Virtual tours, from scan to front door
Peek's virtual tours let renters see an apartment before visiting. I designed for their three users: the scanner who captures each tour, the renter who browses online, and the renter who then tours in person to seal the deal.
Product
Peek Touring
Role
Sole designer
Team
2 PMs, cross-team
When
’23 → ’25
Platform
iOS + web
33%
less time to capture a unit
4×
more tour viewers turning into leads
87%
of prospects enjoyed their visit
The Issue
Each user hit a different wall.
Each needed its own discovery, and I synthesized what I found.
→ 01
What worked
Tours captured fast on an iPhone, no special equipment
What was missing
Room for error: scanners' mistakes reached the tour
→ 02
What worked
Tours renters actually opened and explored
What was missing
A next step: renters watched, then left
→ 03
What worked
No app to download, so renters could tour in person without staff
What was missing
Clarity: an essay of instructions on a few screens
Feature
Scanner app (iOS)
Fewer steps for scanners, so fewer mistakes reach the tour.
For scanners, the freelancers who capture each apartment. Fast iPhone tours won Peek its customers, but when I took the app on, it was a pile of disconnected features, and careless mistakes kept reaching the tours.
Over four releases I met scanners in the middle: rescan on the spot, image checks before upload, a daily job queue, and a homepage with one way into every scan. This was before AI could check images. An AI check now follows, but scanners still do the first pass on site.
The pivot
To cut steps further, the team bet on LiDAR: the phone would map each apartment and link its rooms on its own. I designed the flow and the front end worked, but the backend took months, so we shipped the redesign without it.
Result
Completed scans rose from 45% to 66%, the homepage cut the taps to start a scan by a third, and capture got 33% faster.
A few key screens from selecting a building to upload. Capturing each room is a full flow of its own.
Feature
Virtual tour viewer (web & mobile)
Redesign the viewer so the next step is always in reach, on web and mobile.
For renters deciding whether to visit. About 1 in 100 viewers inquired, and the unit's details hid behind unlabelled icons.
Once the A/B test won buy-in, I ran remote usability tests with 100 renter responses, a card sort and renter interviews, then redesigned the viewer for web and mobile: clear labelled actions, and price and dealbreakers always in view. On mobile the 360° tour fills the screen, so I borrowed from social apps: actions sit over the tour, and details open from one button.
The pivot
I pushed for a full redesign, but the team thought new buttons would be enough. So I A/B tested button changes first. They barely moved clicks, and that earned the redesign.
Result
Engagement tripled month over month, and clicks on Schedule a tour, Inquire and Apply grew 4×.
Before
After
Before and after, on web and mobile.
Feature
Self-guided tours (mobile web)
One check-in flow, whatever the building uses to let you in.
For renters ready to see it in person, on their own schedule, and leasing teams who can't staff every tour.
I designed the booking flow, check-in by email or QR code, and a guided route. Every building used different access devices, so each expansion meant a new integration, tested on site with in-person UX tests in buildings nationwide. I made it one flow where only the access step changes, so concierge, lockbox and door codes all fit.
The pivot
Operators doubted tours with no agent on site: who answers renters' questions? So we added an AI chat assistant beside calling an agent, and it won them over.
Result
Tour completion rose from 42% to 67% in its first year, and the experience became Peek's selling point against competing self-guided tour vendors.
No agent at the door: the check-in email, then three ways in. Once inside, renters ask the AI assistant anything.
In their words
“
A national property owner on a sales call
One of many where the ease of the experience became the selling point.
What I learned
Design for real conditions, not ideal ones. Especially in internal tools, function beats style. And timelines slip, so the core flow should stand without the big bet.
Also shipped
AI chat in the tour viewer · Price transparency compliance · In-app scanning tutorial · Booking flow redesign, mobile and desktop web
