Nestguide Mobile App Design

Enhancing the Accommodation Experience for International Students: A Human-Centered Approach to Promote Well-being and Community Building

NestGuide: Empowering International
Students Through Better Living

Transitioning to life in the UK can be daunting for international students—navigating housing, adapting to new cultures, and finding community all at once. Drawing from personal experience and Livability Theory, I designed NestGuide, a mobile app prototype that reimagines student accommodation.
Focused on well-being and connection, NestGuide simplifies housing, promotes social integration, and creates a sense of belonging. This app empowers students to thrive personally and academically by addressing real challenges with a human-centered

Project Aim

NestGuide is a user-centric mobile app prototype designed to act as a coping mechanism and simplify accommodation for international students at the University of Salford. It fosters well-being, builds community, and supports a smooth transition, providing students with the tools to manage stress, connect with peers, and thrive academically.

My role

  • To investigate international students’ obstacles to finding suitable and affordable accommodation in the UK.
  • Analyze how the accommodation experience influences students’ well-being and academic success.
  • To explore the importance of social support and community building in creating a sense of belonging and smooth integration.
  • To conceptualize and develop a user-centric mobile app prototype that simplifies the accommodation search process and enhances the overall experience for international students.
  • To create a consistent visual identity system throughout the application

Tools

  • Figma
  • Figjam
  • Concepts
  • Illustrator

How I approached the problem

As an international student, I faced significant challenges settling in the UK. Navigating the renting process was overwhelming; even after securing accommodation, something still felt missing. My new house didn’t feel like home, leaving me to wonder: Is finding a place to live enough to feel at home truly? What do international students need to make their journey a success?
These questions drove me to explore the deeper needs of international students. Many struggle with finding suitable accommodation, building connections, and fostering a sense of belonging—factors critical to their well-being and integration.
To address these challenges, I created a solution through a structured, user-centric design process. I adopted the Design Thinking framework, which guided me through five key phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Each step ensured that the final solution was deeply informed by real user needs and validated through continuous iteration, resulting in a design that genuinely supports international students’ journeys.

Design Process

User research stage

To uncover the international student pain-points and create a solution that truly addresses the needs of international students, I began with thorough user research to understand their experiences with accommodation and integration in the UK. The research aimed to identify the barriers they face, the impact of these challenges, and what they value most in a supportive living environment.

Methods Used

  • Qualitative Research:
    • Interviews: Conducted in-depth interviews with international students and the office responsible for international student wellbeing at the University of Salford to explore their struggles with securing suitable and affordable housing.
    • Focus Groups: Engaged students in group discussions to identify shared challenges and brainstorm solutions.
    • Letting Agent Consultations: Interviewed letting agents to understand market dynamics and international students’ obstacles during the rental process.
  • Quantitative Research:
    • Surveys: Distributed to 50+ students, gathering insights on housing preferences, challenges, and experiences.
    • Statistical Analysis: Measured trends and correlations between accommodation satisfaction and well-being.
  • Secondary Research:
    • Reviewed studies and reports on the impact of accommodation on student well-being and academic success.

Key Insights Gathered

The research revealed three key challenges for international students: difficulty navigating the renting process, feelings of isolation, and stress from a lack of community. These insights directly informed the design approach for NestGuide, leading to features like verified listings and a simplified application process to address housing complexities, as well as social networking tools and event suggestions to foster connections and well-being. I developed personas, empathy maps, and user journeys to understand better and represent the target users, ensuring that the design aligned deeply with their needs and experiences.

The enjoyment individuals derive from their lives hinges on their pleasant and unpleasant experiences. This experience is closely linked to fulfilling their needs, which in turn depends on both exterior living conditions and the inner abilities of individuals to utilize them effectively.”
Quote from Ruut Veenhoven‘s work on livability theory.

Humanizing the Problem: Personas, User Journeys, and Empathy Maps

Based on the insights gathered from user research, I created personas, user journeys, and an empathy map to bring the international students’ experiences to life. These tools helped translate raw research data into actionable design directions, ensuring the final solution was genuinely aligned with user needs.

