Get to Know Me
Salaheddine Lafnouche
- Khemisset, Morocco
- Google UX Certified
- Arabic · English · French
Who I Am
I tackled an 89% edtech dropout rate at Tech4U by researching shift workers and designing an adaptive learning path, proving empathy matters as much as features. Three years teaching programming in a military institution taught me to make complexity accessible. Today, I bring that clarity to end-to-end product design: wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, and treating accessibility (WCAG) as the brief — not the constraint.
My Design Philosophy
- Clarity over cleverness: If a user has to guess what happens when they tap it, I need to redesign it.
- Stress-test the happy path: Your user isn't relaxed and focused. They're tired, distracted, and on a phone with 12% battery.
- Evidence over opinion: Every design decision should point back to a real user's words, not a stakeholder's hunch.
Beyond the screen
I'm an amateur calligrapher of Arabic script, a reader of systems psychology, and the kind of person who reverse-engineers everyday interfaces just to see how they could be better designed.
My Process
How I'll Help You
Whether you're building something new or fixing something broken — here's how I think about design problems.
Research & Discovery
I employ a mixed-methods approach to uncover real insights, challenging assumptions rather than just confirming them. From quantitative surveys to competitive benchmarking, I dive deep because research isn't just a checkbox—it's the foundation.
In practice: 6 interview groups and a 4-platform competitive audit for YouScent; 12 empathy-focused interviews and 4 competitors analyzed for Tech4U.
Define & Reframe
I don't just organize data; I reframe the brief. By mapping journeys and clustering insights, I uncover the underlying issues that users actually face—ensuring we solve the right problem, not just the obvious symptom.
In practice: Reframed YouScent's problem from "users don't know perfumes" to "the jargon barrier locks users out," using affinity maps and personas to shift the design focus.
Design & Iterate
I move deliberately through fidelity levels—from quick sketches to interactive prototypes. Testing happens early and often in an iterative loop, because bad ideas fail fast and cheap while good ideas get refined by real feedback.
In practice: Iterated Tech4U wireframes across 8 test sessions and validated the YouScent prototype to a strong 81.4 SUS score.
Accessible & Inclusive Delivery
Accessibility is a core constraint from day one, not a compliance checkbox at the end. Whether breaking down cognitive barriers or ensuring high contrast and large touch targets, I design inclusive solutions that work better for everyone.
In practice: Baked WCAG 2.1 AA compliance into Tech4U from the start, and removed cognitive jargon barriers for YouScent users.
"It's really cool, especially with the sketchy style of the fonts and graphics. I also noticed the accessibility features, and they’re clearly well thought out—great job on that."
Background
My Resume
Career Highlights
- Product Designer @ YouScent Led end-to-end UX for a fragrance discovery application, designing an emotion-driven input model that bypassed industry jargon and boosted first-time AI generation.
- Founder & Lead UX Designer @ Tech4U Owned research, strategy, and UI/UX design for an equity-focused e-learning platform, prototyping an adaptive learning path ("Soft Program") to support cognitive variability.
- Programming Instructor @ Military Institution Spent 3 years teaching complex technical systems and fostering structured communication in high-pressure environments.
Let's Talk
Got a messy problem and real users?
I'm at my best when the brief is unclear, the deadline is real, and the users are frustrated. If that sounds like your project — let's talk.
or reach me at