Data-driven growth design at Canada’s leading vehicle marketplace, improving login experience and lead conversion through rapid experimentation.
Overview
Company: Kijiji Autos — an eBay online vehicle marketplace in Canada.
Role: Product Designer in the Growth Team.
Mission: Discover opportunities through fast iterations and experiments to guide OKRs.
Impact: +16% lead rate increase through data-driven experimentation.
Goal
Improve the login experience so more users authenticate and convert.
Logged-in users convert 4x better than anonymous users.
Discovery
Research methods included usability interviews, surveys, analytics, and competitor analysis.
- Target users: first-time or infrequent car buyers in Canada (25–39)
- Challenges: long registration, unclear benefits, low motivation to login
Solution Iteration 1: Social Login
Challenge: long registration process.
Hypothesis: social login reduces friction.
Results: Login +4%, Registration +1%, Lead rate +1%.
Solution Iteration 2: Communicating Benefits
Challenge: users were unaware of account benefits.
Hypothesis: show benefits to improve login willingness.
Results: Test A +3.2% login; Test B +2% login.
Messaging Flow Exploration
Explored messaging flows to reduce friction and highlight value.
Solution Iteration 3: Show Value First
Challenge: users were not motivated to login without seeing value.
Results: Login -10%, Lead rate -4%, Message willingness +19%.
Critical Questions
- Is the login wall the problem?
- Does having an account match user needs?
- What is the impact of login on lead rates?
- What is the business value of login?
Deep Research: Buyers Journey
Surveys showed most users only need accounts for 1–2 months.
Average user renews their car after ~5 years.
Competitor Market Analysis
Only 2 out of 23 marketplaces require login for sending leads.
Pivot: Non-Logged In Messaging
Chat was not well-suited for anonymous users and created resistance across stakeholders.
- Engineering complexity was high
- Dealer workflows preferred email
- Stakeholders concerned about lead volume
Chat vs Form Research
- Dealers prefer form over chat for quality leads
- Chat is more suitable for private sellers
- Form is easier to build for login-less messaging
Test: Chat vs Form
Results: Lead quantity -1%, dealer satisfaction much higher; business stakeholders unhappy due to lead volume.
Final Solution: Form for Anonymous Users
Allow users to contact sellers via form without accounts to increase both lead quality and quantity.
Lead rate increased by +16% (highest platform uplift).
Impact & Results
- +16% lead rate increase
- +4% login rate through social login
- Improved dealer satisfaction and lead quality
- Reduced friction by removing login wall
Key Learnings & Recap
- Look at the big picture: understand full user journey
- Failing experiments are learning opportunities
- Question assumptions about login and conversion
- Align stakeholders with evidence and research
Knowledge Sharing
- Presented learnings to designers and PMs
- Shared “Designing with Data” framework
- Led workshops on Figma interactive components
Credits
Role: Product Designer - Growth Team
Company: eBay (Kijiji Autos)
Location: Canada
Timeline: 2020 - 2022
Team: Growth team + Sales + Engineering in Germany
Last Updated: January 2026