Summary
The 30-second version
Problem
Extended Gulf families run their tree, shared fund and wedding gifts across WhatsApp groups, spreadsheets and cash envelopes.
Approach
One private, verified space per family, designed Arabic-first, with privacy, dignity and money transparency built in.
Outcome
A distinctive "Weave" identity, a bilingual design system, and five core screens designed in both Arabic (RTL) and English (LTR).
Context
Families are big, close-knit and run on goodwill
In Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf, a family name (nasab, lineage) can connect hundreds of relatives across seven or more generations. Families often keep a shared fund (sandooq) for emergencies and occasions, and relatives traditionally pool money for a member's wedding.
Today this runs on a patchwork: a family elder's hand-drawn tree, a treasurer's spreadsheet, and dozens of WhatsApp groups. Contributions are hard to track, privacy is all-or-nothing, and nothing feels worthy of something as personal as family.
How might we give an extended family one private, trustworthy home for its lineage, money and occasions, and make it feel as warm as a family gathering?
Design process
An Arabic-first design loop
Each flow went around this loop more than once, starting in Arabic and mirroring to English only once the RTL version held up.
then mirror
Listen
Family interviews and cultural research on lineage and gifting
Map
Relationship model and an Arabic-first information architecture
Sketch
Greyscale phone wireframes for all five flows
Design
RTL hi-fi screens, bilingual type and the heritage palette
Mirror & test
English LTR mirroring and side-by-side checks in both languages
Users
Three people, three very different needs
Family admin / treasurer
- Keeps the tree accurate
- Chases monthly fund payments
- Needs exportable records
Family member
- Wants to find relatives
- Shares their card with others
- Contributes, votes, attends
Guest contributor
- Opens a link from WhatsApp
- Won't create an account
- Needs to trust the payment
Design principles
What guided every decision
Dignity over gamification
No streaks, confetti or badges. Elders who have passed away are honoured with a gold medallion and "in memory" label.
Privacy by default
Members can be fully private or "name only". Women's details in particular are never exposed without consent.
Money must be transparent
Fees are always shown, the net amount is stated, and every figure uses tabular numerals.
Arabic first, not translated
Layouts were designed RTL-first, then mirrored to English, so neither version feels secondary.
Visual identity
The "Weave" identity
The brand mark is the Arabic letter ن (nūn) in a gold medallion. Backgrounds use a subtle woven lattice that draws on Sadu textile patterns, a nod to the threads that tie a family together.
Low-fidelity wireframes
Greyscale wireframes of every key screen
Every phone screen was wireframed in greyscale with the same structure as the final design, so hierarchy, thumb reach and RTL mirroring were settled before colour and Arabic type came in.
01Family tree
02Digital card
03Wedding gift
04Family home
05Family fund
Key screens
Five screens that carry the product
Each screen was designed in Arabic first and then mirrored to English.
Interactive family tree
شجرة العائلة
Hundreds of relatives have to stay readable at any zoom level. Branches collapse to a count, a deceased elder gets a gold medallion, and privacy states apply everywhere in the tree.
- Instant search to find any relative across seven generations
- Legend chips for deceased, spouse, divorced and private, so relationships are clear without reading labels
- Collapsible branches that show a member count (+9, +5) to keep the tree navigable
- "You" anchor and a persistent profile bar, so the user always knows where they are
- Privacy states such as "name only" and fully private members, shown without revealing details
Digital family card
البطاقة الرقمية
A card people want to gift and screenshot. It carries the family ribbon, a gold-ringed portrait, a bilingual name, profession tags, one-tap contact and a QR code to save the contact.
- Family ribbon that puts lineage first, which matters culturally
- Bilingual name with English and Arabic set in matching type
- One-tap contact by WhatsApp, phone or email, plus a QR code for in-person sharing
- Share as image as the primary action, because cards spread through WhatsApp
- Apple Wallet and copy link as secondary actions
Public wedding gift
هدية زفاف
A guest opens a shared link and can pay without logging in. The campaign is clear, amounts are quick to pick, local payment methods are supported, and the fee is shown openly.
- No-login guest flow to remove the biggest drop-off point for one-off contributors
- Preset amounts (200, 500, 1,000 or Other) to cut typing on mobile
- Named or anonymous giving, which respects social norms around gifting
- Apple Pay, mada and cards to match how people in Saudi Arabia actually pay
- Transparent fee line and the exact amount that reaches the groom, to build trust
Family home
الرئيسية
A calm, welcoming starting point. The user gets a personal greeting, sees the active campaign first, and can reach the tree, fund, events, votes and directory from simple cards.
- Personal greeting with family size ("482 members across 7 generations") to build belonging
- Active campaign as the one dark, high-contrast card, with a single Contribute action
- Four section cards each showing a live count, so the home screen doubles as a status view
- Five-tab bottom nav reachable with one thumb
Family fund dashboard
صندوق العائلة
Who has paid and who is late, at a glance. It shows clear totals, each member's status, filters and an export option, with every amount set in tabular numerals.
- Balance first with collected and overdue amounts shown separately
- Paid and overdue counts as large numbers the treasurer can act on
- Segmented filter for All, Paid and Overdue
- Per-member rows with Arabic names and status, where overdue is shown in words and not only by color
- Export for the family treasurer's records
Bilingual & RTL
Mirroring done properly
Mirrored, with exceptions
Layout, navigation order and progress bars flip for RTL. Phone numbers, QR codes and media controls don't.
Names in both scripts
Members carry Arabic and Latin names, shown together on cards and fund rows.
Local money formats
SAR currency, mada cards and Apple Pay, with consistent digit and separator rules in both languages.
Success metrics
How success would be measured
These are the metrics I set with the team to judge the design after launch:
Guest gift conversion
The share of people who open a gift link and complete payment, the main test of the no-login flow.
On-time fund payments
The overdue count per month, compared with the treasurer's spreadsheet baseline.
Tree completeness
Verified members per family, and how many generations are covered.
Card shares
Cards shared as images or added to Wallet, which signals organic growth.
My role
What I owned
I led the work end to end: product framing, information architecture, the bilingual visual identity, the design system (colour, type, components, RTL rules) and high-fidelity screens in Arabic and English, plus the client presentation.
Reflection
What I learned
- Cultural fit is a usability feature. Lineage, gifting etiquette and privacy around women shaped the information architecture as much as user flows did.
- Design RTL first, then mirror. Starting from Arabic avoided the cramped, translated feel that most bilingual apps have.
- In money flows, trust comes from transparency. One clear line saying "reaches the groom in full" does more for trust than any badge.