Netflix (Case Study)
At-A-Glance
The following is part of a case study I conducted while taking INFO 1998: Intro to Digital Product Design at Cornell.
This class and case study served as my first-ever introduction to human-computer interaction and interface design, and prompted me to take the next semester off to hop on a plane to Korea to pursue UX in a work setting.
⏰ Duration: Sep 2020- December 2020
💁 My Role: Product Designer, User Researcher, Product Strategist
⚒️ Design Tools: Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Discovering the People Problem
Users are burdened with an excess of opportunities
at the simple touch of a mouse,
trapping them in a tsunami of choice.
While users want to find the "show that changed their lives," they can't do that because…
They're too intimidated to scroll through the hundreds of shows on their homepage without a clear human voice pointing them in the right direction.
They don't trust a machine to provide well-tailored recommendations.
Problem Analysis
My user research showed that users are generally intimidated with too much choice, and are dissatisfied with Netflix’s recommendations.
The challenge
Users spend too much time scrolling and less time watching.
They are afraid to start watching a new series only to discover that they absolutely abhor its first few episodes.
Even the "Top 10 in your area" feature feels too generic,
leaving users to crave even more specific crowds like "top 10 among teenagers," "top 10 among Dallasites," etc.
Let’s brainstorm solutions!
Turn Netflix into a Language & Culture study space
I had numerous ideas for my first opportunity area,
which was to add a
SWOT(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the <drama quest> feature, which I believed would entice users to tackle Netflix shows like a video game.
Some of my other solutions for this opportunity area include:
Create a page where “licensed Netflix translators” can share how/with what intentions they translated a certain film. This will prompt users to take an artistic look into the translator’s mindset while allowing them to compare the translating mechanisms of different translators from numerous cultures and backgrounds.
Have a “dig deeper section” where curious users can study a film’s cultural context. Allow people to post questions like “why do Indians pray to so many gods?” in the “dig deeper” section and have native users answer them.
Make a Quizlet-inspired feature where people can form language study groups and publicly share difficult vocabulary and grammar expressions.
Get recommendations from real users
This seemed like my best bet to solving the people problem. Having flesh-and-bone users guide each other with a sense of direction and trust can definitely minimize time wasted searching for compatible shows to watch.
Since users mainly turn to their friends to seek out recommendations or watch YouTube videos on their favorite YouTubers reciting what’s on their <My List> page, I decided that providing users with a sense of humanness and linking familiar faces to certain shows would do the trick.
SWOT Analysis for random chat feature, where users can compose personal one-line bios and share what they’re currently watching on their profiles. Pairs strangers up to message each other for recommendations.
Some other solutions for this opportunity area include:
Employ “Netflix influencers/ movie critics” who would curate their own list of recommendations and share them with the world. These curation lists are to be public like Spotify playlists.
Create different community pages where people can view what users of each community have been watching. “What have magazine writers/ news reporters in Dallas been watching?” “What have Cornell students been watching?,” “What has the jobless class of 2020 graduates in Dallas been watching for consolement?,” etc.
Rebooting “My List”
Upon realizing the “random chat” feature inherently goes against Netflix’s marketing and brand identity, I decided to play around with the pre-existing “My List” feature.
Curating playlists is easy- it’s a low-effort task that will still keep users engaged while motivating them to push forward and finish watching the entire curation. This is the <My List> feature on top of the Netflix navbar. As you can see, it's pretty barren. An outstanding majority among the 20 users I’d interviewed(18/20) had added 5-10 shows to their list and hadn’t bothered to utilize this feature so much after.
The content requirements for this feature include:
1) My public curation
People sharing my ethnicity, walks of life, tastes, or preferences can lean on my carefully curated recommendations for an easygoing viewing experience. Also, users that live from the other side of the world could view my recommendations to try out something new. (e.g, I could tap into a Russian singer’s public curation list if I’m into Russian pop culture.)
2) 300-word film commentary
Every expensive restaurant explains why they serve one menu after the next, along with the significance of each dish. If I were to curate my own set of recommendations, I would have to announce why a certain film is meaningful to me and why I would prompt viewers to watch them in a certain order. This step would be completely optional for users who think it's tedious to do so much writing.
From Lo-fi to Mid-fi 🥰
Flip through the slides to see my designs evolve!
Understanding user needs
Underneath is a graphical visualization of the user feedback I’ve gathered on my mid-fi prototypes and different solutions to fix design shortcomings.
