Android 12 Music

Android 12 Music · UX/UI DESIGN · CONCEPT · 2021

Android 12 Music — case study cover

Properties

role
UX/UI Designer
type
Concept app
system
Material You
year
2021

It’s 2021. Google is killing Play Music in favor of YouTube Music, the new Pixels are coming, and Material Design is popping. So I did what any designer does — designed my own music app in the delusional hope Google would call after.

Android 12 Music case study — overview

01 — The goal

Create an Android 12 music app fully consistent with the new Material Design system library — Pixel-first, because that’s as much Material Design as it gets.

Where are my device downloads? Wait, why is it playing the video too?!

My YouTube Music frustrations, condensed. I asked my musicophile friends and dug through reviews to confirm the hatred: 5 of 7 chose a music-only platform, and the design confused everyone. (2025 Naram says Google fixed a lot of it. I don’t believe him.)

Android 12 Music case study — The goal

02 — Learning Material You

Google had just released the Material You documentation and I was in love — the shapes, the colors, the dynamic theming. A fresh graduate on the edge of the design world, with ideas that could shape… my phone, mainly.

Android 12 Music case study — Learning Material You Android 12 Music case study — Learning Material You (2) Android 12 Music case study — Learning Material You (3)

03 — Verdict from 2025

I still really like this design. Some flaws, some dated patterns, new ideas that could make it better — but the animations and the overall vision hold ground. Good job, 2021 me.

Android 12 Music case study — Verdict from 2025 Android 12 Music case study — Verdict from 2025 (2)

behance study

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resolving 3 unresolved comments…
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Hi, I’m Naram!
I’m a product designer helping teams move from “we have an idea” → “how did we ever live without this?”
SCROLL ↓

PAGE 02 — WORKS

Works

ABOUT NARAM
naram
naram, probably overthinking spacing
THE JOURNEY

After getting my computer science bachelors, I decided to pivot to design. I’ve helped teams and friends go from idea to reality. I grew as a designer step by step by constantly feeding my curiosity about design, by trying different things that brought me closer to users and businesses.

Frame — about-naram
01 — THE DESIGNER
02 — WHERE I’M FROM
03 — OFF THE CLOCK

about naram

THE MANIFESTO
“Good design is as little design as possible.”
— DIETER RAMS
THE JOURNEY

After getting my computer science bachelors, I decided to pivot to design. I’ve helped teams and friends go from idea to reality. I grew as a designer step by step by constantly feeding my curiosity about design, by trying different things that brought me closer to users and businesses.

FOOTNOTE — AI

I use AI as a partner, not a replacement for the work itself. It helps me explore ideas faster, challenge my assumptions, and handle repetitive tasks so I can focus on the decisions that require human judgment, empathy, and taste. The thinking, direction, and final outcome remain mine. AI simply gives me more room to do the work that matters.

naram
naram, probably overthinking spacing
suki the cat
suki. yes — the same one walking around this site.
KILLINGTON, VT
INSTRUCTOR PASS · EAST COAST
PSIA CERTIFIED — LEVEL 2
instructor, 2 seasons
professionally certified in going downhill
ski photo
ski photo
ADMIT ONE · VOLUNTEER
BEY → CHINA
age 14 — raising funds for Lushan earthquake relief
2013
ADMIT ONE · TRAVEL
BEY → ROMANIA
2024
Hello
مرحبا
こんにちは
Bonjour
BOARDING PASS · ONE WAY
BEY → USA
23 years in Beirut, Lebanon
carry-on: computer science degree
languages: العربية · English · 日本語 (in progress)
SEAT 24A · NZ
PHOTOGRAPHY
photo shot
06A
photo shot
07A
bike photo
08A
shot by me
HIKING
hiking photo
Chouwen - Lebanon
hiking photo
Kneisseh — Lebanon
hiking photo
Seward Range — New York
on foot whenever possible
CLIMBING
no climbing photos. climb this instead.
PIANO
currently: chopin, ballade no. 1
01 — THE DESIGNER

about naram

naram
naram, probably overthinking spacing
THE MANIFESTO
“Good design is as little design as possible.”
— DIETER RAMS
THE JOURNEY

After getting my computer science bachelors, I decided to pivot to design. I’ve helped teams and friends go from idea to reality. I grew as a designer step by step by constantly feeding my curiosity about design, by trying different things that brought me closer to users and businesses.

FOOTNOTE — AI

I use AI as a partner, not a replacement for the work itself. It helps me explore ideas faster, challenge my assumptions, and handle repetitive tasks so I can focus on the decisions that require human judgment, empathy, and taste. The thinking, direction, and final outcome remain mine. AI simply gives me more room to do the work that matters.

