UI UX design challenges for all levels

Need to level up your UX/UI skills? Go beyond tutorials! This guide breaks down essential design challenges into 4 categories: Redesign, Concept, Interaction, and Problem-Solving. Start practicing structured, real-world tasks today to transform your portfolio and strategic thinking. (288 characters)

Prithiv Kumar

Oct 7, 2025

2 min read

Moving from a good designer to a great designer requires continuous practice against diverse constraints. These challenges are designed to push you beyond the basics of tool proficiency and into the strategic thinking that defines senior-level work.

Here are four categories of challenges you should start tackling today to master your craft:

These challenges teach you how to analyze and improve existing, widely used products. They require a strong understanding of user flows and market best practices.

Daily App Redesign: Pick a popular app (e.g., WhatsApp, YouTube) and redesign one feature with a measurably better user flow or interaction. This tests your critical eye for usability.
Website Makeover: Find a poorly designed website and revamp its UI while keeping core UX principles intact. Focus on information hierarchy and visual appeal.
Accessibility First: Take a common app and redesign it to be fully accessible for users with disabilities (like color blindness or motor impairments). This is essential for modern, ethical design practice.

2. Concept Challenges: Mastering Innovation

These challenges force you to think strategically from a blank slate, defining the problem before solving it. They are fantastic for showcasing creativity and quick prototyping skills.

One-Day Prototype: Design a fully clickable prototype for a random, imaginative idea (like "An app to find friends who like the same snacks as you") in under 24 hours. This tests speed and conceptual modeling.
Minimalist Challenge: Take a complex app (like Gmail or Spotify) and simplify it to only the most essential features while ensuring usability remains intact. This masters the skill of prioritization.
Redesign for a Specific Persona: Pick an app and design it specifically for a niche user group (e.g., seniors, differently-abled users). This tests your empathy and user research skills.

3. Interaction Challenges: Mastering Delight

Interactions and micro-interactions are where the magic of great UX happens. These challenges focus on the subtle details that elevate a product from functional to delightful.

Micro-Interaction Overhaul: Redesign small interactions like button hover states, form feedback animations, or app notifications to feel delightful and intuitive.
Animated Onboarding: Create an onboarding flow for a product that is engaging, reduces cognitive load, and teaches the user in under 30 seconds.

4. Problem-Solving Challenges: Mastering Constraint

These tasks require you to apply design thinking to solve specific, frustrating user issues, proving your value as a true problem solver.

Pain Point Focus: Identify one real-world UX problem (like long e-commerce checkout flows) and design a solution that measurably reduces friction.
Error States Redesign: Take annoying error messages or empty states (like 404 pages or "no search results") and redesign them to be helpful, informative, or even fun.
Dark Mode Redesign: Convert a popular website or app into a full dark mode, focusing on maintaining readability and brand identity without common dark mode pitfalls.

If you are serious about advancing your career, stop waiting for permission. Start a challenge today, document your process, and add measurable results to your portfolio.