INTRODUCTION

This project is a redesign of experience on Netflix.
Users find themselves unable to watch contents that used to exist on Netflix since they don’t know the expiring dates of leaving contents.
After comparative research with other platforms, ideations, and A/B testing, this project suggests a final solution.

ROLE

UX Design, UX Research

DURATION

3 months : 2022.08~2022.10

PROJECT SUMMARY

BACKGROUND

Websites organizing Netflix’s leaving contents each month

What do users think about Netflix?

RESEARCH

User Survey

A survey was done to 49 people who subscribed Netflix. Majority watched Netflix through their web devices rather than mobile. 45 of them answered they were overall satisfied with their experience with Netflix.

However, although most people enjoyed their experience with Netflix, this survey found a part where users felt uncomfortable with:

RESEARCH

1. 75.5% people of the survey responded they have missed to watch a content that used to be on Netflix.

2. 61.2% agreed that Netflix should show expiring dates more noticeably.

2 types of users & their journey

user1_journey.png
user2_journey.png

BACKGROUND

How does Netflix show Leaving Contents currently?

The Problem is…

“Netflix subscribers need a way to find expiring dates of leaving contents easily

because they are unable to watch shows that used to exist!”

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Industry Research

Screen Compare

HULU

CHARACTERISTICS

  • When added to ‘My List’, Hulu displays Expiring on a separate category.

  • On Web, there is a EXP Badge on contents

SHORTcomings

  • When added to ‘My List’, it doesn’t show the exact date when it is leaving depending on devices

  • Sometimes the badges don’t appear

  • Users can’t see them on Main Page

CRITERION CHANNEL

Characteristics

  • On the Main Page, there is a separate content section named LEAVING ‘This month’.

  • Users can see the whole list leaving shows this month

shortcomings

  • Since it only shows leaving contents on their separate section, users can’t see expiring dates on My List.

  • It doesn’t have any reminding function such as notification or badges.

Let’s Explore Some Ideas!

Netflix Current Information Architecture

REDESIGN IDEATION 01

Add New Main Category

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

WIREFRAME

  1. Users can easily find it on top at the first page.

  2. It is effective in searching purpose since users can see expiring dates of all shows by clicking once.

PROS

  1. Not many users read or click all the menu categories since too many of them exist already.

  2. Top menu categories are not that noticeable because users focus more on the huge video clip when they see the first page.

CONS

REDESIGN IDEATION 02

Add New Content Section

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

WIREFRAME

  1. Users can notice leaving contents by chance while casually browsing.

  2. It can remind users that some contents are leaving soon.

  3. Users can know the plot of leaving shows easily since separate section is easy to hover over.

PROS

  1. Since not all users scroll down all sections, it can be hard to find.

  2. Users are able to see only few expiring shows.

  3. Users cannot see the exact leaving date.

CONS

REDESIGN IDEATION 03

Add Notification function

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

WIREFRAME

  1. Users can notice fast due to the red dot sign.

  2. It can remind users about leaving contents.

  3. Users don’t need to search or browse through the website for expiring dates.

PROS

  1. Too much alarms make users to ignore them.

  2. Users don’t click on them often.

  3. Some users answered in the survey that they don’t prefer any notification within app.

CONS

REDESIGN IDEATION 04

Add Badges on each content section

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

WIREFRAME

  1. Users can easily notice among many contents without having to read much words.

  2. It works as both highlighting and reminding effect.

  3. Badges are effective way to promote a content.

PROS

  1. It can look messy visually since there are ‘New Episode’, ’Top 10’ badges already.

  2. Users cannot see the exact leaving date.

  3. Users are not able to know the whole list of leaving shows.

CONS

USER TEST

A/B Testing

Among the 4 ideas, I combined them and narrowed down to 2 main concepts (Concept A and B) eliminating each shortcoming. In order to solve our problem, the leaving contents and their expiring dates should be :

1) easily spotted 2) remind users when and what is leaving

Idea 3 (Notification function) was crossed out since lot of users responded in the survey that they do not prefer getting many alarms on apps. Most of them said they did not click on Netflix Notices.

