United Arab Emirates · Designed in Amman, remotely
Arabic and English, designed as equals.
Recast is a product design studio in Amman, Jordan, that designs bilingual apps and web products for the UAE remotely, one hour behind Dubai. The plan is $3,900 a month, about AED 14,323, billed in US dollars, for unlimited tasks with five worked at once and first concepts in 48 hours. Arabic and English are designed side by side on the same flow, each natively, because a UAE product is used in both.
Checked · by Daniel Makhamreh, lead designer at Recast
- Where we are
- Amman, Jordan. We work with UAE teams remotely and have no office in the Emirates.
- Clock
- UTC+3 all year: one hour behind Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
- Working days
- Seven days a week, which covers the Monday-to-Friday week and the weekend.
- Price
- $3,900 a month, about AED 14,323. Billed in US dollars.
- Pilot
- $490 once, about AED 1,800: one week, up to three tasks.
- Languages
- Arabic and English on the same flow, each designed natively. Calls in either.
- Payment
- Card or PayPal, or invoice and bank transfer on request.
The interface
What is different about designing a product for the UAE?
A UAE product is used in two languages at once. Arabic is the official language, and the government's own fact sheet says the expatriate community outnumbers UAE nationals, so the Arabic and English versions carry equal weight and neither is the translation.
That changes what gets designed. The language switch becomes a control people use, not a setting they find once.
The language switch
On the first screen, with each language named in its own script. Switching keeps the user on the same screen, with what they had entered.
Parity
Every flow, error message and email exists in both languages, checked by someone who reads both. A flow that falls back to English halfway reads as unfinished.
Names in two scripts
Names are written in Arabic and in Latin script. Forms, search and receipts have to accept and show either.
Mixed direction
An Arabic sentence with an English brand, an email address or a reference number inside it. Each embedded run is isolated so the order holds.
Locale
Which UAE defaults should the interface follow?
Five, and several differ from Saudi Arabia next door, which is why one Gulf design does not fit both. Each belongs in the design system as a locale setting, not in individual screens.
| What is compared | The UAE default | What the design does with it |
|---|---|---|
| Working week | Monday to Friday in the federal government since 1 January 2022, with a half day on Friday. Sharjah's government works Monday to Thursday. | Calendars start on Monday. Opening hours, delivery slots and support times are written for that week. |
| Digits in Arabic | Unicode's locale data gives UAE Arabic Western digits (123), where the Saudi locale defaults to Arabic-Indic (١٢٣). | One digit rule for prices, dates and counts, set per market. |
| Dirham symbol | Unveiled by the Central Bank on 27 March 2025. Its guideline puts it to the left of the numerals, never with the code AED, at 12px or larger. | Use the symbol or the code, not both, and check that the fonts contain it. Unicode added it in version 18.0. |
| VAT | 5 per cent since 1 January 2018. | Say on every price whether VAT is included, and give the tax its own line. |
| Clock | Four hours ahead of GMT. | Show the zone beside a time if the product also serves Riyadh or Amman, an hour behind. |
Working week
- The UAE default
- Monday to Friday in the federal government since 1 January 2022, with a half day on Friday. Sharjah's government works Monday to Thursday.
- What the design does with it
- Calendars start on Monday. Opening hours, delivery slots and support times are written for that week.
Digits in Arabic
- The UAE default
- Unicode's locale data gives UAE Arabic Western digits (123), where the Saudi locale defaults to Arabic-Indic (١٢٣).
- What the design does with it
- One digit rule for prices, dates and counts, set per market.
Dirham symbol
- The UAE default
- Unveiled by the Central Bank on 27 March 2025. Its guideline puts it to the left of the numerals, never with the code AED, at 12px or larger.
- What the design does with it
- Use the symbol or the code, not both, and check that the fonts contain it. Unicode added it in version 18.0.
VAT
- The UAE default
- 5 per cent since 1 January 2018.
- What the design does with it
- Say on every price whether VAT is included, and give the tax its own line.
Clock
- The UAE default
- Four hours ahead of GMT.
- What the design does with it
- Show the zone beside a time if the product also serves Riyadh or Amman, an hour behind.
Identity and payments
How do UAE Pass and local payments change an app's flows?
They add a sign-in route and payment options that each need their own screens. UAE Pass is the national digital identity for citizens, residents and visitors: one sign-in across government and private services, with digital signatures and document sharing.
A UAE Pass sign-in leaves your app and comes back. The design covers the button, the wait, the return, a cancelled request and a user who has no UAE Pass yet, with an ordinary sign-in beside it.
