Saudi Arabia · Designed in Amman, remotely
Product design for Saudi Arabia, Arabic first.
Recast is a product design studio in Amman, Jordan, that designs apps and web products for Saudi Arabia remotely, on the same clock as Riyadh. The plan is $3,900 a month, about SAR 14,625, billed in US dollars, for unlimited tasks with five worked at once and first concepts in 48 hours. Arabic is designed first and right-to-left natively, with what a Saudi product is expected to handle: mada at checkout, Nafath sign-in where it applies, and Hijri dates beside Gregorian.
Checked · by Daniel Makhamreh, lead designer at Recast
- Where we are
- Amman, Jordan. We work with Saudi teams remotely and have no office in the Kingdom.
- Clock
- UTC+3 all year, the same as Riyadh.
- Working days
- Seven days a week, so Sunday and Friday are both covered.
- Price
- $3,900 a month, about SAR 14,625. Billed in US dollars.
- Pilot
- $490 once, about SAR 1,838: one week, up to three tasks.
- Languages
- Arabic and English, right-to-left designed natively. Calls in either.
- Payment
- Card or PayPal, or invoice and bank transfer on request.
The interface
What is different about designing an interface for Saudi users?
Arabic is the first language of the product, not a translation of it. The interface is designed right-to-left from the first screen, and English is the second version of the same flow.
Past direction, four defaults differ, and each is recorded once in the design system.
Digits
Unicode's locale data gives Saudi Arabic the Arabic-Indic digits (١٢٣) by default, and Apple notes that usage varies between and within countries. Choose one set for prices, dates and counts. The digits of a phone or card number never change order.
Two calendars
Since a Cabinet decision in 2023 the Gregorian calendar is used for official dealings, and Hijri still governs matters tied to Sharia. Show Hijri beside Gregorian where the date matters, each labelled.
The week
The weekend has been Friday and Saturday since 2013. Calendars start on Sunday, and delivery promises and support hours are written for a Sunday-to-Thursday week.
The riyal symbol
The riyal has had an official symbol since February 2025, and Unicode added it in version 17.0. Check that the product's fonts contain it before it goes into a price.
Payments
What does a Saudi checkout need to offer?
A Saudi checkout is expected to take mada, the national payment scheme owned by the Saudi Central Bank, beside international cards. Recast designs the checkout and its states; your payment provider supplies the methods.
| What is compared | What it is | What the design has to do |
|---|---|---|
| mada | The national payment scheme. mada cards can also be added to Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. | Show the mada mark beside the card field, and the wallet button before the form. |
| 3-D Secure | mada uses the 3-D Secure protocol to verify the cardholder online. | Draw the hand-off to the bank's page, the wait, and the failed and timed-out returns. |
| Instalments | Tabby and Tamara are licensed by the Saudi Central Bank for buy-now-pay-later. | Show the split on the product page and in the cart, not only at the last step. |
| VAT | 15 per cent since 1 July 2020. | Say on every price whether VAT is included, and give the tax its own line in the summary. |
| National Address | A short address of four letters and four numbers, beside a building number, district and five-digit postal code. | Offer the short address as one field, with the full form as the fallback. |
mada
- What it is
- The national payment scheme. mada cards can also be added to Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
- What the design has to do
- Show the mada mark beside the card field, and the wallet button before the form.
3-D Secure
- What it is
- mada uses the 3-D Secure protocol to verify the cardholder online.
- What the design has to do
- Draw the hand-off to the bank's page, the wait, and the failed and timed-out returns.
Instalments
- What it is
- Tabby and Tamara are licensed by the Saudi Central Bank for buy-now-pay-later.
- What the design has to do
- Show the split on the product page and in the cart, not only at the last step.
VAT
- What it is
- 15 per cent since 1 July 2020.
- What the design has to do
- Say on every price whether VAT is included, and give the tax its own line in the summary.
National Address
- What it is
- A short address of four letters and four numbers, beside a building number, district and five-digit postal code.
- What the design has to do
- Offer the short address as one field, with the full form as the fallback.
Identity and data
How do Nafath sign-in and the data protection law change an app's flows?
Both add screens that a template made for another market does not have. Nafath is the national platform, provided by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), for signing on to public and private sector services.
In a Nafath sign-in the user enters an ID number, your app shows a request number, and the user opens the Nafath app, picks the matching number and confirms. The design has to hold that wait: what the screen says while the user is in another app, and what happens on a rejection, a wrong number or a timeout.
The Personal Data Protection Law has been in force since 14 September 2023, with SDAIA as the competent authority. Individuals may withdraw consent at any time, consent to process sensitive data must be explicit, and sensitive data may not be used for marketing. In the interface that means consent asked for separately, in plain Arabic, and a settings screen where it can be withdrawn. This is design guidance, not legal advice.
