Renting, reframed as a pathway to homeownership.
…on a starter home with FHA 3.5% down. Without Nido, you'd be five years out.
A platform that gamifies renting by rewarding on-time payments with progress toward a future down payment — aligning landlords, tenants, and real-estate partners around long-term housing goals.
Initial testing revealed a critical challenge: once users understood the concept, most did not perceive enough personal value to adopt the app long-term.
This suggested we might be optimizing for business outcomes without adequately solving a meaningful user problem. So I returned to discovery — to reassess assumptions and identify what renters actually care about.
From "Does the business model work?" to "Would people genuinely want to use this?"
Using interview data, I clustered feedback to uncover patterns across user groups. One segment in particular showed consistent reactions that helped clarify the gap.
The concept supported stakeholder goals, but users did not feel an immediate, tangible benefit. The reward existed — but it didn't feel like reward.
To generate new directions quickly, I ran several Crazy 8s sessions focused on increasing perceived value and encouraging repeat engagement.
I analyzed products that successfully motivate ongoing engagement through rewards and gamification:
These platforms demonstrated how financial incentives, progress tracking, and tangible benefits can drive sustained usage — and gave me a vocabulary for what Nido needed to feel like.
I interviewed 10 landlords to validate their pain points around tenant retention.
When asked whether they would adopt a solution that costs less than traditional incentives while keeping tenants longer, every landlord responded positively.
Show me how — right now.
— Landlord, validation interview
Operations layer — landlord management, tenant detail, agent profile, and agent onboarding, all in one view.
Nido reframed renting as a step toward ownership, rather than a temporary expense. By aligning incentives across tenants, landlords, and real estate professionals, the platform created a mutually beneficial ecosystem centered on long-term housing goals.