At a glance
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1
super app in place of several property apps and sites
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5 → 2
onboarding: five steps in the current app, two screens in the concept
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6
goals for the concept, from a cleaner UI to a simpler route to booking
The brief
Wasl runs several property apps and sites: Wasl Buy & Rent, Dreclands, Wasl Freehold, Wasl Welcome Home for tenants, property leasing and retail. The idea was one super app for all of them. We reviewed the current app, scoped an MVP and proposed a new design.
The challenge
Each service had grown its own front door. In the current app, onboarding ran to five steps, several categories opened external links to wasl.ae or dreclands.ae, and the news section, search filters and home page felt dated.
Login and profile pages were inconsistent, and the help centre overlapped with the virtual assistant and the contact page.
My role
My experience department at Born ran this work. I set the UX strategy and led the review and scoping with the team.
I articulated it through an annotated review of the current app, an MVP scope with the questions we needed answered, a website template estimate and a UI concept for the new app.
What we did
- Reviewed the current app area by area, from splash and onboarding to search, news, e-services and the profile, with suggestions and questions for each.
- Scoped an MVP that brings buying, renting, freehold, tenant services and retail into one app.
- Set six goals for the concept: a cleaner UI, consistent navigation, saved properties, an AI assistant, better filters and a simpler route to booking.
- Designed the concept: onboarding, a personal home, map and list search, filters, an AI assistant and the property page.
- Estimated the website templates alongside it, from the homepage and services pages to search, property detail and an enquiry overlay.
Review
We started with the app Wasl already had, and gave each area a suggestion and a question. Onboarding ran to five steps, so we suggested full-screen imagery and fewer of them. The home page's short hero carousel and general look needed refining, and the filters needed a rethink to cut the scrolling.
Buying, renting and lands sent people out to wasl.ae or dreclands.ae. We asked for every category to sit inside the same app, with better imagery and a more engaging map.
Scope
The super app had a lot to hold: buying, renting and leasing, freehold, Wasl Welcome Home for tenants, owners managing listings and tenants, and retail. We listed the global pages and features, from search, property detail, enquiries, appointments and favourites to a chatbot, messaging, virtual tours and video meetings. Then the services each part needed, from service requests and lease agreements to a store directory and an events calendar.
Open questions went back to Wasl: which Wasl and government services belonged in the app, which user roles it had to serve, whether it needed a new creative direction, and whether appointments should be virtual or in person.
First use
Onboarding came down to two screens. The first lets people pick the services they care about, from property leasing and rentals to insurance brokers, property lawyers and electricians. The second shows the breadth of the portfolio.
Search
Home greets you by name and asks what you're looking for, with recommendations, new properties by type and your saved properties. Search works on a map or as a list.
The new filters cover home type, price and size ranges, how recently a property was listed, bedrooms, bathrooms and features. Each property page leads with price, size, bathrooms and bedrooms, and ends in two clear actions: email or call.
AI assistant
An AI assistant sits in the main navigation. It offers to help you brainstorm your new home or compare properties, and you can simply describe what you want: three bedrooms in Wasl Gate, with a garden and close to a good school.
It answers with a matching property, and refines the search when you change your mind and ask for a pool as well.
From review to concept
This was a proposal. Set against the current app, the concept proposed:
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BeforeSeveral property apps and sites, each with its own front door
AfterOne super app for buying, renting, freehold, tenant services and retail
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BeforeOnboarding in five steps
AfterOnboarding in two screens
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BeforeCategories that sent people out to wasl.ae or dreclands.ae
AfterEvery category inside the same app
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BeforeFilters that needed a lot of scrolling
AfterFilters for home type, price, size, bedrooms, bathrooms and features
The result
This was a proposal, not a launched product. Wasl got a clear read of where its current app fell short, an MVP scope with the questions it needed to answer, and a concept showing how one app could take someone from first use to a property, with an AI assistant to help along the way.
