Where UX/UI Designers Go to Challenge Themselves
Push Your Limits: The Ultimate List of Free UX/UI Design Challenge Platforms!
The field of UX/UI design is constantly evolving, requiring designers to stay sharp, creative, and resourceful. One of the most effective ways to sharpen these skills is by participating in design challenges. These challenges simulate real-world problems, push boundaries, and foster a community of like-minded creatives. We’ll dive into a selection of websites that provide exciting challenges for UX/UI designers to test and refine their skills.
1. Dribbble Playoffs
Dribbble is well-known in the design community as a platform to showcase and discover creative work. However, it also hosts design challenges called Playoffs. These challenges allow designers to compete, get feedback, and refine their skills.
Why It’s Great:
- Encourages creative exploration
- Provides exposure to an active design community
- Often themed around current design trends
2. UX Challenge
UX Challenge offers structured tasks focused on user experience design. Participants tackle real-world problems, such as improving accessibility or designing for specific demographics.
Why It’s Great:
- Focuses on practical UX scenarios
- Offers detailed briefs for context
- Perfect for building a portfolio of case studies
3. Daily UI
Daily UI sends participants one email per day for 100 days, each containing a UI challenge. These tasks range from designing a login page to creating a flight booking experience.
Why It’s Great:
- Consistent practice over 100 days
- Great for building muscle memory and workflow efficiency
- Flexible; you can spend as much or as little time as you want on each challenge
4. Sharpen Design
Sharpen generates random design briefs to simulate real-life constraints and challenges. It’s perfect for designers who want to practice solving unexpected problems.
Why It’s Great:
- Randomized prompts mimic client requests
- Encourages versatility and adaptability
- Great for ideation and quick sketching
5. Designercize
This retro-themed platform offers random design challenges with adjustable difficulty levels and time limits. It’s perfect for sharpening your rapid prototyping skills.
Why It’s Great:
- Fun and gamified interface
- Ideal for quick brainstorming sessions
- Encourages collaboration and group exercises
6. GoodBrief
GoodBrief is an excellent platform for generating random design briefs tailored to various disciplines, including UX/UI design. It simulates client projects, providing constraints and details such as industry, target audience, and goals.
Why It’s Great:
- Perfect for practicing client-based design scenarios
- Helps sharpen your problem-solving skills
- Great for building a diverse portfolio of projects
7. Behance Creative Challenges
Behance offers creative challenges in partnership with Adobe, covering various design disciplines, including UX/UI. These challenges often include detailed briefs and tutorials to help designers improve their skills.
Why It’s Great:
- Access to high-quality resources and tutorials
- Exposure to a large design community
- Opportunities to showcase work on Behance for feedback and recognition
8. uxtools.co Challenges
uxtools.co is a resource hub for UX designers that occasionally shares challenge prompts and tool recommendations. These prompts are perfect for exploring new tools while tackling design problems.
Why It’s Great:
- Combines challenges with tool exploration
- Helps designers stay updated with the latest in UX tools
- Focuses on practical and actionable solutions
9. UI Coach
UI Coach is a platform designed to help UX/UI designers improve their skills through design prompts and challenges. It offers curated tasks that focus on specific design areas, such as typography, layout, and user flows, helping designers refine their craft.
Why It’s Great:
- Focuses on skill-specific challenges
- Offers practical tips and resources alongside challenges
- Perfect for designers looking to improve specific aspects of their design process
Final Thoughts
Design challenges are not just a test of skill — they’re a playground for creativity and innovation. Whether you’re looking to build your portfolio, improve your workflow, or connect with the design community, these platforms offer endless opportunities.
So, which of these will you tackle first? Let us know in the comments below!
