Rahal is a pioneering travel app designed to help primarily Iraqi (but not only) travelers explore the world with ease and confidence. The core flight and hotel booking experience is complemented by flexible payment options like Buy Now, Pay Later, helping users plan their trips effortlessly and travel without friction
Client:
Rahal / Digital Zone
Role:
Senior Product Designer
Year:
2025 - 2026
Building from zero under constraints
Designing for a new audience
Many of our users weren't used to booking trips on their phones. I had to design a native Arabic, right-to-left experience using clear, friendly guidance rather than relying on assumed UX knowledge
Working with stubborn technologies
The core booking engine was tied to a rigid external system we couldn't change. My job was to creatively design around these backend roadblocks so the user never felt them
Balancing the business
push
The business needed a prominent 'Buy Now, Pay Later' feature from day one. I had to make this highly visible to hit revenue goals without cluttering the screen or confusing the user.
Scope of work
Understanding the market
With only three weeks to get a working app into users' hands, there was no time for months of formal interviews. Instead, I dug into the market and analysed regional competitors to build on booking patterns people already knew and trusted
Designing for the audience
Implemented a native Arabic (RTL) layout with highly explanatory microcopy to accommodate users with lower digital literacy.
Competitive benchmarking
Adopted familiar, localized UI patterns (e.g., Almosafer) to minimize cognitive load and flatten the learning curve for first-time users
The MVP strategy
Focused purely on core utility (search, select, checkout), deferring complex filters to post-launch to ensure a fast, frictionless release.
Design phase
Mapping the logic
& first sketches
Before making anything look pretty, I had to figure out how it would actually work. Because our backend API was so rigid, my first step was mapping out the entire system logic to ensure developers and users wouldn't hit technical dead ends. Only then did I start sketching the first screens
With only three weeks to launch the initial MVP, there was no time for pixel-perfection. I used architectural diagrams to creatively bypass backend roadblocks, then moved straight into structural mockups. The focus was entirely on building clear, familiar navigation that guided users effortlessly from search to checkout
Exploring solutions
Before locking in our final design, there was a rapid phase of trial and error where I had to figure out what actually clicked with our users and what completely confused them. I tested multiple layouts for our most complex flows to find the one which fits the best
Design system
Silk design system integration
Instead of starting from zero, I used Silk - Netguru's brand-new design system. Rahal was actually its first real-world test run! It gave us a huge head start, but we still updated 50+ components for our Arabic audience, and designed missing travel-specific features from scratch.
Final design
The final design was prepared
to fully support RTL layout from the launch
Home screen
in Arabic language
Flight details
Custom date picker
Hotel room booking flow
Effortless travel booking experience
I designed a clean, natively Arabic checkout flow that guides the user step-by-step, removing friction and reducing the cognitive load right up until payment
Flexible payment process
To make travel more accessible, I introduced flexible instalment payment plans. The design challenge was integrating multiple price points and fees into a clean, stress-free checkout experience
Curated tours & getaways
By introducing predefined tour trips, design allowed travelers to book their perfect flight and hotel combination in just a few taps.
Post-Launch polish & optimisation
A successful launch is just the start - the real work is continuously improving the app. To find where users got stuck, I analysed PostHog funnel data and ran direct user feedback sessions.
Fixing drop-off rate in flight details page
41% drop-off at the Flight Details screen proved our rigid API was hurting the experience. It couldn't load content simultaneously, resulting in jittery screens that overwhelmed.
We introduced progressive disclosure - hiding secondary details until requested and clarifying baggage rules.
This simplified the experience and cut abandonment from 41% to 27%.
Smoothing out the final steps
Users were hesitating during the traveller selection step, and post-purchase feedback showed they lacked immediate reassurance after paying.
We smoothed out the traveler selection flow and revamped the Success Screen to show key flight details upfront, giving users instant peace of mind.
More clean traveller selection
PostHog analytics and user feedback showed the same picture - our traveller selection flow was simply too complex, causing a massive spike in drop-offs.
Design improvement decreased the drop off rate in traveller selection step, made the transition more clear
Results
At the end of the day, the goal was to empower people to travel. By continuously listening to the data and refining the experience, the final product didn't just look better - it drove massive business growth
20.3%
Conversion Rate
By fixing our major funnel leaks, the overall purchase conversion rate nearly tripled (jumping from 7.6% up to 20.3%)
~300K
Active Users
The platform successfully scaled to serve up to 300,000+ monthly active users, proving the Right-to-Left (RTL) Arabic UX resonated with the market
1,250+
Monthly Bookings
The seamless new checkout flow resulted in record-breaking platform highs, processing over 1,150 flights and 100 hotel bookings in a single month
Thank you for your attention!
