Design Project
Salams App Profile Cards
Project Overview
This project began with a simple but important goal: add more depth and personality to Salams profiles. At the time, there was no dedicated profile cards, just basic fields stacked with little hierarchy or visual warmth and a new look into users lives.
We wanted to create a space that didn’t just show information or photographs, but reflected intention, values, and personality at a glance. The profile card was designed from scratch to solve that, giving users a more expressive, structured way to present themselves, while helping others understand them quickly and meaningfully. This also supported Salams’ broader mission of helping Muslims find sincere, value-aligned connections, not just more swipes.
Why profile cards? We needed a feature that felt both functional and expressive.
The new profile card introduced visual hierarchy, soft branding, and thoughtful layout—making it easier for users to both share and understand what matters most. It helped bridge the gap between surface-level browsing and deeper, intentional discovery.
What Was Missing Before: At the time, there was no real structure to how profiles were displayed, just a basic stack of fields that didn’t guide the viewer in any meaningful way. Important details like intention, values, and lifestyle were easy to overlook, and overall, profiles felt flat and impersonal. There wasn’t any visual rhythm or design cue to help users connect with what really mattered.
My Role: As the lead UX/UI designer on this project, I was responsible for
Designed the profile card from concept to execution
Created layout, hierarchy, icons, and color use
Partnered with product and engineering to ensure it aligned with overall user flow and branding
Team: Product Managers, Engineers, External agency (supporting illustrations) and Marketing Team.
Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator.
Research/ Comparative Analysis
Before designing our own profile card experience, I looked at how other platforms approached profile depth, especially Kippo, a dating app that uses cards to make self-expression more interactive and visual. Their format helped spark the idea of creating customizable cards that could surface meaningful traits without overwhelming users.
But for Salams, the approach had to go deeper than just aesthetics, it needed to reflect serious intent, feel culturally relevant, and work for a global Muslim audience. We started mapping out what kinds of profile cards could help users share real-life considerations in a way that still felt warm, intentional, and privacy-aware.
Some of the cards we initially explored included:
Personality Type (MBTI)
Marriage Timeline
Snacks/Interests
Islamic values
We also considered how cards might behave, and how micro interactions could make the experience feel more alive without distracting from sincerity. Everything needed to feel intentional, not gimmicky; something that helped users tell their story, and helped others understand it with care.
Evolving the Feature: Profile Cards V2
As we began to validate and build the first version of profile cards, we quickly realized there was room to go deeper—not just visually, but meaningfully. We wanted to offer users more ways to express who they were and what they were looking for, beyond the usual “bio and basics” format.
In V2, we introduced additional cards that reflected more serious intent and cultural nuance. Instead of relying on vague concepts such as snacks or measurements, we brought in cards like:
Love Language – to encourage emotional compatibility and self-awareness
This or That? – a fun, quick way to show personality at a glance (instead of the Measurements)
Financials – designed to be private until after a match, this card gave users a chance to express how they approach finances in marriage (things like salary range, support for family, views on mehr/dowry, and whether they own/rent)
Family & Household – Gives more insight into family dynamics, and also if you have any pets :)
These additions helped shift the tone of the experience: users no longer felt like they were just browsing or being browsed, they were learning about someone. For our audience, this mattered. It brought intentionality forward, honored cultural and religious expectations, and gave people the chance to express values upfront, without the pressure of a full conversation.
Design Evolution: Visual Direction & Illustration
As the profile cards evolved, so did the visuals. Color, layout, and tone played a huge role in how people connected with profiles and we tested that directly.
We ran an A/B test comparing a lighter vs. darker card background. While the darker version made the cards pop more and felt more elegant as a standalone design, we quickly noticed it clashed with the overall brand tone and felt disconnected from the rest of the app. Viewers (and our team) liked the visual contrast, but it didn’t align with the warm, sincere feeling we wanted users to have while browsing.
This insight shaped the final direction, eventually leading into a full redesign of the entire app. For the final version of the profile cards, I worked closely with an external agency to coordinate illustrations, but also took the lead in developing the overall visual style. I built out references and early sketches that set the tone for what we needed: something human, warm, and still playful.
We leaned into hand-drawn style vector illustrations, intentionally avoiding ultra-clean or overly corporate visuals. The goal was to bring out a sense of sincerity and softness; something that felt welcoming, especially in a space where many users may feel nervous or vulnerable. We wanted people to feel good using the app, and the illustrations became part of that emotional experience.
Outcomes & Impact
53% of users who completed sign-up also filled out their Profile Cards; a strong indicator that users were willing to go beyond the basics and take the time to express themselves more thoughtfully. This validated our decision to introduce customizable cards as a way to add warmth, personality, and deeper intent into the profile experience.
It helped differentiate Salams from swipe-first apps by giving users a way to signal serious intent upfront.
Users with completed profile cards had higher engagement in early testing; more matches, more message initiations.
The feature became a design benchmark for personalization and trust-building throughout the app.
It also reflected our branding and deeper understanding of the community; setting Salams apart from competitors like Muzz by offering a more thoughtful, value-centered approach to connection.
Key Takeaways & Challenges
One of the biggest challenges in designing the Profile Cards was finding the right balance between fun, serious and fun; something that felt expressive and engaging, while still respecting the gravity of what many users were here for: marriage/dating with intention.
We had to make sure each card felt meaningful without overwhelming users, and that the tone stayed aligned with the Salams brand: sincere, warm, and rooted in faith and values.
There were also technical and design hurdles along the way:
Working within engineering constraints, especially when it came to iterating on the design to ensure illustrations could load and function smoothly without disrupting performance or flow.
Designing around a legacy section like Islamic Priorities and figuring out how to visually integrate it into the new profile flow
Learning how users might edit or reorder cards dynamically and still feel like the experience was seamless
Creating and iterating on an illustration system that could flex across different cards, tones, and content types
And of course, doing all of this under tight timelines
But honestly, those constraints made me a better designer. It pushed me to think about the details that actually impact users; how people share who they are, what makes something feel intuitive, and how visual decisions shape emotional tone. This feature taught me a lot about designing for both nuance and clarity in a product that truly wants to serve its community.