Heuristics Analysis of two major OTT streaming platforms: Amazon Prime And Netflix.
As a student of Upgrad’s UX/UI bootcamp, studying and transitioning into UI/UX career, trying to explore design through a new medium, this is my first analysis in this field and I am here to showcase what I have learnt and to get the reviews.
A heuristic evaluation is a way to test whether a website is user friendly. In other words, it tests the site’s usability. Unlike user-testing, where the site (or prototype) is evaluated by users, in a heuristic evaluation the site is evaluated by usability experts. That’s why you’ll sometimes find it referred to as an “expert review”.
10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design
The 10 heuristics defined by Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich are good practices that can be applied to interface design to evaluate its usability. These are principles based on the observation of real users and the problems they face when using any type of interface.
They are generic guidelines which have been used for many years (the first version is from 1989 and the latest update from 2005) but, even so, they continue to be a valid instrument to detect usability problems today.
Rating System for this Case Study
All the 10 Evaluation criteria will be evaluated for both the mentioned websites and would be rated accordingly through the star rating system as illustrated below.
Simultaneous Evaluation for Amazon Prime and Netflix.
1. Visibility of system status.
AMAZON PRIME
The hover over function on all the tiles works perfectly to indicate the exact location of the user where they are. The menu towards the left also lets the users know about where they are on the page.
NETFLIX
The same effect is also available on Netflix. It also has the same effect as amazon prime and lets the users know about there whereabouts on the page.
2. Match between system and real world
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
As depicted in the pictures below, Amazon and Netflix both use the mix of icons and jargons for a better user interface. And in both the cases the displayed content is easily understandable across the whole website and does a good job in representing the real world.
3. User control and Freedom
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
Prime as well as Netflix have some significant features in their website which gives user more control over what type of content they want to watch and who is watching. Features such as parental lock and kids profile gives the user very important control over the website and freedom to use the website as they like. Also users can create as many profile as they want without messing up their previous watchlist. So this needs to be rated very good.
4. Consistency and Standards.
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
As shown in all the pictures above both websites do good job maintaining the consistency in terms of its grid layout and the overall functioning of the website. Both follow the platform and industry standards to give the user the best possible experience and a great view. This is also very good point to be noted.
5. Error prevention.
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
Both the websites appropriately provide too many options to prevent any unwanted errors and for the help and support in case anything goes wrong. They provide with controls, subscription management and other settings for smooth functioning of the app as we can see in the image below.
6. Recognition rather than recall.
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
Both websites have the menu visible on almost all the tabs and appropriate icons on the remaining tabs to help the user navigate through the website easily, following the principles of recognition which makes user experience good.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use.
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
Both websites have included shortcut features essential and according to the standards of the OTT industry for the content viewing experience such as use of arrows key shortcuts to jump time forward and backwards on videos. Use of up and down arrow keys to increase and decrease volume and brightness. And Esc button to exit the Fullscreen mode. This ensures flexibility and efficiency to the user when viewing content. Here, both websites are extremely good.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design.
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
Both the websites use minimalistic design approach. Both of them have the best designs and the view and the watchlist view is just par excellence. It is aesthetic indeed. And I will rate both of them equally good.
9.Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors.
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
Both websites do a good job in providing error messages. They have provided the age and content warning and also while creation of profiles they have given the warnings. They also have safe payment methods and double authentication for safe transactions for subscriptions. These points make them good in recognizing and preventing errors.
10.Help and documentation.
AMAZON PRIME VS NETFLIX
As shown in the images below both the websites provide the feature of help and support. It is easily accessible on both the websites and has various methods of assistance provided to the user which is help full. Both provide with FAQ’s and chat support which doesn’t cause any worry to the users even if something unwanted occurs. Both of them are very user friendly applications.
Conclusion
As per the rating system decided to evaluate the heuristics on both the websites, Both the websites — Amazon Prime and Netflix have gathered overall 5 star ratings and they both are user friendly applications. They are good in every aspect and have great user interface. People of all ages can easily surf through the apps and can indulge in viewing their content with ease. Hereby I conclude my first blog on Heuristics analysis on Amazon vs Netflix.
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