Ki-Geni
Ki-Genie leverages AI to address user pain points. It covers search functionality, smart listings, and user safety.
Problem Statement
How might we rebuild trust in Kijiji’s platform, improve search relevance, and make the experienced streamlined to revitalize interest and regain users who have migrated to competitors.
Problem Background
From its release, Kijiji was unchallenged as the leading online second-hand marketplace in Canada. Now it has lost both market share and active users, with many perceiving the platform as outdated or full of irrelevant listings. The platform is plagued by a high volume of phishing and scammers, leading to diminished trust among users. Facebook Marketplace has quickly grabbed majority of the most dedicated resellers due to the speed at which product moves in comparison. Many have a less than favourable reputation of Facebook, and marketplace requires you to have an account. This presents an opportunity for Kijiji to capitalize.
Research Insights
User Pain Points
A survey was used due to the agility at which data can be gathered, and its quantitative, allowing for ease of analysis. As Kijiji is a Canadian product, 100% of respondents are Canadian. Pain points gathered include:
· Lack of Verification on the Platform
· Search Results being outdated and cumbersome to navigate
· Transactions that start out normal before devolving into suspicious requests
· No safeguards on the interactions between buyer and seller
· Too much segmentation in product categories, worsening discoverability
· Posting listings is time-consuming, and there is nothing to assist in their creation
· The platform is overrun with spam, decreasing trust and burying trustworthy sellers
Supporting Data
· Nearly 80% of people that have used Kijiji before rarely use it or stopped using it entirely
· Under requested features, fraud and spam detection has a 100% response rate
· ~95% of respondents use Facebook Marketplace
Feedback
Provided here is a high-level synthesis of the survey results segmented by whether responded as something who was a buyer, seller, or someone who bought and sold on Kijiji (Hybrid).
· Buyers
o Uses Kijiji very infrequently with a higher level of dissatisfaction and exposure to scams. This exposure makes them the least trustworthy of the platform. Their requests for change fall under search functionality, user verification, and better fraud detection.
Sellers
o Also use the platform infrequently. This makes sense as it’s another avenue for them to get eyes on their product. Sellers have a higher, albeit moderate level of satisfaction and less exposure to scams. This too makes sense, as majority of scams are targeted at buyers, not sellers, and sellers will very infrequently be using the search feature. Their focus on product improvement is with user verification and AI-assistance for listings.
Hybrid
o Offering a blended perspective, they are generally satisfied but vary between frequency of use and exposure to scams. However, those that do both are unlikely to use Kijiji regularly. Their concerns lie with search functionality, better spam detection, and user verification.
Landing on the Solution
Based on the feedback, we propose a suite of AI-driven solution under the moniker Ki-Genie. The proposed solutions prioritize ease of use, safety, security, and efficiency, directly tackling pain points identified across different user types on the platform. The 3 pillars of this solution are:
· Using Natural Language Processing to drive our Ki-Genie assistant, letting descriptive, plain-English queries return relevant listings, instead of keyword search
· User Verification System
· AI Listing assistant, available only to verified users
I’ll include an example of our AI-powered search. A query such as “bike for city commute under $250” can be sent. In the backend, intent clusters (price, item type, condition) and mapping synonyms (“bicycle” and “bike”) are identified, specialized jargon for niche items will be recognized (35mm analog camera vs film camera, gramophone vs vinyl player). The language analysis will ensure that the proper category/categories are scraped, something that a human user may miss.
User Flows
This is a high-level overview of the different ways a user may interact with Ki-Genie. The flow ends at the point where Ki-Genie has completed its task
Future Steps
· Shift efforts from feature development to product marketing
· Ensure smooth deployment of Ki-Genie
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Manny Dhillon
These past two months for me have been transformational for me. I came into this program hoping to be able to learn about how AI is used in product management, and level up my product skills in hopes of making a career change.
The hands-on approach of taking a product ideation from ideation to PRD/Spec really helped put me in the role and mindset of a PM. My mentor provided great feedback for me on all my submission and offered great insight in our weekly sessions.
With it being 2025, most products have implemented AI in some way, and most original ideas have already been created in some form with AI-assistance. Looking back on my past, I landed on Kijiji. It was a place I exclusively buy and sold from, but I hadn’t used it in years.
It wasn’t until after I already started working on the project that news about Tarrifs and the Buy Canadian movement gained steam, so it completely changed my outlook on the project afterwards, as I was now working on improving a Canadian experience, and it gave me some national pride and extra motivation.
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
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As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
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As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
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Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
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- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
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All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
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I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.