Designing amana trading platform
Web Trader, iOS and Android, App.
From Complexity to Clarity: A 3-Year Design-Led Transformation of Amana’s Cross-Platform Trading Experience
Project Overview
Company: Amana
Platforms: Web, Android, iOS
Role: Product Design Manager – End-to-End
Duration: Ongoing (3+ years)
Team: Cross-functional
Stakeholders: Product, Engineering, Marketing, Dev Ops
Key Metrics:
+110% increase in deposit activity (YoY)
+200–300% increase in leverage usage
Reduced onboarding steps by 40%, boosting retention
Challenge & Opportunity
Amana aimed to redefine the fragmented MENA trading ecosystem by offering a single app for over 5000+ assets – US, MENA, crypto, ETFs, forex, and commodities – all in one place. Unlike competitors like Binance or eToro, it was tailored for both novice and pro traders.
User feedback revealed:
“I opened the app and didn’t know where to start – too many numbers, no guidance.”
“I can’t tell which assets are leveraged and which aren’t – it’s not clear at a glance.”
“Withdrawals take longer than expected – there’s no clear ETA or feedback.
“All my positions are stacked – there’s no clean portfolio view. It’s hard to get a sense of my performance.”
“Closing a position is frustrating – I have to dig through the list and it’s not intuitive.”
My Role & Approach
Product Design Manager
As the Product Design Manager, I led the entire design process across Web, Android, and iOS:
– Led UX vision, stakeholder alignment, and multi – platform rollout
– Conducted user research, usability testing, and competitive analysis
– Built and scaled an atomic-based design system
– Led ideation, design workshops, prototyping, and final UI
– Oversaw implementation and QA with dev teams
– UI design, Usability Testing, Prototyping, User research
Tools i’ve used
Figma
Figjam
Adobe creative suite
Date
Since Jan 2021
Research and Insights
Working with data analysts, customer support teams, and behavioral session tools, we uncovered several key insights:
– Onboarding drop-offs were high – users lacked guidance and cognitive overload
– Retention correlated with asset discovery ease and UI familiarity
– Arabic-first design needed to be prioritized for 70%+ of our audience
– Pro traders demanded quick, customizable dashboards
– New users needed simplified investment flows
– Portfolio view was fragmented – users couldn’t see big picture
Design Process & Decisions
– Clear mental models for portfolio, trading, funding, and exploration
– Context-aware UI that adapts to beginner or expert use
– Scalable architecture to support asset categories like stocks, crypto, indices, Commodities and 5000+ assets
– Portfolio dashboard with real-time P&L, allocation, trends
– A guided onboarding reducing steps from 12 to 7
– Cross-platform consistency powered by atomic design tokens
– Deposit flows streamlined into 2 – 5 intuitive steps
Design Thinking Approach with Agile Sprint Process
The design process followed a systematic approach, encompassing user research, wireframing, prototyping, visual design, and the development of a design system. Figma and FigJam played crucial roles in fostering collaboration and ensuring consistency across design elements.
– A unified Portfolio Overview
– Progressive onboarding
– Smart search & discovery
– Customizable watchlists and dashboards
– Optimized deposit/withdrawal flows
Research
Key Solutions
- Portfolio Overview: Unified dashboard with asset allocation, health indicators, P&L, and visual trends
- Deposit Flow: Simplified from 5 to 2 steps with real-time feedback → resulted in +110% YoY deposit increase
- Trader Dashboards: Tools tailored to advanced users like market depth, charts, and leverage control
- Cross-Platform UI: Adaptive layouts for Android, iOS, Web, with shared components
Design System: The Foundation for Scale
Core Features Designed ( <span data-metadata=""><span data-buffer="">Solutions )
1. Portfolio Overview:
– Introduced holistic view of open/closed positions
– Asset allocation, top-performing assets, P and L tracking
– Interactive graphs for trends, inflows/outflows
2. Deposit Experience:
– Simplified deposit method selection
– Progress indicator, real-time feedback
– Localized flows (AED, SAR, USD)
Outcome:
+110% increase in deposits YoY
3. Cross-Platform Experience:
– Adaptive layouts for Web, iOS, and Android
– Maintained visual and functional parity while optimizing per platform
4. Trader-Centric Tools:
– Market depth, chart integration, order ticket enhancements
– Focused dashboards with customizable widgets for active traders
amana Asset Info: Evolving with User Needs
| Version | Key Traits | User Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Static data, limited context | Users felt it was “another info screen” |
| 2023 | Added more data and adjust new theme | Slight increase in time-on-page |
| 2024 | Integrated news, deeper data | Helped advanced users make decisions |
| 2025 | Personalized alerts, performance cards | Became a key assets tool for retention |
Prototype, Testing & Iteration
Over the past 3 years, I’ve created high-fidelity interactive prototypes for various features and tested them to gather feedback.
Tested with:
– Internal QA with stakeholders
– Test group across different trader personas
Findings led to:
– 80% of users found the new Portfolio Overview more “intuitive”
– 40 – 60% of users are struggling with the current charting package.
– 80% of users found the new Portfolio Overview more “intuitive”
– Iterated on copy, CTA placement, and asset grouping based on feedback
– New traders often struggle to close market orders, manage positions, and handle partial positions.
Impact & Results
- Deposits increased by +110% due to simplified flow
- Leverage usage grew +200–300% after UI enhancements
- Support tickets related to account setup dropped significantly
- Portfolio screen became a daily engagement hub for traders
App Transform Over 3 Years
Next Steps
– Further personalization of the dashboard “For you” experience
– Scaling and aligning the design system across the brand and product teams to ensure consistency.
– Portfolio Overview is the focus for 2025–2026.
– Version-2 of Amana Invest, along with News, Events, and other key features, is in development.
– AI-based suggestions and content insights
Reflections & Learnings
Biggest learnings:
– Balance simplicity and power novices and pros can both thrive with the right UX
– Emotional onboarding matters simple changes like ‘instant feedback + welcome text’ helped new traders feel guided