Most of what shapes a UAE bank designer's work is either documents from regulators, materials from infrastructure providers, or the occasional book that holds up. Below is the list I would put in your hands on the first day, organised by source, with a sentence on why each matters. Resist the urge to print everything; the point is to know where to look when a question lands.
12
Resources and further reading
A small, opinionated reading list. Better to read three of these well than to skim thirty. Subscribe to the regulator bulletins; the rest you can pick up as you go.
Primary regulation and law
- Federal Decree Law No. 14 of 2018 on the Central Bank and the Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities, with the 2022 update.Central Bank of the UAE
- Consumer Protection Regulation and Standards (CPR and CPS), 2021 with subsequent guidance.Central Bank of the UAE
- Federal Decree Law No. 20 of 2018 on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism.Federal Government of the UAE
- Federal Decree Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (PDPL).UAE Data Office
- Open Finance Regulation and supporting standards.Central Bank of the UAE
Payments infrastructure
- Aani product overview and developer documentation.Al Etihad Payments
- UAEFTS technical and user-facing material.Central Bank of the UAE
- SWIFT GPI customer experience guidelines.SWIFT
- UAE Pass developer documentation.UAE Pass
Islamic finance
- AAOIFI Sharia Standards.Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions
- Higher Sharia Authority resolutions and guidance.Central Bank of the UAE
- Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, Islamic Finance: Law, Economics, and Practice. Cambridge University Press.Book
Accessibility and inclusion
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.2.W3C
- Inclusive Design Principles, Microsoft Inclusive Design toolkit.Microsoft
- People of Determination, federal services portal and guidance.Government of the UAE
- Smashing Magazine series on RTL and bidirectional design.Smashing Magazine
AI in financial services
- Bank for International Settlements working papers on AI and machine learning in banking.BIS
- Financial Stability Board reports on AI in finance.FSB
- NIST AI Risk Management Framework.National Institute of Standards and Technology
- UK FCA AI Live Testing programme reports.Financial Conduct Authority
Design references for banking
- Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger, Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out How Type Works. Adobe Press.Book
- Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books.Book
- Indi Young, Practical Empathy.Book
- Robert Hoekman Jr., Designing the Obvious.Book
- Stripe Press editorial guidelines, public excerpts.Stripe Press
UAE context, beyond finance
- Vision 2031 strategy documents.Government of the UAE
- Dubai Economic Agenda D33.Government of Dubai
- The National and Khaleej Times for daily context, with a critical eye.UAE press
- UAE Stat reports and federal demographics.Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre
How to read all of this
Start with the CBUAE Consumer Protection Standards. Read them slowly, with a pen. Then read the Aani materials. Then walk the eight journeys from the previous chapter. Everything else can be picked up in the rhythm of a normal week. The bank is a serious institution and a friendly one; if a document or a contact is missing from your reading, ask. People will share more than you expect.
Welcome to ENBD. The work is real, the constraints are real, the customers are very real, and the design discipline that takes all three seriously will be the one that ships.