ScanSan is a UK PropTech company, and PAA is its AI property assistant for estate agents, investors, builders and buyers. Ask a question in plain English and the answer arrives in seconds, built on 29 million recorded properties, 2 million postcodes and 30 years of market data. As founding product designer I designed it end to end: the chat, Analytics, Property Check, the Free and Pro model and the mobile web app.
CLIENT
CLIENT
Scansan Properties
Scansan Properties
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
PropTech, AI
PropTech, AI
ROLE
ROLE
Founding Designer
Founding Designer
TOOLS
TOOLS
TOOLS
Figma
Figma
YEAR
YEAR
YEAR
2025
2025
THE PROBLEM
THE PROBLEM
DECISIONS IN SECONDS
DECISIONS IN SECONDS
DECISIONS IN SECONDS
RESEARCH IN WEEKS
RESEARCH IN WEEKS
RESEARCH IN WEEKS
Answering one question about one postcode meant chasing public sources for days, and sometimes for weeks.
Answering one question about one postcode meant chasing public sources for days, and sometimes for weeks.
Agents preparing a valuation, investors screening areas, builders checking a plot and first time buyers all asked versions of the same questions. The data existed, spread across government, statistics and mapping sources, each with its own format and its own gaps. PAA had to turn that into one answer a professional could put in front of a client.
ScanSan sells to professionals, but most people meet PAA on the free tier, often with a single postcode in mind. The product had to serve both without making either feel like the wrong customer.
Agents preparing a valuation, investors screening areas, builders checking a plot and first time buyers all asked versions of the same questions. The data existed, spread across government, statistics and mapping sources, each with its own format and its own gaps. PAA had to turn that into one answer a professional could put in front of a client.
ScanSan sells to professionals, but most people meet PAA on the free tier, often with a single postcode in mind. The product had to serve both without making either feel like the wrong customer.
WHAT I FOUND
WHAT I FOUND
People come for one number. The design has to earn the second.
People come for one number. The design has to earn the second.
Agents, investors and buyers rarely want a dashboard. They arrive with one question, the rent in a district or the crime near an address, and leave once they have it.
The public data behind those answers is uneven as well. There is no single national register for HMO licences or planning applications, so every section has to say what it knows, what it does not, and how old it is.
Agents, investors and buyers rarely want a dashboard. They arrive with one question, the rent in a district or the crime near an address, and leave once they have it.
The public data behind those answers is uneven as well. There is no single national register for HMO licences or planning applications, so every section has to say what it knows, what it does not, and how old it is.
THE DECISION
THE DECISION
Breadth is free. Depth is Pro.
Breadth is free. Depth is Pro.
Analytics became one page with eight tabs. Overview, Sales, Rent, Demographics and Crime are free, because that is what an occasional user asks. Growth and trends, Investment and Compare are Pro, because that is what an investor bills for.
Property Check follows the same split, and Pro costs £15 per user a month, or £12 billed yearly. Inside Pro, charts open on the last six years, because property moves in months and years; the full 30 years of data sits one click away.
Analytics became one page with eight tabs. Overview, Sales, Rent, Demographics and Crime are free, because that is what an occasional user asks. Growth and trends, Investment and Compare are Pro, because that is what an investor bills for.
Property Check follows the same split, and Pro costs £15 per user a month, or £12 billed yearly. Inside Pro, charts open on the last six years, because property moves in months and years; the full 30 years of data sits one click away.
I ruled out an automatic Pro trial. A trial teaches a professional that the useful part disappears in fourteen days. Starting free, and meeting Pro inside the tab that needs it, is closer to how agencies actually buy software.
THE SOLUTION
THE SOLUTION
ONE PATTERN
ONE PATTERN
ONE PATTERN
EVERY SURFACE
EVERY SURFACE
EVERY SURFACE
Tabs, answer actions and paywalls behave the same way wherever they appear, on desktop and on the phone.
Tabs, answer actions and paywalls behave the same way wherever they appear, on desktop and on the phone.
Share, PDF, Add to Categories and Bookmark sit at the foot of each answer rather than in the top bar, so a conversation about three districts gives three things to save. The monthly report toggle sits next to the title it belongs to, and every figure carries its source and date.
The Overview tab summarises the other seven with one number and one line each, and every tile opens the tab behind it. The Pro tiles ask the question their tab answers: where is it heading, is it worth buying, which area wins. Property Check reuses the same pattern, with section tabs across the top and Pro rows that unlock in place.
Share, PDF, Add to Categories and Bookmark sit at the foot of each answer rather than in the top bar, so a conversation about three districts gives three things to save. The monthly report toggle sits next to the title it belongs to, and every figure carries its source and date.
The Overview tab summarises the other seven with one number and one line each, and every tile opens the tab behind it. The Pro tiles ask the question their tab answers: where is it heading, is it worth buying, which area wins. Property Check reuses the same pattern, with section tabs across the top and Pro rows that unlock in place.
Moving the actions to the foot of each answer looks like housekeeping. It is the change I would defend first, because an agent never shares a conversation. They share the one answer a client asked for.
THE BUILD
THE BUILD
Built for the desk. Redesigned for the phone.
Built for the desk. Redesigned for the phone.
Seventy six desktop high fidelity screens across nine stages, built from the ScanSan design system tokens and audited against WCAG 2.2 AA before handoff. B2B comes first, but agents work between viewings, so PAA also ships as a progressive web app: navigation in a side drawer behind the burger menu, the chat pinned to the bottom, and tabs and cards reflowed for one thumb.
Seventy six desktop high fidelity screens across nine stages, built from the ScanSan design system tokens and audited against WCAG 2.2 AA before handoff. B2B comes first, but agents work between viewings, so PAA also ships as a progressive web app: navigation in a side drawer behind the burger menu, the chat pinned to the bottom, and tabs and cards reflowed for one thumb.
THE OUTCOME
THE OUTCOME
230 agents in six months. Weeks of research became minutes.
230 agents in six months. Weeks of research became minutes.
Within six months of release, 230 estate agents were using PAA, and 23 property investors had been onboarded and were scanning areas with it to drive their decisions. In the user survey, 95% of users said they were satisfied, and most described the information as highly accurate.
The number that matters most is the time. Building a report or chasing the facts on a postcode went from weeks to minutes or hours. A rating says people liked the product; time given back says it changed how they work.
Within six months of release, 230 estate agents were using PAA, and 23 property investors had been onboarded and were scanning areas with it to drive their decisions. In the user survey, 95% of users said they were satisfied, and most described the information as highly accurate.
The number that matters most is the time. Building a report or chasing the facts on a postcode went from weeks to minutes or hours. A rating says people liked the product; time given back says it changed how they work.
230
230
Estate agents using PAA in the first six months
Estate agents using PAA in the first six months
23
23
Property investors onboarded and actively scanning areas
Property investors onboarded and actively scanning areas
95%
95%
User satisfaction in the post release survey
User satisfaction in the post release survey
Minutes
Minutes
Time to build a postcode report, down from weeks
Time to build a postcode report, down from weeks
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