Umair Yahya

I design the structure underneath.

Principal Product Designer in Dubai. Fourteen years on products with more rules than screens: banks, travel, integrations. In English and Arabic.

Selected work

Each project comes with a working model. Click through it.

One subscription. Every partner’s way in.

Zaam, by Zension, in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Principal Product Designer, 2024 to now.

zaamEmirates NBD

    Try it: check a card, sign up and pay. Then switch the way in.

    What Emirates NBD sets

    The steps stay the same. Only these change.

    • 5 programslaunched, with Emirates NBD, Noon, Virgin Mobile, iStyle and Jarir
    • $30MSeries A for Zension in January 2025, per public reports

    What the happy path doesn’t show

    • Mixed basketZaam bills the device. The partner keeps the plan or the case.
    • No UAE PASSThe only way to sign up, so the screen asks why.
    • Basket in checkoutStore staff can’t change it while the customer pays.
    • Card not acceptedOutside the program, or mada in Saudi Arabia, with a reason and a next step.
    • Card already in useA card on another account can’t be added twice.
    • Link expiredBack to the partner for a fresh basket.

    Every branch from the partner’s way in to the first payment, mapped before any screen.

    Read the case study

    Four verticals. One journey.

    TravelShop, a bank’s travel platform. Lead Product Designer, 2025 to 2026.

    Travel Shop

      Try it: book a flight, in English or Arabic.

      • 4 monthsto put flights and hotels live
      • 5 clicksper booking, internal test
      • 2 languagesEnglish and Arabic, at full parity

      What the happy path doesn’t show

      • ArabicThe layout mirrors. Card and phone numbers don’t.
      • Free bagThree a year, counted per traveler.
      • Split paymentCard and points in one payment.
      • Price changedThe new total beside the old one.
      • Session expiredBookings and saved details stay safe.
      • Bag benefit failsThe back office follows up.

      12 booking states and 25+ edge cases, designed before launch. The ones in this demo light up as you reach them.

      Read the case study

      A flow builder people can read while they build.

      Integry. Senior Product Designer and Team Lead, 2022 to 2024.

      Flow BuilderEnabled

      When contact created in AcmeSaas, get contacts by email in HubSpot

      betaproduction

      Try it: add a step, run a test, switch the flow off and on. It includes pieces deferred at launch.

      • Livesince the end of 2023
      • 3 monthsof focused delivery to ship it
      • About 30%fewer related support tickets, as reported by support

      What the happy path doesn’t show

      • Needs configurationBuild the flow first, set each step up later.
      • ConditionsIf, Else If and Else stay readable as indents.
      • LifecycleInitialization when the flow turns on, Cleanup when it turns off.
      • Run failsIt stops at the step, and an error notification goes out.
      • LoopsA two-way sync can’t trigger itself and use up tasks.

      Designed before launch. Multiple triggers and the lifecycle canvases were deferred.

      Read the case study

      Navigation, rebuilt after testing sent it back.

      Sendoso. Senior Product Designer, 2022. It started as a study I ran on my own and reached the roadmap.

      Try it: narrow the list, open a campaign, then open the menu at each width.

      • 69 peoplein the card sort
      • 15 customersin the beta, June 2022
      Read the case study

      A failed address became a question the recipient could answer.

      Sendoso. Senior Product Designer and design owner, 2021.

      SendosoT-shirt for Ben

        Try it: send the gift, then answer as Ben. Switch the check off for the other path.

        • 1stfeature usability test at Sendoso came from it
        • In productionper Sendoso’s public documentation

        What the happy path doesn’t show

        • Recipient choosesLetting Ben choose the options turns address confirmation on.
        • Address confirmationBen confirms his own address before it ships.
        • Couldn’t validateEvery failed check gets a next step, not a red error.
        • Send anywayGuarded, with the rejection and restocking fee spelled out.
        • Bulk sendsOne bad row never stops the campaign.

        Every branch from sender to delivery, mapped before any screen.

        Read the case study

        Numbers are verified unless they say internal test or reported.

        How I work

        • I design what happens when it breaks.

          Failed payments, expired sessions, runs that die halfway: drawn before launch, not found after it.

        • I research before I draw.

          A benchmark of more than 10 travel products. A card sort with 69 people. A two-variant test on Maze.

        • I leave a practice behind, not just files.

          Sendoso had no usability testing. I helped launch the first test, and the templates others used after.

        What colleagues say

        “His proactivity level is out of this world, where Umair will go above & beyond to understand end users needs, conduct a comparative & competitive analysis, and drive user testing before he would provide any concepts or designs.”

        Marijan Baranjec, Product Manager at Sendoso

        “He has a proven track record of thinking creatively and critically about product features, how to test them, and what to build out for the future of Sendoso. … Umair not only helped me brainstorm for, but also mount and launch the company’s first usability test for its features.”

        Grace Tran, UX Researcher at Sendoso

        “He always created extremely thoughtful, nuanced, and intuitive user flows that made our product better. … I was delighted that he was involved in helping pioneer usability testing at Sendoso, and in helping shift our entire org towards a more user-first product lens.”

        Matt Samson, UX Research Team Lead at Sendoso

        “He is not only a very talented, focused and detailed-oriented designer, with a strong user-centric mindset, but also an amazing contributor and a great team player, which makes him a very valuable asset.”

        Yume Sato, Product Designer at Sendoso

        Experience

        Download the resume
        1. Zension TechnologiesPrincipal Product Designer
        2. DirektaCo-founder and design lead
        3. GetSetWellFounder
        4. TravelShopLead Product Designer, contract
        5. ClubHubProduct Designer, contract
        6. IntegrySenior Product Designer and Team Lead
        7. SendosoSenior Product Designer, first designer
        8. Venexel TechnologiesSenior, then Lead UI/UX Designer

        Indented rows ran alongside Zension: two contracts, and two companies of my own that partners run day to day.

        Umair Yahya

        Lahore in 2012. Dubai now.

        I started out designing websites and apps for US clients, remotely. Then a telecom launch in Singapore, Sendoso at seed stage, and in Dubai: integrations, device subscriptions sold through banks, and bank travel. I’ve mentored 18 designers on ADPList since 2024.

        48:46

        My 10 km best. A half marathon in 1:49, and about 50 km a week.

        Circles, Singapore, 2014. I built the launch brand, down to the SIM cards.

        Building something harder than it looks?

        Open to Principal and Lead Product Design roles, in Dubai or remote.

        umairyahya48@gmail.com

        LinkedInResume