Designing for Real People, Not Dribbble

There is nothing wrong with inspiration sites. I use them too.
But design that only looks good in a mockup often falls apart in the real world.

Real users:

• Scroll fast
• Skim text
• Use small screens
• Click the wrong thing
• Have bad internet connections
• Don’t read instructions

Designing for real people means prioritizing function over flair.

Clear navigation beats clever navigation.
Readable text beats trendy text.
Predictable interactions beat surprising ones.

This does not mean design should be dull.
It means beauty should come from usability, not fight against it.

Dribbble is not the internet

Most Dribbble shots are:

• Static
• Perfectly cropped
• Context-free
• Untested
• Unconstrained by content

They don’t show:

• Long headlines
• Real copy
• Error states
• Accessibility requirements
• Performance constraints
• CMS limitations

That doesn’t make them useless — but it makes them incomplete.

A design that only works at one screen size, with perfect content, and zero edge cases is not finished design. It’s visual exploration.

Real design starts with constraints

Constraints are not a limitation. They are the job.

Good design answers questions like:

• What happens when this headline is twice as long?
• What does this look like on a cheap Android phone?
• Can a first-time user understand this in 3 seconds?
• What breaks if content is missing?
• What happens when JavaScript fails?

If your design cannot survive those questions, it is not ready.

Consistency beats cleverness

Most brand problems don’t come from bad ideas.
They come from inconsistency across real deliverables.

The logo works — but:

• The website feels different
• Social posts look unrelated
• Print doesn’t match digital
• Typography changes constantly
• Colors drift over time

Consistency is what makes a brand feel real.

People don’t trust what feels improvised.

That means:

• Reusing patterns
• Limiting variation
• Saying no to “just this once”
• Designing systems, not pages

Accessibility is not optional polish

Readable text is not boring.
High contrast is not ugly.
Clear hierarchy is not old-fashioned.

Accessibility improves design for everyone, not just edge cases.

If your design relies on:

• Tiny text
• Low contrast
• Hover-only interactions
• Color alone to convey meaning

…it is fragile by default.

Performance is part of the design

A beautiful site that loads slowly is not beautiful.

Performance affects:

• Bounce rate
• Trust
• Conversion
• SEO
• Perceived quality

Every animation, font, and image has a cost.

Designing for real people means asking: