Case study · 01
Wahed
Making ethical investing understandable
Led product design across iOS, Android, and web for a global halal investing platform-clarity and trust at every touchpoint. 500K+ users. $1.8M revenue impact.
Overview
Wahed is a halal fintech investment platform built to make ethical investing accessible for a global audience. Across iOS, Android, and web, the product had to earn trust at every touchpoint-clarity was not decoration; it was how people decided to put money and values in the same place.
As Senior Product Designer, I led product design from ideation through launch across multiple financial products and features. The work centred on scalable systems and high-impact journeys that strengthened the experience and supported measurable business growth.
Context
Wahed operated as a global ethical investing platform with 500K+ app downloads across 130 countries. The product spanned consumer investing experiences on mobile and web, with a growing set of financial features that had to feel coherent as the company expanded.
The audience was international and diverse. Credibility as an ethical financial institution had to hold in every market, while first-time investors needed an onboarding path that felt intuitive rather than intimidating.
Challenge
For a fintech product trusted with people’s money, functional is never enough. The interface is part of the trust signal.
In a crowded global fintech landscape, Wahed needed a design approach that differentiated the brand and reinforced trust-without losing accessibility for people new to investing.
A primary objective was to simplify and strengthen onboarding so ethical investing felt genuinely reachable. Trust had to be built incrementally across product, engineering, and marketing as the platform scaled.
Role
Senior Product Designer, July 2017-April 2023. I owned product design strategy end to end-from UX and information architecture through pixel-level delivery across iOS, Android, and web.
01
End-to-end product ownership
Led the design lifecycle from ideation through delivery, keeping design aligned with development and product strategy.
02
Component library and design system
Architected and maintained reusable UI across four product touchpoints so teams shared one coherent language and could ship with more speed and less drift.
03
Cross-functional collaboration
Worked directly with product, engineering, and marketing-translating business requirements into experiences that could be built, launched, and measured.
04
Research and iteration
Ran user research, usability testing, and stakeholder interviews to validate decisions before and after release.
Approach
A design system without a growth mindset is just expensive documentation. The shift was treating it as an internal product.
The design strategy sat on two commitments: understand user need deeply, and stay faithful to ethical finance principles in every decision.
I treated the design system as a living product the whole team depended on-not a maintenance chore.
Execution
Execution stayed close to real product surfaces: onboarding and core investing flows on mobile and web, shared components that kept quality coherent across platforms, and steady partnership with engineering so intention survived implementation.
Research and usability work fed iteration loops. Cross-functional rituals kept product and marketing aligned on what “clear and trustworthy” meant for this audience-not as a slogan, but as a release bar.
Outcomes
The platform reached 500K+ users, with published revenue impact of $1.8M attributed to the design-led product work across the period.
Research-informed iteration contributed to a 20% increase in engagement and a 30% reduction in support tickets-evidence that clearer journeys reduced friction for both customers and the teams supporting them.
Reflection
01
Treat the design system as a product, not a deliverable
A system with no roadmap, owner, or adoption metrics quietly becomes what slows everyone down. Product-level attention improved everything downstream.
02
In fintech, the UI is the trust signal
People trust the product with money and values. Every decision had to ask: does this help the user feel confident, capable, and in control?
03
Connect design to business outcomes
The most important conversations were not about screens. They were about revenue, retention, and what leadership needed to trust design strategically. Speaking that language-and delivering evidence-changed the altitude of the work.