Campaign’s Digital Faces to Watch 2026 – Alina Jafri, UX/UI Designer & Researcher, Create. Group
Campaign’s Digital Faces to Watch 2026 – Alina Jafri, UX/UI Designer & Researcher, Create. Group
Age: 26
Country: United Arab Emirates
Nominated by Digital Experience, Experience & Innovation Director:
Alina operates across the full spectrum of digital experience — equally comfortable running in-depth research as she is designing systems for large-scale platforms. What sets her apart is her work at the intersection of UX and AI: she has led the red-teaming and response validation for multiple AI products, stress-testing against cultural nuance and edge cases in ways most designers her age haven’t encountered yet. Her forward leaning craft and critical thinking, grounded in deep cultural fluency, is exactly where this industry needs to head.
Career highlights:
Alina has worked on multiple key agency AI projects as a UX/UI Designer and researcher. In the past year, she was instrumental in delivering the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism’s SME Learning Hub which won two Golds and one Silver at the MENA Digital Awards. Her specialism sits at the intersection of human-centred design and emerging AI experiences, from in-depth UX and insights to evaluating how AI systems behave in the wild.
Guiding principles:
Born and raised in the UAE, she brings a perspective to her work that can’t be imported or briefed in. Her guiding principle is that the best digital experiences are culturally native. Every experiences she delivers, is grounded in that belief: build for the region, not at the region.
Side hustle:
Coming from a theatre background, she decided to give writing her first musical a shot this year. It turns out the skills transfer more than you’d think — crafting user journeys and crafting a narrative arcs aren’t that different when you’re trying to hold someone’s attention and invent the future.
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