Persona

I developed personas to represent the key groups of international students who would use the NestGuide app. Each persona was grounded in real data from interviews and surveys and captured the specific challenges, motivations, and goals of students navigating accommodation in the UK. These personas helped clarify the target audience and prioritize design decisions.

User Journey Maps

The user journeys mapped out the typical experiences international students go through—from searching for accommodation to settling in and building a community. By visualizing these paths, I could identify pain points, frustrations, and opportunities for improvement, which informed the features of the app.

Empathy Map

I created an empathy map to deepen the understanding of users’ emotions and needs. This tool helped visualize what international students say, think, do, see, hear, and feel throughout their accommodation journey. It highlighted the emotional impact of housing challenges, such as stress and isolation, and reinforced the importance of providing practical solutions and emotional support through the app.

Together, these tools provided a holistic view of the users’ needs and experiences, guiding the design process and ensuring that NestGuide would offer a meaningful, user-centered solution.

Analyzing the Competitive Landscape

To gain a deeper understanding of the market landscape and inform the design of NestGuide, I conducted a competitive analysis focusing on Strengths, Weaknesses, Content, Design, User Experience, and Opportunities (S.W.C.D.UX.O). This analysis evaluated leading platforms such as SpareRoom, Rightmove, Onthemarket, and Airbnb, which excelled in robust property search functionalities but lacked critical features to foster community building and support emotional well-being. These gaps highlighted a unique opportunity for NestGuide to differentiate itself by integrating housing solutions with tools for social integration and student support.

In addition to housing platforms, I analyzed LinkedIn, focusing on its content, design, and UX, to draw inspiration for enhancing NestGuide’s community-building features. This comprehensive evaluation provided actionable insights to guide the app’s development toward creating a more holistic experience for international students.

This analysis, summarized in a comparison table, helped identify clear opportunities for NestGuide to stand out by bridging the gap between housing and human connection, creating an app that truly feels like a guide to making a home in a new place.

After uncovering opportunities through competitive analysis and deeply understanding user needs from research, I turned to feature jamming to brainstorm creative and practical solutions for NestGuide. This process allowed me to prioritize features that directly addressed key pain points, such as the need for better social integration and a stress-free housing search.
Focusing on simplicity, I identified which features and actions were essential to creating a seamless and meaningful user experience. With these priorities in mind, I transitioned to sketching, using it as a flexible and quick way to visualize how these features could come to life. Each sketch was carefully evaluated for its alignment with user needs, feasibility, and ability to set NestGuide apart in the market.
These early sketches became the foundation for the product design, helping me explore key interactions and map out how features would integrate into the app’s interface and overall user flow.

User flows

After generating sketches to explore the core features of NestGuide, I started creating user flows to map out how users would interact with the app. These flows helped ensure that the designs prioritized simplicity and usability, aligning with the needs uncovered during research.
By building on the sketches, the user flows defined the step-by-step interactions for key actions, such as searching for accommodation, filtering results, and connecting with other students. This process ensured that every feature integrated seamlessly into the app’s overall navigation, providing a cohesive and intuitive user experience.

Structuring the Experience

Creating the Sitemap

I was able to visualize key features through sketches and having the user interactions mapped out in user flows. I created a sitemap to define the app’s overall structure. This sitemap serves as a blueprint, organizing content and features into a clear, hierarchical format to ensure seamless navigation and usability.
The sitemap was informed by the insights gained from sketching and user flows, ensuring that the structure aligns with user needs and supports the primary goals of NestGuide. By organizing key sections—such as housing search, joining a community of interests, Finding support resources and community events—into an intuitive framework, the sitemap provided a foundation for the subsequent wireframing and prototyping stages

Laying the Foundation

Creating Low-Fidelity Wireframes

With the sitemap defining the app’s structure, I started creating low-fidelity wireframes to visualize the layout and functionality of each screen. These wireframes served as a blueprint for the user interface, focusing on clarity and usability. Key features such as the housing search, community tools, and user profiles were sketched out in detail to ensure seamless navigation and intuitive interactions.

