This is the latest in a series of posts explaining the decisions we make at Dribbble that affect our users, as well as the results of those decisions (positive or negative).

Dribbble exists to help designers generate and convert leads. Our success depends on increasing both the number of designers who receive leads and the number of leads each designer receives. Designers will share their work, advertise their services, and transact through the platform only if they expect to land more clients as a result.

To monetize these leads – which is how Dribbble generates revenue – we spent much of the past year developing the essential features for clients to request design services and pay, and for designers to deliver work and get paid – along with new advertising products to help designers win more clients.

With that foundational work behind us, we’re now obsessing over the client experience .

We’re optimizing each stage of the conversion funnel, with a bias toward upper-funnel work that increases the number…