Hello
مرحبا
こんにちは
Bonjour
02 — WHERE I’M FROM
BOARDING PASS · ONE WAY
BEY → USA
23 years in Beirut, Lebanon
carry-on: computer science degree
languages: العربية · English · 日本語 (in progress)
SEAT 24A · NZ
ADMIT ONE · VOLUNTEER
BEY → CHINA
age 14 — raising funds for Lushan earthquake relief
2013
ADMIT ONE · TRAVEL
BEY → ROMANIA
2024
03 — OFF THE CLOCK
KILLINGTON, VT
INSTRUCTOR PASS · EAST COAST
ski photo
ski photo
PSIA CERTIFIED — LEVEL 2
instructor, 2 seasons
professionally certified in going downhill
suki the cat
suki. yes — the same one walking around this site.
PHOTOGRAPHY
photo shot
06A
photo shot
07A
bike photo
08A
shot by me
HIKING
hiking photo
Chouwen - Lebanon
hiking photo
Kneisseh — Lebanon
hiking photo
Seward Range — New York
on foot whenever possible
PIANO
currently: chopin, ballade no. 1
Object — journal, cover
日誌
journal cover
journal
posters / photography / drawings / music
Frame — resume

resume

↓ download pdf
☎ +1 (347) 968-5959 ✉ naram.ziady@gmail.com ↗ linkedin
01 — SUMMARY
THE PITCH

I’m a multilingual Product Designer with a background in Computer Science who helps teams turn complex ideas into thoughtful, intuitive, and buildable digital products. I bring together user empathy, visual craft, systems thinking, and technical understanding to connect user needs, business goals, and engineering realities. I also bring a culturally aware perspective to designing for diverse users. From early research and product strategy to prototyping, design systems, and developer handoff, I help teams bring clarity to ambiguity and move ideas confidently from concept to launch.

02 — EXPERIENCE
FREELANCE
Product Designer
AUG 2023 – NOV 2024 · PITTSBURGH, PA
  • Brought a rare combination of product thinking, visual craft, user empathy, and Computer Science expertise; allowing me to challenge assumptions, anticipate implementation risks, and raise the quality of the final product.
  • Designed scalable systems, reusable components, and high-fidelity prototypes that improved product consistency, accelerated decision making, and strengthened developer handoff.
  • Partnered directly with founders, stakeholders, and engineers to align user needs, business priorities, and technical constraints, turning complex requirements into clear, buildable solutions.
  • Founded Naramu Designs and grew it into a commercially viable independent design brand, generating 280 organic sales in its first year without paid marketing through distinctive creative direction, product design, and audience-led storytelling.
visit the naramu designs store →
GLOBAL STUDY UK
Product & UX Designer (Contract)
MAY 2022 – AUG 2022 · REMOTE
  • Shifted from an operational role to design an internal SaaS dashboard using Figma and prototyping tools, consolidating university data, visa-sponsorship regulations, and institutional metrics into a single view that became the team's primary reference.
  • Eliminated critical research bottlenecks, saving the core business team an average of 8 hours per week per user by replacing fragmented legacy processes with an intuitive, unified search query interface.
PROPERTYCARD
Product Designer
FEB 2021 – AUG 2021 · REMOTE
  • Spearheaded product design for a complex property management platform as the foundational designer, translating regional property regulations into an intuitive layout.
  • Overhauled core user journeys around three interaction rules; in validation sessions, participants completed core journeys and retraced their steps without getting lost.
  • Architected and scaled a Figma design system from scratch using Atomic Design principles and Material Design guidelines; engineered a library of 200+ responsive components that ensured visual consistency across the product.
  • Optimized cross-functional engineering handoffs by creating detailed Figma documentation and collaborating on front-end HTML/UI QA.
see the full case study →
03 — SKILLS
DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE9 components
◇Figma
◇Adobe XD
◇Prototyping
◇Wireframing
◇User Journey Mapping
◇Interaction Design
◇Responsive Design
◇Design Systems
◇High-Fidelity Prototyping
RESEARCH & STRATEGY7 components
◇User Research
◇Competitive Analysis
◇Usability Testing
◇Journey Mapping
◇Problem Framing
◇Product Strategy
◇Design Thinking
AI & EMERGING TECH11 components
◇AI-Assisted Product Design
◇Prompt Engineering
◇Generative Prototyping
◇LLM Workflow Design
◇AI-Powered Research Synthesis
◇Creative Direction for Generative Media
◇Human–AI Interaction Design
◇Rapid Concept Validation
◇ChatGPT
◇Claude
◇Codex
04 — CERTIFICATIONS
GOOGLE UX DESIGN
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE
CERTIFIED
the full UX process, by Google
PROMPT ENGINEERING
CERTIFICATE
CERTIFIED
getting the most out of LLMs
05 — EDUCATION
NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY OF LOUAIZE LEBANON
Bachelor of Science · Computer Science
GPA: 3.35 · Dean's List (6 semesters)
Track & Field — 2nd place, national 40km marathon
NDU
06 — LANGUAGES
English · native
العربية · native
Français · intermediate
日本語 · elementary
↓ download the pdf version

FRAME 04 — CONTACT

You bring the challenge. I’ll bring the clarity.

linkedin ↗ instagram ↗ resume ↗ naram.ziady@gmail.com

usually replies within one working day

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Nothing to undo. Naram has no regrets.
Suki the cat zzz