Concept A

Concept A is the combination of idea 1 and 2.

It adds LEAVING SOON as a main category and content section.

Concept B

Concept B is the combination of idea 1 and 4.

It adds LEAVING SOON as a main category and displays a badge.

RESULT

Concept A

PROS

  1. By combining idea 2 with 1, users are able to see the whole list of expiring shows.

  2. This concept has both searching and reminding effect to users. (Searching effect: click on main menu category, Reminding effect: Content section spotted while users browse casually)

  3. The composition of leaving contents is organized, not scattered around the website.

  4. The possibility of users missing leaving contents reduce since it is displayed in multiple areas more actively.

CONS

  1. Users still cannot see the exact expiring date of contents on landing page.

  2. There isn’t a separate section in My List that can show leaving contents.

PROS

  1. Idea 1 lets users to see all expiring shows in one click (the main category LEAVING), and idea 4 (the Badge) is catches users’ attention fast.

  2. This concept has searching, reminding, and highlighting effects of leaving contents.

  3. Badges use simple words or short text which is straightforward to deliver users information about leaving contents.

  4. Leaving contents Badges can be displayed in My List.

CONS

  1. Users still cannot see the exact expiring date of contents on landing page.

  2. Since there isn’t a separate section, badges are scattered around on the landing page.

A/B Testing

Concept B

“Only What You Need When You Need It”

Users found Concept A more visually pleasing and organized. Concept B (Badges) does have many positive aspects, especially the fact that it can catch user’s eyes quickly. However, users responded that Concept A’s noticeability is enough for leaving contents, and badges were too much. Users want to know leaving contents only when they need it, not notified every time they browse through the home page.

Developing Solution Concept A!

SOLUTION DESIGN 01

Landing Page

SOLUTION DESIGN 02

SOLUTION DESIGN 03

Leaving Category

SOLUTION DESIGN 04

Add Leaving Main Category & Leaving Soon section

Users can see Leaving contents on the landing page. As they swipe right, they are able to see more on the ‘Leaving Soon’ section.

Hover over content on landing page

Display Last day to watch: Date when users hover over one of the contents

Currently, Netflix shows this information when users click on ‘More Info’. This solution suggests to show it when users hover over on the content also so that users can see the plot and the leaving date fast without having to click on anything.

This way users can see the exact expiring date and leaving show at once on the home page.

Leaving this Month, Leaving this Week on Leaving category

According to comparative research and survey, users prefer to know leaving contents before one month or one week.

Showing both can remind users that expiring date is coming.

My List Category

Add Continue watching before it leaves section in My List

By adding this section in My List, users can prevent missing watching expiring contents, especially when it is a long series. User who didn’t click on Leaving category can once again reminded in My List.

Even if users didn’t click on My List, they still can see the expiring date when they hover over on the main page Continue Watching section.

SOLUTION DESIGN

Final Prototype

WRAP UP

Takeaways & What I learned

01 Improve for data-driven accurate result

  • If there had been more population participating the A/B Testing, the results could have been different

  • Concept B does have some better aspects, thus others might have preferred B

  • Hope in the future, there will be more people participating to discover more data driven outcomes

02 Additional exploration

  • Explore other concepts, for example Concept C as notification

  • Notification idea was crossed out since some people said they didn’t want any alarms within the app

  • Will like to explore more on this research and figure out how to improve efficient notification service

03 Different result with early stage hypothesis

  • Since Hulu was using badges, initial hypothesis was that Concept B would be preferable than Concept A

  • Learned that comparative research is important, however, hypothesis shouldn’t rely too much on it

  • Try to separate me and the users

  • Learned importance of iterating process which lets to find other solutions I couldn’t think of at first