Working together
UI/UX design and frontend development in North Lebanon
Salma Awad is a UI/UX designer and web developer based in Tripoli, Lebanon. She designs interfaces and builds them in the browser, working remotely with people across North Lebanon — Tripoli, Minieh, Zgharta, Koura and Akkar — and anywhere else. A Computer Science background means she designs for what can actually be built.
Where does Salma work?
She is based in Tripoli, in the North Governorate of Lebanon, and every project runs remotely. In practice that means location is not a constraint: work for someone in Akkar, Minieh or Zgharta runs exactly the same way as work for someone in Tripoli — and so does work for someone outside Lebanon entirely.
Remote means video calls, shared Figma files and written updates. There is no office to visit and no on-site meetings, and saying so plainly is more useful than leaving it to be discovered later. For design work it changes very little: the review that matters is the one where you click through a real prototype, and that happens over a screen either way.
Arabic is her first language. She works fluently in English and has intermediate French, so a project can run in whichever of the three suits you.
Areas worked with
- Tripoli
- El Mina
- Beddawi
- Minieh
- Zgharta
- Koura
- Akkar
- North Governorate
- Lebanon
All work is remote, so this list is about familiarity with the region rather than a limit on where a project can come from.
Services
What Salma can do for you
UI/UX design for apps and websites
End-to-end design: understanding the problem, mapping the flows, then designing the screens and the states in between. The output is a clickable prototype, not a folder of pictures.
Frontend development
Building the result in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, so the design survives contact with a real browser. Designing and building the same thing removes the handover gap where detail usually gets lost.
Design systems and component libraries
Reusable components with Auto Layout and responsive rules, so a product stays consistent as it grows and a developer can build new screens without asking what a button should look like.
Interactive prototypes
Figma prototypes real enough to test with, and to show a stakeholder what the product does before anyone writes code for it.
UX review of something you already have
A structured look at an existing site or app: where people get stuck, what the interface is failing to explain, and what to change first. Useful when a rebuild is not the right answer yet.
Designing for complex or technical products
Interfaces for systems that are genuinely complicated — the kind where the same screen has to serve a first-time user and a domain expert. This is the work she did at Intelligile on a model-driven enterprise platform.
Process
How a project actually runs
- 01
A first conversation
What you are trying to build, who it is for, and what is actually in the way. Free, and short. If the project is not a good fit, this is where that gets said.
- 02
Framing the problem
Before any screen exists: the context, the constraints, and who is struggling. Most bad interfaces are answers to a question nobody checked.
- 03
Structure and flows
The journey and the information architecture — what happens in what order, and how someone always knows where they are and what comes next.
- 04
Interface design
High-fidelity screens with real states: loading, empty, error, and the awkward cases. Reviewed with you as they are made, not presented at the end.
- 05
Prototype, and build if you want it built
An interactive prototype you can click through and test. If the work includes development, the same person then builds it in the browser.
Choosing someone
How do you choose a UI/UX designer?
Worth saying honestly: nobody can tell you who the best UI/UX designer is, and any portfolio claiming the title is telling you something it cannot know. What you can do is judge the work. These are the questions worth asking of anyone you are considering — including this site.
Look for reasoning, not just screens
A grid of attractive mockups tells you someone can use Figma. What you need to know is why each decision was made and what it cost. Ask to see a case study that explains a trade-off, not a gallery.
Check that the work is labelled honestly
Concepts and shipped products are very different things, and a portfolio that blurs them is telling you how it will handle your project. Look for work that says plainly what was tested and what was not.
Be suspicious of numbers with no source
"Increased conversions by 40%" is easy to type. If a metric appears with no explanation of how it was measured, treat it as decoration rather than evidence.
Ask whether they can hand it to a developer
A design that cannot be built is a drawing. Ask how they hand work over, or whether they can build it themselves — the gap between design and implementation is where most quality is lost.
See whether they ask about your users before proposing a solution
Someone who opens with a redesign has not understood the problem yet. The first conversation should be mostly questions.
Agree what finished means before starting
Screens, a prototype, a design system, a built site — these are different deliverables with different effort. Getting this explicit at the start prevents most disputes later.
Questions
Asked and answered
Do you work with clients outside Tripoli?
Yes. All work is remote, so where you are does not affect what is possible. That includes Minieh, Zgharta, Koura, Akkar and the rest of North Lebanon, along with Beirut, the rest of the country, and clients abroad.
Do you travel for on-site meetings?
No. Every project runs remotely — video calls, shared Figma files and written updates. There is no office to visit. For design work this makes very little difference, since the reviews that matter involve clicking through a prototype on a screen.
What does a UI/UX designer actually do?
UX is the structure: what the product does, in what order, and why. UI is the surface: the layout, hierarchy, type and states that make the structure usable. A UI/UX designer works on both — deciding how something should behave before deciding how it should look.
Do you build the websites you design?
Often, yes. Salma builds responsive frontends in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and is studying Computer Science at the Lebanese University. Design and development can be a single piece of work, or she can hand designs to your developers.
How much does a project cost?
There is no fixed price list, because a five-screen prototype and a full product with a design system are not comparable pieces of work. Email a short description of what you need and you will get a scoped answer rather than a number pulled from the air.
How long does a project take?
It depends on scope and on how quickly feedback comes back. That second part is usually the bigger factor. A realistic timeline is agreed after the first conversation, once what is being built is actually clear.
What languages can we work in?
Arabic, English or French. Arabic is her first language, her English is fluent, and her French is intermediate.
Are you available for a full-time role as well as freelance?
Yes. Salma is open to UI/UX and product design positions as well as freelance design and frontend projects. The résumé page has the full professional history.
Can I see examples of your work?
Yes — the work section has four case studies. One, QueueLess, was designed end to end and informally tested. The other three are labelled concepts, because they were designed but never built or user-tested, and saying so is more useful than implying otherwise.
Something not answered here? Ask directly — it is the fastest way to get a straight answer.
Contact
Have a product idea worth shaping?
I’m open to UI/UX and product design roles, and to freelance design and frontend projects. Tell me what you’re working on.