At checkout, Apple Pay is available in the UAE. Aani, the instant payments platform launched in October 2023 by a subsidiary of the Central Bank, lets people pay with a phone number or a QR code. The US Commercial Service's guide still lists the prevalence of cash on delivery among the barriers to e-commerce there.
The federal data protection law, Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, prohibits processing personal data without its owner's consent, with exceptions. Consent is asked for plainly, in both languages. This is design guidance, not legal advice.
How it works
How does working with a studio in Amman work from the UAE?
Everything happens online, one hour apart. Amman is UTC+3 all year and the UAE is four hours ahead of GMT, so 10:00 in Dubai is 09:00 in Amman. The team works seven days a week, which covers the Monday-to-Friday week and a weekend deadline alike.
You file tasks in your Recast workspace, and one lead designer is on every call, in Arabic or English. 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 dirham is pegged at 3.6725 to the dollar, so $3,900 a month is about AED 14,323 and the $490 pilot about AED 1,800. Three published case studies are for clients in Dubai: Squibbly, Bolt Consultancy and Lyla K., which sells in Amman and Dubai. We have no office or staff in the UAE and do not visit on site.
The honest answer
When is a local agency the better choice?
When the project needs people in the room, or a supplier licensed in the UAE. Recast works remotely from Amman and bills in US dollars, which rules out some kinds of work.
Government and semi-government work
Procurement that requires a vendor registered or licensed in the UAE. Recast is a Jordanian company.
Research in person
Usability labs, intercepts and home visits with UAE residents need researchers on the ground.
Workshops on site
Discovery sprints that put your stakeholders and the designers around one table for several days.
A designer at your desk
If you want someone in your Dubai or Abu Dhabi office every day, hire or contract locally.
Dirham invoices
If finance needs an invoice in dirhams from a UAE entity, a local agency can issue it. Recast invoices in US dollars from Jordan.
Questions
Asked before the call.
Is Recast a Dubai agency?
- No. Recast is a product design studio in Amman, Jordan, and works with UAE teams remotely, one hour behind Dubai. We have no office or staff in the UAE. Three of the published case studies are for clients in Dubai.
How much does the plan cost in dirhams?
- About AED 14,323 a month. The plan is $3,900 a month and the dirham is pegged at 3.6725 to the dollar. The one-week pilot is $490, about AED 1,800. Recast bills in US dollars.
Should a UAE app open in Arabic or in English?
- In the language the device is set to, with the switch visible on the first screen and the choice remembered. Do not decide from location: a phone in Dubai may be set to either language, and guessing wrong on the first screen is the mistake users notice.
Can you design UAE Pass sign-in for our app?
- Yes, as a design task: the button, the hand-off, the return, and the cancelled and no-account states, in both languages. Connecting your app to UAE Pass is arranged between your developers and the platform.
Which Dubai companies have you designed for?
- Squibbly, a subscription app that gets families into kids' activities across Dubai, with its venue dashboard and admin tools. Bolt Consultancy, a Dubai firm that runs startup programmes, hackathons and events, whose website we designed and built. Lyla K., a jewellery house that sells in Amman and Dubai, whose store we designed and built.
Do we have to use the new dirham symbol?
- That is your decision. If you do, the Central Bank's guideline says how: to the left of the numerals, at the same height as the digits, never together with the code AED, and not as a logo. Unicode added the character in version 18.0, so check that your fonts contain it.
Can you add Arabic to a product that already exists in English?
- Yes. The Arabic version is designed as a version of each flow, right-to-left, with its own type, spacing and strings, not produced by mirroring the English screens. It is filed like any other task, flow by flow, and the rules go into your design system.
Sources
- UAE Government portal: fact sheet (language, population, dirham peg, time zone), read
- UAE Government portal: working hours in the public sector, read
- UAE Government portal: the UAE Pass app, read
- TDRA: UAE PASS, the national digital identity, read
- UAE Government portal: value added tax, read
- UAE Government portal: data protection laws, read
- UAE Government portal: the dirham and its symbol, read
- Central Bank of the UAE: Dirham Currency Symbol Guideline, version 1.0, read
- Central Bank of the UAE: Al Etihad Payments launches Aani (16 October 2023), read
- Apple: countries and regions that support Apple Pay, read
- US Commercial Service, United Arab Emirates country guide: eCommerce, read
- Unicode CLDR, Arabic (United Arab Emirates) 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
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.