HoneyDo Scan: LiDAR Measuring App for Field Estimates
An iOS field app that scans rooms with LiDAR, reads documents and collects signatures, then sends it all straight to the estimate
At a glance
I acted as design lead and executive sponsor. I set the vision for one field app that measures rooms, reads paperwork and collects sign-offs, grounded it in competitive and customer research, built an interactive prototype, and used Claude (AI) to help build the native iOS app.
The challenge
Crews measured rooms with a tape, wrote numbers on paper and retyped them into estimates, while receipts, data plates and customer approvals lived in camera rolls and texts.
What I led
- Set the vision: one field app that measures, documents and gets approvals, wired straight into the estimate
- Ran competitive research on five tools and mined their public reviews for unmet needs
- Turned device-test feedback from the owner and crew into the next build’s priorities
- Designed a five-choice home screen so crews always know they can measure as well as scan
- Designed LiDAR scanning with live coaching, a quality score and fixes without rescanning
- Built an interactive prototype that shows the research behind every screen
- Used Claude (AI) to help build: I wrote the specs, reviewed every build and tested each release
- Connected the app to the estimating platform, with a no-app web fallback
- Built the go-to-market kit: App Store screens, social carousel, share image, YouTube thumbnail and a 30-second video
The outcome
HoneyDo Scan 1.0 builds cleanly and is in internal testing. Crews can scan a room, measure, read documents and capture signatures on one phone, and every result lands on the estimate. Field testing and TestFlight come next, then the App Store.
Overview
HoneyDo Scan is the field companion to the AI-powered field service platform I built for HoneyDo Crew. Crews kept measuring rooms with a tape, writing numbers on paper and retyping them into estimates. I designed and built an iPhone and iPad app that measures rooms with LiDAR, reads receipts and data plates, collects customer signatures and sends everything straight back to the estimate that asked for it.
How I led it: I acted as design lead and executive sponsor. I set the vision, ran the competitive and customer research, made every product call and built the interactive prototype that explains each decision. Claude (AI) helped build the native app from my specs; I reviewed each build and tested it on a real iPhone with the crew.
What it does:
LiDAR room scanning: floor plans, wall, floor and ceiling areas, trim lengths and fixtures, with live coaching and a quality score
Measure or enter by hand: a point-to-point tape measure, plus manual room entry when scanning isn't possible
Document scanning with OCR: straightened, cleaned-up, searchable PDFs with totals, model and serial numbers pulled out
Signatures: job completed, estimate accepted or change order, saved as a signed PDF record
Estimator connection: opens from the estimate, loads the job details and sends everything back
No app? No problem: a web page offers the App Store or manual entry and sends to the same estimate
Services
Product Vision & Strategy, UX/UI Design, Product Management, AI-Assisted Development, iOS (RoomPlan, LiDAR, VisionKit), Launch Planning
Client name
HoneyDo Crew Home Services
Team
John Karl, Design Lead & Executive Sponsor; HoneyDo Crew owner and field crew
Prototype
Market research
User research
UX Decision
Go-to-market
This is a working prototype. Follow the guided steps or switch tabs and use the controls. Everything responds live.
Market research
Goal:
Find where a handyman’s site visit breaks down, and what the leading tools still leave unsolved.
SimplyWise ($29.99/mo): LiDAR floor plans and an AI photo estimate. App Store reviewers ask to edit a floor plan without rescanning and to put the plan on the estimate.
magicplan (free to $89.99/mo): Strong floor plans and CRM integrations, but reviewers report trouble in low light and around furniture.
CompanyCam ($63–$249/mo): The photo-documentation leader, with AI text from photos. No room measuring, and customer signatures only on its top plan.
RoomScan Pro (~$9.99/mo) and Polycam (free, or $150/yr): Good capture at about an inch of accuracy, but the result is a file to export, not a link back to the estimate. Mirrors and glass confuse scans.
Industry data: JBKnowledge’s ConTech report found 92% of contractors use a smartphone every day, yet 49% move data between apps by hand and 27% have no apps that share data. Apple’s RoomPlan research reports about 95% precision for walls and windows and about 90% for doors: accurate enough to estimate from, not to cut cabinets.
User research
Goal:
Ground every decision in real input from the people who use it, and say plainly what still needs validating.
Voice of the customer: Device testing with the HoneyDo Crew owner and crew on Oct 30, 2026 found a camera crash and no way to exit the scan review. The crew asked for better LiDAR coaching, a branded launch screen and job details that load from the estimate on their own.
Proto-personas (hypotheses): The owner-estimator, who prices jobs at night and needs numbers he can trust without a second visit. The field tech, working in sun and gloves with one hand and often a non-Pro iPhone. The homeowner, who signs on the spot and wants a copy. Not yet validated.
Research plan: Timed tape-vs-app visits on 10 real jobs, scan-to-tape error by room type, rescan and quality-score tracking in TestFlight, five short crew interviews after two weeks of use, and App Store review tagging after launch.
Why Each UX Decision Was Made
Goal:
Type every number zero times: one visit, one app, one tap back to the estimate, with the next action readable at a glance.
