (self-made library of mobile screenshots) I hardly know any place to inspire from.

One could be Pttrns.com, but I'd expect it to be heavily updated, especially that they offer paid plan to have access to all materials. I tend to go to Uplabs as well, but it's basically Dribbble with filtering options for me.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

29 comments

  • Moe Dmr, over 5 years ago

    https://mobbin.design/

    24 points
  • Sean LesterSean Lester, over 5 years ago

    I still use Dribbble. I'd rather aspire to something gorgeous and break down the barriers than temper my expectations to the point of comfort with mediocre work. Not that Dribbble work is absolutely exceptional, and of course there are limits — but certainly I like to be inspired by work that I find inspiring and ask myself "Why not my app?" The answer to that question clarifies my challenges.

    7 points
    • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, over 5 years ago

      On that same note; a good Google search is worth just as much.

      Try and look at the shitty search results as well. That is, crap UI might still have merits. Look past the ugly and see if you can spot the good UX bits and pieces.

      0 points
  • Alex HoffmanAlex Hoffman, over 5 years ago

    Check the app store frequently, download interesting apps, give em a spin. I find using real apps is a great way to find inspiration beyond static images.

    7 points
  • Bole ★, over 5 years ago

    “Dribbblesque rubbish” is a pleonasm.

    5 points
  • Account deleted over 5 years ago

    I use dribbble, but just take the usable parts and ignore all the crap, like transitions that are impossible to code and would just annoy a user.

    4 points
  • Arturo Rios Gutierrez, over 5 years ago

    Observe your users, what apps do they use? What are their mental models? And then come up with a hypothesis. Test your hypothesis. Rinse and repeat. That's it.

    2 points
    • anthony barbato, over 5 years ago

      he literally wanted places for inspiration, you missed the point completely. User testing is 100% separate from looking at how other individuals and companies solved problems.

      8 points
      • Arturo Rios Gutierrez, over 5 years ago

        "Inspiration is for amateurs - the rest of us just show up and get to work" - Chuck Close. If you did your homework, you should have figured out the mental models of your users (through user interviews, contextual inquiries, user testing of your competition's product) and then address the technical constraints of the platform, in this case iOS and Android, with pretty documented guidelines. That gives you a lot of room for ideation. I am not against looking at other individuals and companies work, but no problem/users are the same. And I wouldn't say that Dribbble is a good place to looking at how others solved problems. How do you know they were solved?

        1 point
        • barry saundersbarry saunders, over 5 years ago

          That Chuck Close quote is about waiting to be inspired before beginning to work, not about doing research.

          2 points
          • Arturo Rios Gutierrez, over 5 years ago

            Interesting! What is the difference between looking for places for inspiration and waiting to be inspired? Possibly one is active and the other is passive. Both of them are accomplished when you reach inspiration. I don't believe in inspiration. I believe in well-conducted research, and translating that research into actionable insights, which inform my design decisions, which I test to validate my assumptions. If there is any "source of inspiration" that can serve as a shortcut to this process do let me know. Thanks!

            0 points
            • barry saundersbarry saunders, over 5 years ago

              I guess my question would be, what do you consider 'research'? Does that include understanding what kinds of interfaces people like and are familiar with?

              0 points
              • Arturo Rios Gutierrez, over 5 years ago

                Absolutely. I think that might be (part of the) research. The problem is that a lot of designers start looking for "inspiration" on Pinterest, Behance, Medium, Dribbble, before actually knowing what are their research questions, and the behaviors they want to encourage through the solution. Laura Klein has a fantastic book called "Design Better Products" which shows how to decide your research efforts. Joe Leech also speaks about procedural knowledge vs declarative knowledge https://youtu.be/mxzK4sWfvH8?t=16m48s

                I appreciate a lot your replies. Thanks Barry!

                0 points
  • 415 -, over 5 years ago

    ux.stackexchange.com is useful for advice on which patterns to implement. Use cases also tend to be more 'real'.

    2 points
  • A. N.A. N., over 5 years ago

    http://uxarchive.com

    1 point
  • iterati designiterati design, over 5 years ago

    The question is how do you get inspired? Occasionally look at things or search for something specific with a keyword?

    For the first, I'd say dribbble still, you just have to know what to ignore (most of the stuff there) and look at great teams sharing insights.

    For the second, those places mentioned in other comments here + real stuff: apps I use & apps I'm trying out all the time + Pinterest.

    1 point
  • shirin sodhi, over 5 years ago

    Wondering if there are any international internship opportunities in UI/UX domain.

    0 points
  • Johan Ronsse, over 5 years ago

    It may be obvious but what about the actual apps themselves? Agenda just won an Apple Design Award. Google is sometimes putting up interesting new stuff like Google Tasks. Check whatever Microsoft has released recently in the iOS/Android space (what they announced at Build); etc.

    0 points
  • Mike AbbotMike Abbot, over 5 years ago

    Pinterest!

    0 points
  • Derp Herpington, over 5 years ago

    For Android, http://androidniceties.tumblr.com/

    0 points
  • Jared KrauseJared Krause, over 5 years ago

    Dribbble isn't rubbish/useless. There's great visual inspiration to be found and it's up to you to implement your user experience properly.

    0 points
  • Account deleted over 5 years ago

    if you're actually looking for an inspiration, check something else then. Read books or check out the actual designers who done remarkable works like. I find this question of yours is sad because you sound like you're focused only jpegs which could fit on 320x768. design is not limited to boundaries of artboards.

    0 points