NesterHood is a community app designed to help apartment renters in dense cities like New York connect with their neighbors. This case study covers Phase 1, developed as my capstone project for General Assembly's UX Design program.

With 67.2% of NYC residents renting—many of them newer transplants (a non-native, someone who has moved from elsewhere)—tenants often struggle to act collectively on shared concerns like maintenance, safety, and package theft. Through 8 interviews with Brooklyn and Manhattan renters, I uncovered recurring pain points: poor communication from property managers, limited neighbor interaction, and a desire for more community support.

A competitive audit of apps like Nextdoor and One Roof revealed a key gap: only 25% offered verified profiles, despite near-universal "ask for help" features. This shaped NesterHood's core differentiator, safe, building-verified neighbor profiles paired with a bulletin board and feed for asking, offering, and recommending help.

I translated research into user flows, low-fidelity sketches, and detailed wireframes, culminating in an interactive Figma prototype covering onboarding, verification, and core community features.