Open from the estimate, send back to it: Answers the 49% who retype data between apps, and the owner’s request for job details that load themselves.
Five big choices on home, not just “Scan”: LiDAR is only on Pro phones and crews carry mixed devices, so the tape tool, typed sizes and a no-app web page are always one tap away.
Coach before, during and after the scan: Failed scans in low light, clutter and glass are the top complaint about rival scanners. A checklist, live warnings with haptics and a 100-point score with a fix-it tip tackle each one.
Always a way out: Device testing found no exit from the scan review. Save, Rescan and Discard now sit on every review screen.
Fix without rescanning: SimplyWise’s most-requested fix. Any wall, ceiling or floor area can be corrected in place, and the floor plan goes on the estimate.
Paperwork and signatures in the same visit: Competitors split these into separate paid tools. Pages are cleaned up and read for totals, model and serial numbers, and signatures become a signed PDF with a tamper-evident ID.
Built for the job site: 52-pt targets, one primary action per screen, honey-on-charcoal contrast and offline storage, following field-software guidance for sun, gloves and one hand.
Explained in the prototype: Each screen of the interactive prototype shows the finding behind it, so reviewers can test the reasoning, not just the pixels.
Go-to-Market
Goal:
Launch with HoneyDo Crew first, then reach handyman and remodeling crews that already feel the gap between measuring and estimating.
Positioning: “Estimates start with accurate numbers.” The only tool in the comparison that covers the whole visit (measure, paperwork, sign-off) and is wired to the estimate.
Business model (proposed): Free inside HoneyDo Crew. For outside crews, one per-company plan priced between RoomScan Pro (~$10/mo) and SimplyWise ($29.99/mo), well under CompanyCam’s signature tier. To be tested with TestFlight crews.
Launch assets: A five-screen App Store set, a social carousel, a share image, a “Tape measure vs LiDAR” YouTube thumbnail and a 30-second launch video, all ready before the listing.
Rollout: Internal testing, then TestFlight with the crew, then the App Store. The web fallback lets estimators use it before anyone installs the app.
Roadmap: Measurements that fill estimate line items, accuracy reports by room type, multi-user crews and capture on non-Apple phones.
From the estimate to the phone and back: the job opens with its details, and every measurement, document and signature returns to the estimate.
About HoneyDo Scan
HoneyDo Scan is an iPhone and iPad app for handyman and remodeling crews. Scan a room with LiDAR, measure with the tape tool or type sizes, scan receipts and data plates, and collect customer signatures. Use it on its own, export a PDF, CSV or ZIP, or send jobs to your estimating software.
Price and availability
$29.99, one-time purchase, available in the United States. HoneyDo Crew team members receive a free download code.
Requirements
iOS 26 or later on iPhone or iPad. Room scanning uses LiDAR (iPhone 12 Pro or newer Pro models, or an iPad Pro with LiDAR). The tape tool, typed room sizes, document scanning and signatures work on any supported device.
Works with your estimating software
Use HoneyDo Scan on its own, or connect it. Any estimating platform can open a job in the app with an open HoneyDo Scan Connect link and receive the results back on the estimate. You can also add a webhook (Zapier, Make, n8n or your software’s API) or export a PDF, a CSV of measurements, or a ZIP of everything. HoneyDo Crew’s Estimator is built in.
Support
Email john@johnkarl.net with what happened, your device and your iOS version. We aim to reply within two business days.
Privacy policy
Last updated October 31, 2026. This policy covers the HoneyDo Scan app, published by John Karl.
Stored on your device: Rooms, measurements, floor plans, photos, scanned documents and signatures you create stay on your iPhone or iPad.
Sent only when you choose: When you tap Send, that job’s measurements, files and signatures go only to the destination you pick: the estimating platform that opened the job (for HoneyDo Crew, stored with Amazon Web Services in the United States) or a webhook you added. Exports go wherever you share them. Nothing else leaves the device, and we never receive jobs sent to other platforms.
Camera and photos: Used only to scan rooms and documents and to attach job photos you pick.
No tracking: No ads, no third-party analytics, no tracking across apps or websites, and no data sold or shared for advertising.
Customer details: Names, addresses, phone numbers and signatures entered by the crew are used only for that customer’s estimate.
Your choices: Delete a job in the app to remove it from the device. Data sent to another platform is governed by that platform’s policy. To delete data sent to the HoneyDo Crew Estimator, email john@johnkarl.net.
Children: HoneyDo Scan is a work tool and is not directed to children under 13.
Changes: Updates to this policy are posted here with a new date.
Final observations
HoneyDo Scan shows how I lead: start from the crew’s real day and the market’s gaps, make every design decision answer a finding, and prove it with a prototype people can tap through before code ships. Claude (AI) sped up the build, but the calls on scope, quality and launch were mine.
Next steps: TestFlight with the crew, timed tape-vs-scan trials on real jobs, then the App Store.
John Karl
19 Years • Product & UX Design Leader Leading Mobile Product for 500K+ Users
If you like what you see or have any questions, feel free to send me an email anytime.
Selected work
[2010 -2025]
