# 8 common mistakes in Arabic UI design and how to avoid them

> The most common Arabic UI mistakes: mirroring everything including logos and non-directional icons, choosing a beautiful font that’s unreadable at small sizes, numbers and ranges flipping when Arabic and English mix, and buttons too small for Arabic text length. The fix: design in Arabic first and test with real copy.

Source: https://www.al-arjan.com/en/blog/arabic-ui-design · العربية: https://www.al-arjan.com/ar/blog/arabic-ui-design.md

Author: [AUTHOR_NAME] — 2026-09-26

## The eight mistakes

- Mirroring logos and non-directional icons.
- Decorative Arabic fonts in long or small text.
- Ranges like “1–3” flipping to “3–1” in Arabic context.
- An English word at line end jumping to the wrong place.
- Fixed-width buttons that don’t fit translations.
- Tight line-height clipping dots and diacritics.
- Inconsistent number alignment in tables.
- Designing in English then “translating” the UI later.

## How to design Arabic-first

Start designs with real Arabic copy, not Latin placeholder text; pick a multi-weight Arabic display face plus a comfortable reading face; write ranges in words (“from 1 to 3”) in Arabic text; and test every screen on a real phone before handoff.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should every icon be mirrored in Arabic?

No — only directional icons like arrows and progress; logos and fixed symbols stay as they are.

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