SUMMARY

A smart feature that boosts marketplace listing completion by instantly generating suggestions from just one photo.

CHALLENGE

Creating a marketplace listing can feel tedious and time-consuming, often leading to drop-off or full abandonment of the flow. The challenge was to reimagine the process - making it simpler, faster, and even delightful for users.

 
PROJECT GOALS

Our aim was to increase the number of marketplace posts and transform how listings are created on Nextdoor. By reducing friction with a photo-first approach, we sought to simplify the process and automatically generate most of the listing details, saving users time and effort.

 
DISCOVERY & RESEARCH PHASE

As the Lead Designer on this project, I partnered closely with engineering to explore how OpenAI could power this feature. With 33k listings created daily, cost was a critical consideration. To keep expenses manageable, we selected a lower-tier pricing plan, which processes images in lower detail. Through testing, we found this still produced accurate results.

In addition to analyzing the image, each request includes a text prompt guiding the AI. Since cost scales with prompt length, we iterated on different prompt configurations to strike the right balance between accuracy and efficiency. To further optimize costs, we also scaled images down before sending them to OpenAI.

LOAD TIME

Load time was a critical factor in shaping the user experience. Since the speed of generating suggestions could vary, we explored multiple versions of the flow to account for both quick and delayed responses.

In the longer-load scenario, we designed the flow so that sellers could continue adding details to their listing while suggestions were being generated - keeping them engaged and reducing perceived wait time.

SUGGESTIONS

After a photo is analyzed, key listing fields are pre-filled with AI-generated suggestions. To distinguish them from user-entered fields, suggestions appear with a blue background and an AI icon. If a seller edits a suggestion, the field reverts to the default gray style.

FEEDBACK

To continuously improve this feature, we built a simple feedback mechanism directly into the modal. After interacting with the suggestions, sellers are prompted to share whether the feature was helpful. This lightweight check-in not only helps us validate the value of the experience but also provides insight into how we can refine it further.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Users today often sell across multiple platforms and have come to expect a fast, seamless listing experience. By generating suggestions for all required fields from just one photo, we significantly reduce friction in the process. In most cases, sellers only need to upload an image and confirm the suggestions—saving time and effort.

 Leveraging AI to generate listings not only modernizes the experience but also aligns with growing user expectations as other platforms begin experimenting with generative AI. Offering this capability to all consumers provides Nextdoor with a unique competitive advantage, since most marketplaces don’t yet support full AI-powered listing generation. (For example, Amazon provides a similar feature, but only for business sellers.)

NOTABLE MOMENTS

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August 12, 2024

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