Rahma Alhamdan

Lahdhat App – Local Countdown Widget

Duration: 1 month

Platform: iOS & iPadOS

Role: UX Researcher

View on App Store →

The Problem

As a native Arabic speaker living in Saudi Arabia, I couldn’t find a single countdown widget app that:

Supports the Hijri calendar
Displays local Saudi occasions
Has a clean Arabic interface

Most existing apps either lacked Arabic support or were globally generic, making them irrelevant to local cultural needs.

The Insight

I conducted a quick competitive scan of popular countdown apps. I reviewed their features, design approaches, and limitations, especially in handling multilingual support and regional content. This helped me identify gaps and define the feature set I needed.

The Solution

I decided to build “لحظات” a minimal, widget-first app for tracking Saudi occasions with native Arabic and Hijri calendar support.

Key features:

Fully localized interface
Hijri & Gregorian date support
Local Saudi occasions only
Widget-first experience (Home screen)

Key UX Decisions

Add a countdown in just a few steps: I designed the flow to be quick and frictionless, no login, no clutter, just a few taps to create a countdown.
Simple visual design with clear Arabic language: I selected the color palette using Tailwind shades, focusing on clarity and balance. I also designed the app logo myself to reflect the identity of the concept.
Preloaded local events: The app includes a curated list of important Saudi occasions, so users don’t need to add events manually.
Flexible date display: Users can easily switch between Hijri and Gregorian calendars.

Add a countdown in just a few steps: I designed the flow to be quick and frictionless, no login, no clutter, just a few taps to create a countdown.
Simple visual design with clear Arabic language: I selected the color palette using Tailwind shades, focusing on clarity and balance. I also designed the app logo myself to reflect the identity of the concept.
Preloaded local events: The app includes a curated list of important Saudi occasions, so users don’t need to add events manually.
Flexible date display: Users can easily switch between Hijri and Gregorian calendars.

My Role

I led the UX direction, including:

Defining a widget-first experience.
Auditing competitors to extract best practices.
Selecting the right data (Saudi occasions only).
Working closely with the developer to fine-tune UI elements for widget visibility.
Validating the concept with a small test group (family, colleagues, friends).

I led the UX direction, including:

Defining a widget-first experience.
Auditing competitors to extract best practices.
Selecting the right data (Saudi occasions only).
Working closely with the developer to fine-tune UI elements for widget visibility.
Validating the concept with a small test group (family, colleagues, friends).

App Screens