Netflix should stop focusing on content (and that’s not a bad thing)
As each day passes by, we get news of another streaming service that will try to convince us to stop paying to others, when we could pay directly to them. The latest one to announce that was taking their catalogue out of Netflix was Disney (daaaaamn), and you know exactly what that means. We better get ready to kiss every Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars franchise goodbye, as well every kid-friendly show from Disney Channel and Disney movies like Frozen, Moana, Zootopia or The Jungle Book. That’s a huge loss for #TeamNetflix
But Netflix has won a lot of us over endless binge-watching marathons of our favorite shows. So the question in my mind has been: “What can they do to stop us from leaving?”. Now, I’m no expert, but I’ve been a heavy user of the platform since its beginning, and there are a couple of things that I know they could be doing better. Here I go.
I.- Focus on UX:
The one thing that Netflix has, that others don’t right now, is historical data for every one of their users. This means a couple of things, but mainly they can tailor the way to present content to each user. Right now, this area is kind of a mess.
Imagine you want to make a list with all the favorite movies from the catalogue available to you right now. Your only choice would be adding them to your list. This is how “My List” looks right now.

It’s a mess for me. And I know I’m pretty much screwed. I’ve used mainly it as a Queue, but at the same time a “wow look at this great movie they added and that I don’t want to forget about it!” and as a “Maybe I’ll give it a chance sometime”. Sometimes I just put movies or TV shows there because I want to get to them faster, without having to search for them.
Let’s make a deal Netflix. You give me more lists, and then you get more data about what gets my attention going through your catalogue, and then you can make better decisions. I’ll even let you name my lists. Hell, I’ll take just genres, so I can sort your catalogue based on my taste. Your algorithm works, but it’s not that good.
Which brings me to my second point:
II.- Your algorithm needs to step up. (A.K.A Get your Shit Together)
I was hesitant when you changed the ratings system from stars to thumbs up/down. I thought “well, it’s been happening everywhere, let’s give it a chance”. I gave it a chance, an honest chance, and it failed. And I get why you did it, but your recommendations are just failing, hard. If you want us to continue our glorious relationship in the dawn of other streaming services, you need to be irreplaceable, and right now I have to check about 5 blog entries with “Best movies to watch on Netflix right now” (and be sure to be reading an entry from that month) just to get a sense of the goodies you have for me. That’s not sane. Not for me, but specially not for you. Take a look at this suggestions based on my watching of a MASTERPIECE: “Fantastic Mr Fox”


I get why you would recommend those titles. But take a looong look and ask yourself. What do these movies have in common with Fantastic Mr Fox, other that they are animated? I have nothing against these movies. I’m sure some people would enjoy them. But you have more information about me than others. You should know that if I watched (and loved) The Wolf of Wall Street, that doesn’t mean that I want to watch The Dictator, 21 & Over, Project X, Two And a Half Men or How I Met Your Mother, and those are the kind of recommendations your platform is giving me.
If I just watched a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Martin Scorcese, and nominated for more than a few Academy Awards, you shouldn’t be taking the Cocaine aspect of it and offering anything that has #cocaine attached to it like if you were selling pirated movies on the streets of Chile. Specially if you already know every other movie I’ve watched and liked or that I’ve stopped watching. You have the information. Work with it.
Bottom line: I need you to be better, I want you to be better. I want you to be irreplaceable. I love your platform and what you’ve done for movies. You’ve created some of the best content on TV (or streaming) right now. You are a key player in the entertainment industry and you single-handedly changed how we consume movies and TV shows. But I need you to put us, the consumers, first. So when others come to ask us to switch to the Dark Side of the force because they have cookies, we all take a look at the screens in front of us and say “I have all the cookies I need right here”. Make it harder for me to leave you, I don’t want to, but right now, it wouldn’t be that difficult.
Love
Nacho (not a nickname)