Journal

09 — Field note

Designing from the right before translation begins

RTL decisions that start with hierarchy, navigation and reading behavior.

Arabic-first travel interface showing right-to-left navigation and hierarchy

A translated interface is not always a designed interface. Arabic changes more than the alignment of text. It changes where scanning begins, how navigation is understood, which direction feels natural and how mixed content behaves.

Designed from the Right started with that premise. The goal was not to flip an existing travel interface. The goal was to rebuild familiar patterns from an Arabic-first reading model.

Arabic bottom navigation component with five right-to-left aligned tabs
Navigation order has to feel native before it feels translated.
Arabic navigation header showing directional controls and right-to-left hierarchy
Small directional cues carry a lot of RTL meaning.
Arabic hotel card mixing Arabic text, numerals, icons, and image metadata
Mixed content still has to read from the right.

Direction is part of hierarchy

In RTL interfaces, the right side often carries the beginning of meaning. Back actions, menu placement, bottom navigation order, form flow and metadata all need to respect that rhythm.

When those details are inconsistent, the interface may still be readable, but it feels borrowed. Native-feeling design comes from the accumulation of these decisions.

Design before localization

The strongest RTL work happens before translation. It happens when direction, hierarchy and interaction are treated as product logic from the beginning.