How it works
How does working with a studio in Amman work from Saudi Arabia?
Everything happens online, on the same clock. Amman is UTC+3 all year, as Riyadh is, so there is no time difference to plan around. The team works seven days a week, which covers Sunday, when the Saudi week starts, and Friday.
You file tasks in your Recast workspace, and one lead designer is your point of contact, on every call. Calls are in Arabic or English, and the first is a free 20-minute pilot call.
Recast bills in US dollars: by card or PayPal at checkout, or by invoice and bank transfer on request. The riyal is pegged at 3.75 to the dollar, so $3,900 a month is about SAR 14,625 and the $490 pilot about SAR 1,838. We have no office in Saudi Arabia; the work is done remotely.
The honest answer
When is a local agency the better choice?
When the work has to happen in the Kingdom, or be bought from a company registered there. Recast is a Jordanian studio that works remotely and bills in US dollars, and some projects need more than that.
The two can be combined: research and workshops run locally, then the screens designed here.
Government procurement
Tenders and vendor lists that require a supplier registered in Saudi Arabia. Recast is a Jordanian company.
Research in person
Lab sessions, field visits and intercept studies with Saudi participants need a team on the ground.
Workshops in the room
Stakeholder workshops that have to run face to face, in Riyadh or Jeddah, over several days.
Local invoicing
If finance needs an invoice in riyals from a Saudi entity, a local agency can issue it. Recast invoices in US dollars from Jordan.
Questions
Asked before the call.
Is Recast based in Saudi Arabia?
- No. Recast is a product design studio in Amman, Jordan, and works with Saudi teams remotely. Amman is on the same clock as Riyadh all year. We have no office or staff in the Kingdom.
How much does the plan cost in Saudi riyals?
- About SAR 14,625 a month. The plan is $3,900 a month and the riyal is pegged at 3.75 to the dollar. The one-week pilot is $490, about SAR 1,838. Recast bills in US dollars.
Can you design Nafath sign-in for our app?
- Yes, as a design task: the sign-in screen, the request-number wait, and the rejected, mismatched and timed-out states, in Arabic and English. Connecting your app to Nafath is arranged between your developers and the platform.
Should a Saudi app show Hijri or Gregorian dates?
- Gregorian, with Hijri beside it where the date matters to the user, and each one labelled. The Cabinet approved the Gregorian calendar for official dealings in 2023, and Hijri still applies to matters tied to Sharia. Unicode's locale data lists Gregorian first for Saudi Arabia and Umm al-Qura second.
Is anyone working on Sunday, when the Saudi week starts?
- Yes. The team works every day of the week, so a task filed on Sunday or on Friday is worked that day. First concepts arrive in 48 real hours, not two working days.
Do you integrate mada, Tabby or Tamara into a checkout?
- No. We design the checkout: where each method appears, what the shopper sees at each step, and every failure state. The methods themselves come from your payment provider.
Have you designed for Saudi companies?
- The case studies published on this site are for clients in Amman and Dubai and for products with no stated market; none is for a Saudi company. The three shown here are the nearest in kind: a subscription app for families in Dubai, an ordering and loyalty app for a restaurant group, and a jewellery store that sells in Amman and Dubai.
Sources
- SDAIA: Nafath Platform user guide, read
- SDAIA: Guide to the Saudi Personal Data Protection Law, read
- Saudi Central Bank: mada, read
- Saudi Central Bank: commitment to the exchange rate of 3.75 riyals to the dollar, read
- Saudi Central Bank: the Saudi riyal symbol, read
- ZATCA: VAT at 15 per cent takes effect, 1 July 2020 (in Arabic), read
- Saudi Press Agency: SAMA licenses Tabby for buy-now-pay-later, read
- Saudi Press Agency: SAMA licenses Tamara Finance for consumer finance and buy-now-pay-later, read
- Saudi Post (SPL): National Address and the short address, read
- Arab News: royal decree moves the Saudi weekend to Friday and Saturday (June 2013), read
- Arab News: Saudi Cabinet approves the Gregorian calendar for official dealings (November 2023), read
- Unicode CLDR, Arabic (Saudi Arabia) locale data: default numbering system, read
- Unicode CLDR, supplemental data: week and calendar preferences by territory, currency decimals, read
- Unicode Character Database, DerivedAge: Saudi riyal sign (17.0) and UAE dirham sign (18.0), read
- Apple Human Interface Guidelines: Right to left, read
Other companies change their prices and terms. If something here is out of date, write to hello@recastux.com and we correct it.
Twenty minutes. Your product on the screen.
The pilot call is with the lead designer who would run your work. Show the screens that bother you most, pick up to 3 tasks for a one-week pilot, and leave knowing the price and the scope. The call is free; the pilot is $490 once, credited against your first month.