How would you validate an app with limited resources?

(Long post)

I’m in a difficult personal and professional spot atm. I’m already co-founding another business, which isn’t “on the rocks”, but it's in a rough patch. We’re applying for grants, trying to keep momentum going, all the usual early-stage chaos.

At the same time, I’ve had this idea that kind of aligned with my life circumstances.

I’ve been someone who gets my steps in for the past 10–15 years. It has been mainly for preventative health, fitness, keeping my body moving, all of that stuff. But for the last couple of months, I’ve felt the mental health side much deeply (I knew walking was good for mental health but I didn't realise it was this beneficial).

I was out on a run today, I had to stop because I was so drained from burn out (first time this type of experience happened to me...) and I was grounding myself and saw a bird I didn't recognise, I tried to get to captured on iNaturalist but I think I scared it off lol. I then found myself completely slowing down; looking around me, noticing the flowers, the trees the birds... for those minutes I wasn't thinking about the stress, money and all that...

Its made me realise that there’s such a deeper and more powerful thing in helping people not just “go for a walk” but reconnect with the outdoors around them.

So the app idea is roughly this:

A walking app that sits somewhere between step/reward apps, local walking route apps, and nature-discovery apps.

One side, you have apps that reward steps, movement, streaks, merchant offers, points, vouchers. On the other side, you have apps that help people find walks, trails, green spaces and routes around them. Then there’s the nature side: helping people notice, identify and educate.

Commercially, I can see a few possible angles:

• preventative health and behaviour change
• walking rewards / merchant partnerships
• nature connection and education
• local walks and green routes
• urban green space discovery
• partnerships with organisations like Sport England, councils, NHS-linked initiatives, National Trust-type organisations, etc...

I defo don't have the thing figured out.

But what I’m asking:

- How would you validate this properly efficiently (with limited capital expenditure etc)?

I’m trying to understand what the smartest next moves would be...

For example:

• Who should I be speaking to?
• How would you test whether people want this?
• Would you start with a landing page, no-code MVP, a small local walking community, something else?
• How would you test the rewards angle without building a full app?
• How would you approach conversations with ex-founders in fitness, walking, navigation, travel, wellbeing, or consumer apps?
• Has anyone here built or worked on a navigation, fitness, wellness, local discovery or consumer mobile app before?
• What would you absolutely not build first?
• Where do these kinds of apps fall down?

I know this is a rich (like a really rich) ask because I’m literally asking: how do you turn a personal experience into a business (people get paid for this normally)...

I’m pretty broke at the moment, so I don’t have the luxury of throwing money at this. But I do have time, energy, AI tools, enough tech curiosity to prototype something and a strong feeling that there’s something here if tested properly.

I’d really appreciate perspective.

(Please be kind. I’m not really looking for "you’re stupid", "don’t do this" comments. I know this might be naive. I’d rather turn naivety into something useful and practical if it can work).