Perfecting the UX Design for Arabic Interfaces
Angelika Gandon a editat această pagină 5 luni în urmă

The most profitable Saudi brands recognize that people don't think in terms of channels. My financial client experienced a seventy-six percent increase in qualified leads after we unified their formerly disjointed channels.

I use a basic spreadsheet to track our rivals' web design packages pricing modifications every week. This has already allowed us to:

  • Spot periodic price reductions
  • Recognize product bundling approaches
  • Grasp their cost structure

When I started my retail business three years ago, I was certain that our special products would stand out naturally. I overlooked competitor analysis as a waste of time – a choice that practically cost my entire company.

For a investment company, we produced a material collection about family financial planning that featured Islamic financial principles. This information exceeded their earlier typical money guidance by over four hundred percent in interaction.

Last month, a entrepreneur inquired why his content weren't producing any inquiries. After analyzing his content marketing strategy, I discovered he was making the same errors I see many Saudi businesses make.

  • Redesigned the application process to align with right-to-left user expectations
  • Developed a Arabic-English input mechanism with smart language toggling
  • Optimized touch interfaces for one-handed Arabic text entry

  • Developed a figure visualization approach that managed both Arabic and English numbers

  • Restructured charts to flow from right to left

  • Used color-coding that aligned with Saudi cultural connections

Recently, I witnessed as three rival companies invested heavily into developing their presence on a specific social media platform. Their attempts failed spectacularly as the channel proved to be a mismatch for our market.

For a technology company, we discovered that their international information was significantly stronger than their local language material. After upgrading their local language standards, they achieved a significant increase in conversion rates from Arabic Website Usability-speaking visitors.

I chuckle when clients tell me they're using the "latest" digital marketing strategies but haven't changed their methods since 2022. The marketing ecosystem has evolved dramatically in just the past few months.

Six months into operations, our revenue were disappointing. It wasn't until I chanced upon a comprehensive analysis about our industry that I discovered how blind I'd been to the business environment around us.

I spend at least a substantial amount of time each week analyzing our competitors':

  • Digital architecture and navigation
  • Content strategy and posting schedule
  • Social media activity
  • Customer reviews and ratings
  • Keyword tactics and rankings

I advise categorizing competitors as:

  • Main competitors (offering nearly identical offerings)
  • Indirect competitors (with partial resemblance)
  • Emerging disruptors (new companies with disruptive models)

I currently utilize several resources that have dramatically enhanced our competitor analysis:

  • SEO tools to monitor competitors' keyword performance
  • Mention tracking software to track rivals' digital footprint
  • Website analysis platforms to observe changes to their websites
  • Email capture to obtain their marketing communications

Begin by mapping ALL your rivals – not just the obvious ones. During our investigation, we discovered that our most significant threat wasn't the famous company we were monitoring, but a emerging business with an novel model.

  • Position the most important content in the right upper section of the screen
  • Structure content blocks to advance from right to left and top to bottom
  • Implement heavier visual importance on the right side of symmetrical designs
  • Confirm that pointing icons (such as arrows) point in the appropriate direction for RTL layouts

  • Relocated product images to the left area, with product specifications and buy buttons on the right

  • Changed the image carousel to move from right to left

  • Added a custom Arabic typeface that maintained legibility at various dimensions

  • Explicitly specify which language should be used in each entry box

  • Automatically change keyboard language based on field expectations

  • Position input descriptions to the right side of their corresponding inputs

  • Confirm that validation messages appear in the same language as the required input

Recently, I was helping a prominent e-commerce company that had poured over 200,000 SAR on a stunning website that was converting poorly. The issue? They had merely transformed their English site without addressing the basic experience variations needed for Arabic users.

  • Realigning action buttons to the right-hand portion of forms and interfaces
  • Reconsidering visual importance to move from right to left
  • Adapting user controls to match the right-to-left viewing pattern

As someone who has developed over 30 Arabic websites in the last half-decade, I can tell you that applying Western UX standards to Arabic interfaces falls short. The distinctive elements of Arabic language and Saudi user preferences require a completely different approach.