Enabling Global Expansion: Designing for Arabic and French to Localize Shuttlers Across Africa
Project: Internationalization of Shuttlers’ Product Suite
Goal: Prepare Shuttlers for non-English speaking markets across Africa
Result: Successfully localized 6 product lines for French and Arabic, enabling expansion into Côte d’Ivoire and laying groundwork for Egypt
Role: Lead Product Designer
Timeline: 4 weeks
Team: Me (Design), PM, Engineering, Operations
01
The Problem
As Shuttlers prepared to enter Francophone and Arabic-speaking markets, our entire product line was optimized for English-only use. We faced three major UX blockers:
Inability to serve non-English speakers
No support for right-to-left (RTL) layouts (critical for Arabic)
Currency display issues (e.g., incorrect order or spacing for regional norms)
Without solving these, expansion would stall at the product level — leading to poor adoption and limited traction in new territories.
02
My Role
I led the internationalization design effort across 6 key Shuttlers product lines. This included:
Researching region-specific UX and typographic needs
Driving layout adjustments and system updates for RTL support
Collaborating with PMs and engineers to deliver scalable, accessible designs in both French and Arabic
03
Research & Discovery
I began by deeply analyzing the cultural, linguistic, and technical nuances of our target regions:
Arabic UX standards: Arabic is inherently more ornate and right-aligned. I studied apps popular in the MENA region to understand spatial patterns, call-to-action placement, and reading logic.
Currency formatting: Discovered key differences, e.g.:
Arabic uses different currency symbols/abbreviations
In French, the position of currency codes relative to numbers varies
Number formatting conventions (e.g., comma vs period use)
04
Ideation & Flow Design
With research insights in hand, I ran controlled explorations on:
Font selection: Arabic fonts must balance artistic legibility and density. After testing readability and visual weight, we selected Heebo, which harmonized well across both English and Arabic.
RTL layout strategy:
Adjusted component mirroring for layouts
Reconfigured navigation hierarchy for RTL-first experience
Ensured Figma frames used directional constraints, not fixed padding
Design system extension:
Enabled locale-switching previews within Figma for QA and devs
05
Design Execution
The design phase was fluid due to robust research groundwork. I created dual-variant screens (LTR and RTL) across:
Pilot App
Customer App
Admin Dashboard
Business dashboard
Marshall app
Vehicle partners app
I also ensured:
Compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA
Proper font fallback strategies for regions with slow connections
Use of language flags, not codes, for clarity during switching
06
Impact & Results
Successfully launched French variant for 6 product lines and awaiting arabic
Enabled Shuttlers’ expansion into Côte d’Ivoire, where the app is now in use
Prepared the product for entry into Egypt, our next growth market
Ops Team Feedback: “The system is finally usable by our field agents and riders in Abidjan. Huge difference.”