Running UX Research in the Gulf: Recruiting, Language and Logistics

UX research in Saudi Arabia and the UAE works the way good research works anywhere, with a handful of practical differences that catch teams out: who you can recruit, which language the session runs in, when people are genuinely available, and how a mixed-direction interface behaves in a test task. None of it is difficult, but it has to be planned before the first participant is booked rather than discovered halfway through the second session. Here is how we run it for clients across the Gulf from our base in Lebanon.

Frame the decision before the discussion guide

Research exists to change a decision. Before recruiting anyone, write down the decision the study informs, who will make it and when. “Should onboarding ask for the national ID before or after the first transaction” is a research question. “Learn about our users” is not.

That framing decides the method, the segment, the session language and the shape of the readout. It also keeps stakeholders honest: if nobody can name the decision, the study is not ready, and any UX research spent on it will produce a report rather than a result.

Recruiting: panels, client bases and the gap between them

Participants come from research panels or from the client’s own base, and most studies use both.

Panels and recruitment agencies cover the main cities well: Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam in Saudi Arabia; Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the UAE. They are fast and handle incentives, consent and personal data properly, which matters under both countries’ data-protection rules. Their weakness is depth. For specialist audiences such as corporate treasurers, clinicians or government case officers, panels thin out quickly and screening becomes everything.

A client’s own base is the other source: existing customers, newsletter subscribers, people who contacted support. The risks are bias towards satisfied users and the temptation for the client to hand-pick. Agree the screener in writing, let the research team run the invitations, and keep a mix of recent, lapsed and heavy users.

Whichever source you use, over-recruit. No-shows are common, especially for evening and remote slots, and a last-minute replacement rarely matches the screener as well.

Arabic, English or both

Most participants in Saudi Arabia and the UAE will switch between Arabic and English within a single sentence, and the session should allow that. The moderator needs genuine fluency in both, and ideally familiarity with Gulf dialects as well as Levantine Arabic; Lebanese and Saudi speakers can misread each other’s register.

Practical rules we follow:

• Let the participant choose the language at the start and change their mind at any point.
• Test the interface in the language the participant would actually use, not the one stakeholders read most easily.
• Write the discussion guide in both languages and rehearse the Arabic version aloud; literal translation produces stilted prompts.
• Capture quotes in the original language and translate afterwards, so nuance survives into the synthesis.

Usability testing in Arabic also exposes problems that English-only testing cannot: truncated labels, misaligned numerals, icons that mirror when they should not. If the product ships in Arabic, test in Arabic.

Remote or in person

Remote sessions work well for mobile and web products. Participants across Saudi Arabia and the UAE are comfortable on video calls, phone screen-sharing is straightforward, and nobody has to travel between cities.

In-person still earns its place. Anything involving a television, a kiosk, a branch, a clinic or a physical card needs the participant in the room with the device. Senior decision-makers in government and large organisations are more likely to make time face to face than on a call. And for a first study in a market, being there teaches the team things a webcam does not: how people hold their phones, who else is in the room, what interrupts.

Scheduling around the week and the day

Saudi Arabia works Sunday to Thursday. The UAE has moved its public sector, and much of the private sector, to a Monday-to-Friday week with a shorter Friday, so check each participant’s own pattern rather than assuming. Friday is the day of rest across the Gulf; leave Friday midday clear.

Prayer times shape the day for many participants. Build sessions around them rather than through them: leave a gap, let the participant say when they need to step away, and never treat a pause as lost time. During Ramadan, working hours shorten and energy shifts to the evening; sessions after iftar are often more relaxed and candid than anything booked at midday. Summer and school holidays empty the cities, so plan fieldwork windows with local colleagues.

Moderating with respect

Good moderation in the Gulf is mostly good moderation anywhere: listen more than you speak, ask about behaviour rather than opinion, and do not lead. A few local considerations deserve care rather than rules.

Some participants will be more comfortable with a moderator of the same gender, particularly for sessions in the home or on sensitive topics such as health or personal finance. Offer the choice where you can and make nothing of it. Seniority matters too. Senior participants may expect to be briefed before being asked, and may be reluctant to criticise in front of juniors or colleagues, so interview them individually and let them speak at length before narrowing down. Hospitality is part of the exchange: arriving on time, accepting the coffee and not rushing the opening conversation is how trust is established.

Silence is not agreement. Participants across the region are often polite about products they privately find frustrating, so watch behaviour closely and probe hesitation gently.

Mixed-direction interfaces in test tasks

Almost every product in the region mixes directions: an Arabic interface with English brand names, Latin-script usernames, Western numerals in prices and dates, and the occasional untranslated error message. Test tasks need to exercise those seams deliberately.

Write tasks that require reading a number, entering a mixed string such as an email address, and navigating back after a direction switch. Watch where the eye goes when a form has Arabic labels and left-aligned inputs. Note whether mirrored icons are understood. These moments are where user research in the UAE and Saudi Arabia pays for itself, because they are invisible to teams working in a single-direction tool.

How many sessions

Five to eight sessions per segment is enough for most usability studies to surface the problems worth fixing. Run more only when segments genuinely differ in behaviour, not just in demographics: a Saudi national and a long-term Dubai resident may need separate groups for a government service and the same group for a food-delivery app. If a problem has appeared in three sessions, you do not need five more to prove it.

From notes to decisions

Synthesis should end where the study began: at the decision. Group observations by the question they answer, not by participant, and rate each issue by how directly it blocks the task rather than how often it appeared. Present findings as recommended choices with evidence attached, in a readout the decision-maker can act on the same week. Keep Arabic quotes alongside their translations so Arabic-reading stakeholders can check the nuance.

This is the approach we bring to research for clients in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, whether the study is a first round of discovery or a usability test before launch.

Frequently asked questions

How many participants do we need for usability testing in Arabic?

Five to eight per segment, with a segment defined by behaviour rather than nationality alone. Recruit a few extra to cover no-shows, and plan a second round after fixes rather than a larger first round.

Can user research in the UAE and Saudi Arabia be done remotely?

Yes, for most mobile and web products. Participants are comfortable on video and remote scales across cities. Anything involving a physical device, a location or very senior participants is usually better in person.

Does UX research in Saudi Arabia need a local moderator?

It needs a moderator fluent in Arabic and English who understands Gulf norms and can switch register comfortably. That can be a local researcher or an experienced regional team with a local recruiter; what matters is that participants feel understood.

Planning research in Saudi Arabia, the UAE or elsewhere in the GCC? Tell us about the decision you need to make.