Historic Jeddah Licensing Platform Case Study
The Historic Jeddah Licensing & Permits Platform is a government digital platform designed to streamline the process of applying for, managing, and monitoring licenses and permits within the Historic Jeddah area.
The platform brings multiple licensing and administrative processes into one centralized digital experience, allowing users to submit and manage their applications while enabling administrative teams to review requests, manage establishments, monitor activities, and oversee operational workflows.
As a Product Designer, I worked on defining the product experience across both the user-facing platform and administrative dashboard, translating complex government processes into clear, structured, and scalable digital experiences.
The project required balancing business requirements, user needs, operational complexity, and government design standards while maintaining a consistent and accessible experience across the platform.
Category:
Government Platform
Role:
Lead Product Designer
Time:
10 weeks
Business Goal
The primary business goal was to transform a complex licensing ecosystem into a centralized and efficient digital platform that could support both applicants and administrative teams. The platform was designed to: Centralize different licensing and permit services within one platform. Simplify the process of submitting and managing applications. Improve visibility across the entire request lifecycle. Reduce manual follow-ups and repetitive administrative tasks. Help internal teams manage large volumes of requests more efficiently. Provide clearer access to operational data and performance insights. Establish a scalable foundation that can support additional services and workflows in the future. Rather than treating each service as an isolated process, the goal was to create one connected ecosystem where users, requests, licenses, establishments, notifications, support, and administrative operations could work together seamlessly.
Problem
User data showed that 55% of new users churned before Day 4 of the free trial. Interviews revealed the home screen felt chaotic -too many options, unclear first action, and no immediate sense of progress. The app was powerful but intimidating.
Research
The research phase focused on understanding the ecosystem surrounding government licensing platforms and identifying opportunities to simplify the experience without losing the complexity required by the underlying processes.
Government & Competitor Analysis
I reviewed existing government digital platforms and comparable licensing experiences to understand common interaction patterns, service structures, application flows, status systems, and information architecture.
The analysis helped identify opportunities to improve:
Service discoverability.
Application tracking.
Status communication.
Information hierarchy.
Form and document workflows.
Administrative data management.
Stakeholder Requirements
Understanding the operational requirements was essential because many of the platform's workflows were driven by internal administrative processes.
The focus was on understanding:
Different licensing and permit types.
Application stages and approval workflows.
Administrative responsibilities.
User roles and permissions.
Required information and documentation.
Notifications and communication points.
Support and escalation processes.
User Pain Point Analysis
Potential friction points were mapped across the user journey, particularly around discovering services, understanding requirements, submitting requests, and following up on their status.
The key opportunity was to make every stage of the experience answer three fundamental questions:
What am I doing?
Where am I now?
What happens next?
Research Insight
The strongest insight was that the platform did not need to hide its complexity—it needed to organize that complexity in a way that users could understand and navigate confidently.
This became a central principle throughout the product design.
Solution
The solution was designed as a connected digital ecosystem rather than a collection of individual screens.
A Clear User Experience
The user-facing experience was structured around making government services easier to discover, understand, and complete.
Key areas included:
Service discovery and classification.
License and permit applications.
Application requirements and documentation.
Request status and progress tracking.
Transaction history.
Notifications and updates.
Support tickets.
Personal account management.
Analytics and relevant insights.
The experience was structured to reduce unnecessary cognitive load and provide users with clear information at every stage of their journey.
A Structured Administrative Experience
The administrative dashboard was designed to give internal teams greater visibility and control over the operational side of the platform.
It included dedicated areas for:
Managing applications and transactions.
Managing licenses and classifications.
Managing establishments and companies.
User and permission management.
Support requests.
Notifications.
Payment settings.
Activity logs.
Analytics and operational insights.
The interface prioritized information hierarchy, filtering, status visibility, and efficient data management to make complex administrative workflows easier to operate.
Government Design System Integration
A major design constraint was working within the official components and visual guidelines established by the Digital Government Authority (DGA).
The goal was not to introduce a completely new visual identity, but to build a distinctive and cohesive product experience within an established government design framework.
The design system was adapted to the platform's specific needs while maintaining consistency, accessibility, scalability, and alignment with government standards.
The challenge was not creating a new visual identity—it was creating a meaningful product experience within a predefined visual framework.
Business Growth
Since the platform is still pending its official launch, the impact is positioned as the intended business and operational value rather than measured post-launch results. The platform is designed to create long-term value by: Improving Operational Efficiency Centralizing licensing workflows can reduce fragmented processes and help administrative teams manage requests more efficiently. Reducing User Friction Clearer service structures, requirements, statuses, and next steps can make complex government procedures easier to navigate. Increasing Transparency Application tracking and structured status communication give users greater visibility into where their requests stand and what happens next. Supporting Better Decisions Centralized operational data and analytics provide teams with greater visibility into activity, request volumes, and performance patterns. Creating a Scalable Foundation A consistent design system and modular platform structure make it easier to introduce new services, workflows, and administrative capabilities without redesigning the entire ecosystem. Strengthening Digital Government Experience By bringing multiple licensing and administrative processes into one connected platform, the product supports a more unified and modern digital experience for both citizens/businesses and government teams.