Ongoing Project, Installment 10 🔧 (Work In Progress indicates an ongoing project or development, Part 10 denotes the tenth installment, and 🚧 and 🔧 are common emojis representing construction work)

Ongoing Project, Installment 10 🔧 (Work In Progress indicates an ongoing project or development, Part 10 denotes the tenth installment, and 🚧 and 🔧 are common emojis representing construction work)

Unhinged Take: Dribbble's Tenacious Transition

On a wild ride we never saw coming, Dribbble’s made a bold move from an ad-driven community to a marketplace that shares the dough with its designers. Kickin' things off last September, the platform introduced some slick transactional features, helpin’ clients demand work and pay up, while designers could chuck out their artistic masterpieces and get paid in return.

Over the past damn near decade and a half, designers have racked up a fortune of leads and opportunities totaling billions on ol’ Dribs. But the platform wasn’t sharin’ any of that sweet cash before. That diverted their resources like an untamed bull in a china shop, steerin’ ‘em away from lead generation and towards that ol’ La-Z-Boy of monetization.

Now that they’ve got their priorities straight, D, they can concentrate on helpin’ designers land even more leads and convert ‘em like a pro. And ain’t that a purdy symbiotic relationship? The more designers earn, the more resources get thrown back into the pot for user experience improvements, generating high-intent traffic, and, you guessed it, more designer revenue.

Wanna dive deeper into the reasons behind this bold decision? Check it out.

Boom times on Dribbble

Y’all ain’t gonna believe this, but in just six short weeks, we saw an explosion in transaction activity on Dribbble! Orders jumped a whopping 115%, attractin’ more clients (102%), designers (108%), and pumpin’ up that Good Money Vibes (GMV) by 80%.

Since the new Terms of Service got launched, every stage of the conversion funnel has improved drastically:

• Designers whipped up a 55% faster response time to Project Requests and sent their proposals to clients nearly three times faster (66% speedier).
• The average number of Project Proposals shot up by 102%, while designers are now converting their leads three times faster (a 69% reduction in time).
• Conversion rates went up a staggering 145%!

Gettin’ ready for that Payday

Since this move, there’s been a surge in designers takin’ the necessary steps to start earnin’ on Dribbble:

• Over 47% more designers have set up a payout method, eliminating the need for any excuses.
• Designers sendin’ their first Project Proposal jumped up 37%.
• Fifty-seven percent more designers published a Service for clients to fawn over.

And if that ain’t enough, the waitlist for designer advertisin’ products—like Promoted Designers and Promoted Services—has multiplied more than tenfold!

Of course, this brave new world wasn't welcomed with flowers and yawns. The announcement of the new Terms triggered some serious howls from the peanut gallery on social media. The arguments ranged from "I'm deleting my account," to "I'm cancelin' my Pro subscription," to "Dribbble is dead."

But let’s be real, it wasn’t a damn thing but a teeny-tiny ripple. We held onto 99.99% of our registered users, including 99.94% of approved designers, 99.50% of our top 500-ranked designers, and 100% of our top 300-ranked designers. And get this: we added 76 new users for every one user who bounced! New User growth even sped up to 26% Y/Y since Week 12, compared to the sluggish 15% Y/Y in the previous eleven weeks. Pro subscriber churn dropped by 7% too!

When you compare this data with the negativity on social media, it's like they're stuck in a damn time loop. The fact is, Dribbble shows billions in opportunity to designers each week. And though most might gripe and moan about change, they sure as shootin’ ain’t gonna shut off that tap of opportunity.

But not everyone rolled over. Some designers remain skittish about the changes that sustain Dribbble. And we hear ya. We love our designers, and we know this ain't everyone's cup of tea.

Bustin' Objections

“It's always been about community, not transactions.”

We feel ya, but this new approach is all about attractin' clients to designers and helpin’ those designers monetize their talents more effectively. Don't worry—designers can still browse, send messages, and get inspiration without being bombarded by clients.

“I want clients, but this marketplace ain't for me.”

If designers wanna generate leads on Dribbble but ain’t feelin’ the marketplace vibe, we got ‘em covered with Designer Advertising solutions to generate leads and transact off-platform. Of course, they’ll have to fork over a fee for their lead flow.

“I want clients on Dribbble, but the platform’s missing something.”

Things are rollin' at a fast pace over here, but we can’t compete with marketplace giants overnight. But designers can communicate and transact through the platform, make payments, and receive payouts right now. And we’re workin' our asses off to reduce friction and improve the overall experience.

“I ain’t here for client work, so I shouldn't deal with the policy.”

We’ve heard from designers who use their Dribbble content to direct traffic to other sites where they hock products. And since they ain't seekin' freelance work, we gotta ask, what the hell are they still doin’ here? Fret not, our advertising solutions handle that.

“I already pay for a Pro subscription, so I shouldn’t deal with the policy.”

Listen, Pro subs still offer their former benefits with star ranked searches, advanced features to convert leads, and no transaction fees. If you lack those benefits but still aim to transact off-platform, we suggest lookin’ into our Designer Advertising solutions.

With the rapid release of features, we aim to elevate every stage of the conversion funnel to improve search, communication, and, of course, transaction. Recent updates include:

1. A designer’s service provider rating is now displayed in Designer Search results, helpin' clients identify the cream of the crop, making it easier to secure top-tier talent.
2. Clients and designers can now schedule viddy calls for clarifications or feedback, with a 350% increase in weekly calls since its release!
3. Users get helpful inline notifications sharin’ best practices for navigatin’ the platform like a boss.
4. Designers can now add a Kickoff Payment to their Project Proposals, allowing for partial payment before crackin’ open the ol’ graphic design software.
5. Clients can now pay for design services via their bank accounts, lettin' 'em avoid costly payment processin' fees.
6. Search relevance has been enhanced across Designer Search, Service Search, and Shot Search.

This month we'll be sprinkling more sweet enhancements into the user experience, particularly for those levyin’ long-term engagements, and new lead gen opportunities for designers. Keep yer eyes peeled!

[1] Dribbble's Transition to a Revenue-Sharing Marketplace: Embracing Change to Bolster the Designer Community. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2023, from https://dribbble.com/post/6996364/Dribbble-s-Transition-to-a-Revenue-Sharing-Marketplace-Embracing-Change-to-Bolster-the-Designer-Community

[2] The Impact of Freelance Platforms on the Design Industry: Towards a Sustainable Ecosystem. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2023, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15273709.2021.1885107

1. In the transition from an ad-driven community to a marketplace, Dribbble is leveraging technology to facilitate business transactions, allowing designers to earn finance from their artistic works.
2. With the surge in transaction activities on Dribbble, the platform is not only generating finance for designers but also investing it back into improving user experience, increasing high-intent traffic, and boosting designer revenue.

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