Easing the distance: a Netflix feature that would make watching content more collaborative even when continents apart
The Challenge
The challenge was to create a chat feature that you can use with friends while watching the same content on Netflix.
My Role
This project was a four day solo-project. The feature designed to be added was a chatting feature on Netflix that would improve the users experience on the existing app. I focused on the ideation and prototype phase for this project.
Design Thinking Process
Step 1: Getting to know the problem
Because the topic was already determined, I started off conducting interviews to collect qualitative data in hopes of extracting insights. I did a total of seven interviews, and below are some questions that I asked.
- Do you have a streaming service that you use to watch shows/movies?
- Do you watch the same shows as your friend?
- Do you talk about the same shows with your friend? If yes, when/how?
- Do you ever chat with your friend while watching the same content?
- Have you ever wanted to watch something with your friend but could not?
- In what way do you find the most enjoyable when chatting with your friend? (chat in person, message, pictures, emoji, gifs, etc.)?
- How do you think being able to chat with your friend while watching the same show will change your experience?
From the interview, the following are some of my quantitative & qualitative findings.
Quantitative data:
- 7/7 had Netflix
- 6/7 consciously watched the same shows as friends
- 6/7 talked about shows with friends in person
- 0/7 simultaneously watched content and messaged friend
Qualitative findings:
- “being able to message my friend might make the experience more collaborative”
- “Instead of figuring out when to go to the movie together, you can arrange to watch stuff at your respective homes”
- “when my friends and I would meet up we would talk about shows face to face”
- “we would recommend shows to each other”
- “[having a messaging feature] would ruin my experience. I want to focus on the movie instead of chatting with someone”
- “if you need to read subtitles, it would be annoying because reading messages would distract you a lot”
- “I want to focus my attention to watching than having to type messages”
Step 2: Evaluating the findings
When looking at the interview results, I wondered if this feature in the first place was even one that would improve the users’ Netflix experience. It seemed that the majority did not find the idea of messaging and watching something at the same time a pleasurable experience.
However, I then realized an interesting pattern, which was that the interviewees associated “chatting” with typing/reading words, and that the process of reading was time consuming and distracting.
If we look at the way people communicate through digital platforms, we not only type letters, but we also use other forms of communication like emojis.
This realization made me curious about exploring the potential of using emojis as the main form of communication for this feature between users.
Step 3: Getting Creative
Based on the insights, I developed a chat feature that would only use emojis. This is because emojis are useful tools that visually communicate emotions and requires no reading from users. The only downside to emojis is that it is very difficult to have a deep conversation, but from the interviews, 85% of people mentioned wanting to talk in person about the content they watched. So, this chat feature will primarily be used for the purpose of exchanging quick, visual remarks that represent what users are feeling in that moment, and would not require much thinking to use.
I also researched into Facebook and Instagram’s feature of users being able to react to content with emojis. I thought the idea of using emojis would be the best solution for users to communicate while watching without much effort and would cause the least distraction.
My idea was an integrated experience using a phone and a tv. Two (or more) users would be able to synchronize their respective television screens so that the timing of the movie would be simultaneous. This would all be controlled through the app. Once the movie is playing, users can exchange emojis as a form of communication.
The job to be done for this feature is:
When Julie is on a business trip and away from home, she wants to watch Netflix together with her boyfriend so she can maintain a healthy relationship.
I proceeded to create the happy flow of one user (Julie).
Step 4: Creating the prototype
Based on the happy flow, I started off sketching out a low-fi prototype on paper to determine what elements were necessary to make this feature work.
I then proceeded to creating a high-fidelity prototype. My challenge here was to design a prototype that was consistent with the existing Netflix app. To do this, I had an interface inventory where I collected elements that made up the Netflix app that could be used as reference while thinking of the UI of the app. A big thank you to Kevin (who happened to be working on another feature for Netflix) since we helped each other with this step to save time! So, having the interface inventory as a good reference, here is what my high-fidelity prototype looks like:
I created prototypes two users. For one user, who would be the primary controller while watching the content. This means that this user would be in charge of synchronizing the content with whoever s/he is watching with. This will be done by sending a code generated by Netflix. The second user would input the code given, and would have his/her screen synchronized.
*** Interactive prototype to be added shortly ***
Final Thoughts
This project was eye-opening in many ways. For one, the feature I worked on was one that was thought of by another classmate, and not my own idea. It put into perspective how in the real world, as UXUI designers, I would most likely be working to think of solutions to other people’s problems. It was a struggle for myself in the beginning to think of this solution, since during the interview phase the majority was very much against the idea of putting messaging and Netflix together. However, it was also through the interview that I found the insight that helped me create my solution. Thank you to Prateek for the amazing feature idea- you helped me go through a very valuable experience :)
I also learned to prioritize and “think with my gut”. This was because we were only given four days to think of a solution to our feature. Unfortunately, this meant that I did not have the ideal time to test my product. I believe that will be my next step, which will help me improve my feature even more.