Building a Cohesive Brand Identity

After finalizing the wireframes, I focused on creating a cohesive brand identity for NestGuide before moving to high-fidelity designs. I conducted surveys and research to help choose the right brand name, ensuring it reflected the app’s core values. Once the name was confirmed, I created the logo. I developed other brand elements, focusing on building trust, simplicity, and providing a sense of belonging, which were key priorities for the brand.
I then developed the complete visual identity system for NestGuide to ensure a consistent look and feel across the app. This included designing the logo, choosing the color palette, selecting typography, and creating icons—all aligned with the brand’s values of trust, simplicity, and community.
Below is an overview of the full visual identity system. If you’d like to dive deeper into the design decisions and the process behind creating the brand, feel free to explore the full brand creation process here.

First Iteration

After finalizing the visual identity and low-fidelity wireframes for NestGuide, I moved into developing the first iteration of the app’s high-fidelity design. This iteration was focused on translating the visual elements—such as the logo, color palette, and typography—into a fully functional, interactive design that users could engage with.
With the core features mapped out and the overall structure in place, I conducted user testing to validate the app’s usability and gather feedback on the user experience. The goal was to ensure that the design resonated with users and aligned with their needs, particularly in terms of the accommodation search process and community-building features.

Key Testing Focus Areas

  • Navigation and User Flow: Was the app easy to navigate? Did the users understand how to move through the accommodation search and social features?
  • Visual Design: Did the visual elements (colors, typography, icons) create a positive, welcoming experience? Were the colors accessible to everyone and on all devices?
  • Community Features: How easily could users find and join groups? Are users trying to create a community of their own? Are the community tools easy to find and use?
  • Search & Filters: How easy was searching and using the filter features? Was the assistive technology needed or helpful?

This Figma prototype demonstrates the core functionality and design process. Feel free to interact with the embed to explore the experience in detail.

Feedback Highlights

  • Users found the navigation simple but suggested simplifying the accommodation filter options to improve clarity.
  • The Local Events suggestion was appreciated, but some users felt it was too hidden, making it harder to access.
  • The onboarding process was intuitive but could benefit from clearer visual cues for new users.
  • During testing, one of the users with visual impairment demanded more accessibility.

Ensuring Accessibility in the Design Process

From the start, NestGuide was designed with accessibility at its core to ensure it’s usable by everyone, including those with disabilities. With international students from various backgrounds, I incorporated high-contrast colors and clear labels for screen readers. Additionally, voice search functionality was added to enhance accessibility.
These features were implemented and refined throughout the design process, resulting in an app that is functional for international students and inclusive for all users.

Incorporating Feedback

The Final Iteration

The first iteration provided valuable insights into how users interacted with NestGuide. Based on the feedback, I refined key features, simplifying the accommodation search and making the community features more accessible. The following section showcases the final design, which incorporates these improvements and delivers a more seamless, intuitive experience for international students.

Click here to interact with prototypes

This interactive prototype showcases the initial wireframes for the project, focusing on the core functionality and user flow. Click the embed above to explore the design in detail.

Prototype

This interactive prototype showcases the High Fidelity wireframes for Nestguide, focusing on the core functionality and user flows. Click the embed above to interact with the prototype.

Outcomes

  • The app’s flow became smoother, allowing users to find accommodations easily.
  • Improved color contrast, scalable text, and better screen reader support for a more inclusive experience.
  • Feedback showed users felt the app was more intuitive and easier to use after refinement.
  • The app’s flow became smoother, allowing users to find accommodations easily.
  • Improved color contrast, scalable text, and better screen reader support for a more inclusive experience.
  • Feedback showed users felt the app was more intuitive and easier to use after refinement.

Lesson Learned

  • Continuous testing and feedback led to better results, showing the importance of refining the design.
  • Listening to real users and understanding their needs helped me make meaningful improvements.
  • Addressing accessibility early on ensured a more inclusive product, saving time in later stages.

Next Steps

  • Conduct more user testing to refine the final version before development.
  • Finalize designs and documentation to ensure a smooth transition to development.
  • Track user feedback after launch and continue making improvements based on real-world usage.
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