Nestly: finding student housing without the panic

The problem

International students often rent rooms they’ve never seen, in cities they’ve never visited, while facing requirements they can’t meet — like UK-based guarantors. Scams are common, listings are stale, and the stress peaks exactly when students are also starting a new course.

Research

I interviewed fellow international students at Sunderland and mapped the journey from “offer letter received” to “keys in hand.” Three pain points dominated: trusting listings from abroad, proving financial reliability without a guarantor, and coordinating viewings across time zones.

Design decisions

• Verified listings only — landlords pass ID and property checks before publishing, with a visible verification badge
• Recorded virtual viewings — timestamped walkthrough videos replace risky “trust me” photos
• Guarantor-free flow — integrated rent-in-advance and deposit-protection options surfaced during application, not after rejection
• Time-zone-aware scheduling — viewing slots shown in the student’s local time

Outcome

A high-fidelity Figma prototype covering search, viewing, and application. Testing with five students surfaced one big fix: moving the verification badge explanation from a help page into the listing card itself — trust signals only work when they’re visible at the decision moment.