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Product Design Leadership

Usama Wagih — product design leader based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

15+ years building design functions from scratch, leading full product redesigns and rebrands, and shipping products that drive measurable growth.

I turn chaotic, opinion-driven environments into evidence-based design cultures through AI, human-centered design, and product strategy — aligning teams, clarifying priorities, and delivering durable outcomes.

Currently

Partnering with tech teams to shape scalable experiences, systems, and product direction across new and mature platforms.

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/usamawa
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About

Usama Wagih — product design leader with 15+ years building design functions, redesigns, and measurable growth.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Led the design function of an AI technology venture, embedding Claude, Figma AI, and LLM-powered tools directly into product workflows to accelerate discovery, delivery, and quality.

Experience spans Floward, Al-Futtaim, and Landmark Group — building teams from scratch, shipping full product redesigns and rebrands, and driving outcome-focused growth.

Turns chaotic, opinion-led environments into evidence-based design cultures that combine AI, human-centered design, and product strategy across the full product lifecycle.

Direction & alignment Leadership & mentorship Craft & outcomes

Design leadership approach

Strategic, human-centered, and built for scale

A focused framework that blends leadership, craft, and evidence to help teams ship with clarity and rigor.

Built design functions from scratch

Established teams, rituals, and design systems that scale with the business from zero to durable practice.

Redesigns and rebrands at scale

Led end-to-end transformations across large product surfaces with consistency, velocity, and stakeholder alignment.

AI-integrated product workflows

Embedded Claude, Figma AI, and LLM pipelines to accelerate research, ideation, and design ops responsibly.

Human-centered, evidence-based culture

Pairs user insight with product strategy to drive decisions, outcomes, and a measurable learning culture.

Career highlights

Real outcomes, stated with precision.

A focused set of achievements that reflect ecommerce scale, enterprise rigor, and AI-enabled product craft.

15+ years

Ecommerce & enterprise leadership

Leading product direction across marketplaces, SaaS, and large-scale platforms.

0 → 12

Design teams built

Scaling multi-discipline orgs with research, systems, and AI workflows.

Up to 2×

Conversion uplift

Optimizing ecommerce journeys with evidence-led iteration.

50% faster

Delivery via systems

Design systems that accelerate enterprise teams and reduce handoffs.

Work Experience

Executive design leadership across multi-market platforms and enterprise products.

A focused record of building design functions, scaling teams, and delivering measurable impact across ecommerce, enterprise SaaS, and large-scale retail ecosystems.

Dubai & Global

15+ years in product design leadership

Floward

Director of Product Design

Dubai, UAE

Sept 2022 — Mar 2026

  • Built the product design function from scratch for a 9-country gifting ecommerce platform across the Middle East and UK.
  • Scaled the team from a single graphic designer into a multidisciplinary product org and led a full product redesign and rebrand.
  • Doubled conversion rate and lifted reorder rates by 5% through research-led iteration, journey mapping, and user testing.
  • Introduced AI-powered workflows with Figma Make and Claude Code while unifying markets under a shared design system.

Ginni.AI

Fractional Head of Product Design

London, UK (Remote)

Oct 2024 — Present

  • Leading 0-to-1 product design for an AI-driven sales enablement SaaS platform on a fractional basis.
  • Shaped enterprise workflows for a platform processing 600K+ sales calls across global clients.
  • Translated complex AI and data capabilities into intuitive, revenue-focused user journeys for sales teams.

Al-Futtaim Group

UX Director

Dubai, UAE

May 2021 — Aug 2022

  • Led UX strategy across IKEA, Blue Rewards, Marks and Spencer, Toyota, and Volvo with a centralized team of six product designers.
  • Unified fragmented digital experiences into cohesive customer journeys across multiple business units.
  • Secured chairman-level funding and delivered the design vision for the Blue Rewards revamp.
  • Implemented scalable design systems and standardized UX processes across the group.

Landmark Group GCC & India

Head of Product Design

Dubai, UAE

Sept 2016 — May 2021

  • Scaled the design function from 1 to 12 across 10+ retail brands including Max, Splash, Home Centre, CentrePoint, BabyShop, and Shukran.
  • Drove double-digit conversion uplifts via A/B testing and usability programs while leading the Shukran revamp with 14M+ active members.
  • Built the first unified design system, cutting feature delivery cycles from 9 weeks to 4 weeks.
  • Reduced concept-to-prototype time by 30–40% and led CX audits that shaped roadmap prioritization.

Souq.com (Amazon)

Product Design Manager

Dubai, UAE

Oct 2015 — Sept 2016

  • Led UX improvements across checkout, product pages, and post-order journeys on the MENA region’s largest ecommerce marketplace.
  • Reduced checkout abandonment through friction audits and streamlined flow design.
  • Improved add-to-cart rates via a focused product page redesign.
  • Contributed to a 20% reduction in post-order support call volume.

Education

BSc, Management Information Systems

Delta Academy for Technology and Science — Cairo, Egypt

Credibility

Proven across markets, platforms, and scale

Selected factual highlights drawn from Usama’s leadership across ecommerce, enterprise SaaS, and large-scale consumer platforms.

Middle East & UK product leadership

Multi-market ecommerce

Scale

Directed design leadership for a 9-country ecommerce platform spanning the Middle East and UK.

9-country platform

Enterprise SaaS

Context

Led product design within enterprise SaaS environments, shaping complex workflows and platform foundations.

Enterprise-scale systems

Retail & automotive

Reach

Delivered design outcomes for major retail and automotive brands serving 14M+ active members.

14M+ active members