Besma Lola Khalfa, lead product designer, Marseille
I help teams decide what to build, then I stay until it ships.
Ten years in product. I led six designers at Yassir (YC W20), ran product on my own at Mektoube, where retention after onboarding rose 34%, and I design in French, English and Arabic.
Selected work
Five frames, 2020 to 2026. I circled the one I'd show first.
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Mektoube, 2023–2026Getting strangers to actually reply
AI, recommendation, consumer mobile -
Yassir Business, 2022–2023A B2B product companies could set up alone
0→1, B2B, payments, team lead -
Yassir, SEFAR, 2022–2023One design language, two writing directions
Design system, RTL, cross-team -
Mektoube, 2023–2026Protect a face without erasing the person
Trust and safety, automation with consent -
Somfy Protect, 2020–2022An installation that survives things going wrong
Connected home, onboarding, errors
About
I grew up in Algeria and learned the trade in France. At Yassir I led a team of six designers through hyper-growth. At Mektoube I was the only designer, working straight with the CEO, from research to QA.
I use AI where it shortens the way to evidence: Claude and ChatGPT for research and specs, Midjourney and Runway to explore, coded prototypes when Figma can't show how something behaves. Away from the screen, I'm a photographer.
- 2023–2026MektoubeHead of Product & Lead Product DesignerDating app, mobile and web
- 2022–2023YassirFounding Product Design ManagerMobility and B2B, team of six designers
- 2020–2022SomfySenior UX/UI DesignerConnected home, mobile and web
- 2015–nowIndependentSenior UX/UI DesignerServices, e-commerce, culture
Hiring a lead or a design manager?
Remote in Europe or MENA, or hybrid from Marseille. Tell me about the product and what's stuck. I read everything.
[email protected]