Palestine Love

PalestineLove: A Bold, Navigable Future

PalestineLove, a key resource for Palestinian history, needed a visual and structural overhaul.

In January 2024, I joined the team to redesign it—creating wireframes, a scalable layout, and a foundation for better navigation.

Part of Tech for Palestine

A crowd holding Palestinian flags at a public demonstration or gathering outdoors.

Palestine Love was created to combat the erasure of Palestinian history and suffering, offering a resource directory for those seeking to learn more.

The problem

The original site lacked organization, visual clarity, and scalability for growing resources.

An illustration of paper kites flying against a sunset sky with the words 'If I Must Die' written at the top and 'Let it be a tale, Let it bring hope, Refugee Alareer' written on the kite tails.

The ask

Revamp the site’s visual and structural design to effectively support the expanding content repository through collaboration with engineering and fellow designers.

Why I joined

Driven by the siege on Gaza and the West Bank, I joined Tech for Palestine—a coalition fighting for Palestinian freedom. With pro-Palestinian voices under attack, amplifying them became more urgent than ever. I jumped in full force in January 2024.

Process

Sitemap

  • Much of the sitemap had already been crafted when I joined the team, however I was still able to influence the site map for future iterations.

Screenshots of a mobile app interface showing options for reporting content on social media. The first screen asks if the user wants to report civic participation misinformation with options to select and a red report button. The second screen asks if the user wants to report harassment or criticism, with similar options and a report button. The third screen displays a list of report pin categories, including spam, nudity, self-harm, misinformation, hate activities, dangerous goods, harassment, graphic violence, privacy violation, and copyright.

Collaboration & Design Prep

  • Aligned with my fellow designers on next steps and delegated responsibilities based on time, skills, and availability.

  • While they worked on defining the visual guidelines, I gathered:

    • Screenshots of the current state, identifying areas for improvement

    • Missing iconography

    • Design and interaction inspiration

Curved white arrow pointing to the upper left.
“Every little while, stop doing what you’re doing, review what you’ve done, and see if it’s still what you should be doing and how you might do it better. It’s a simple idea, but executing it requires thought, introspection, honesty and discipline”
— J.J. Sutherland, Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Aligning Scope

  • Used Scrum’s “Inspect and Adapt” to clarify V1.1 scope with the developer and align with fellow designers on MVP priorities.

A large crowd holding Palestinian flags during a rally or demonstration, with palm trees in the background.
A person holds up a Palestinian flag in front of a cityscape with dark, cloudy skies.
Mobile screen showing a webpage titled 'Palestine Love' with a photograph of a protest featuring Palestinian flags and a crowd. The page includes resources and database access options in green text and a disclaimer at the bottom.

Gathering Images

  • Chose imagery that conveyed global solidarity, featuring Palestinian photographers where possible

Deliver

The new design is live!

Now, we focus on expanding the archive, ensuring it remains a lasting, ever-growing resource for both today and future generations

Before

The initial state was functional but lacked the visual appeal and emotional resonance it deserved.

Note from the engineer clarifying what was in scope for MVP as well as the purpose of the site.

Building Repeatable Patterns

  • Focused on crafting a repeatable layout that showcased key resources and encouraged exploration both on and off the site. Built a rough MVP prototype adaptable across screen sizes.

After

MVP includes updated icons, colors, typography, information architecture and repeatable page template to expedite iterations and increase the site’s scalability as it grows.