Design Critique: Netflix (iOS & Android)
Doudou Jia, Jun Wang, Peiyue Jiang, Yuan Gong
Netflix, one of the most leading video streaming companies, provides subscription-based streaming service which offers rich movies and TV shows on different devices. The service is becoming so popular that an estimated 37 percent of internet users around the world use Netflix.
But what makes Netflix be dominant in the streaming video field?
The most plausible answer is personalization. It is officially stated as one of the pillars of Netflix. According to the findings in TiVo’s study (Online Video and Pay-TV Trends Report), having the opportunity to build different account profiles and receiving personalized recommendations are 2 of the most popular features on Netflix.
While Netflix outcompetes other streaming services by its personalization and recommendation and provides great experience on its website, the user experience of the Netflix app is not as good as the website, according to the reviews on the app store. Since smartphone usage is rising when the internet is getting faster and more reliable, the experience on mobile devices should get more attention. Thus, we choose the Netflix app instead of the website and would like to share our opinions on some main issues from 4 UX designers’ perspectives.
｜Recommendation
The recommendation system of Netflix is driven by a number of machine learning algorithms: ranking, search, similarity, ratings, etc. The data collected from the user’s behavior will be used to optimize the content presented on the homepage, which helps users to discover more content they are potentially interested in. It is considered the cornerstone of Netflix to provide better experience for members.
First-time experience
The recommendation system has done a relatively good job in serving its long-term users, whereas people who just subscribe will usually encounter a cold start. Not only because there is no previous data to support the personalized homepage, but also the limited space for presenting the videos. This created the impression for the new members that the collection of Netflix is not rich, which may lead to disappointment. Netflix might create guidance, where the recommendation factors can be introduced briefly. New members then are asked to select some videos they like as a way to set up the service. In this way, they would be able to understand the basic logic of Netflix recommendation system and make their choices more consciously. The guidance would help users resolve their confusion and misunderstanding of the total collection of videos on Netflix.
The logic behind the recommendation
The way Netflix designs its recommendation system is in line with the rule of Calm Technology, which means doing all the work behind the scene without interfering users. The data that the recommendation system based on is from user behaviors such as rating, adding to my list, scrolling down the rows, watching, etc.
Most matches will appear on the top left corner, whereas the fewer fits will be on the bottom right. Netflix gives high priority to the first column of each row which is used for most match videos. Since, if both the title of a row and the presentation of the first couple of videos are not attractive to the users, they will probably skip that row and look at the next row. One thing worth mentioning is that Netflix hired real humans to name each Hyper-specific micro categories as titles for each row, which avoids the confusion that could happen when the title is generated by the machine, therefore, provides better learnability for members.
The videos recommended will not change so often for the sake of consistency. The members can easily retrieve videos that they have seen on the list earlier the same day.
Netflix allows multiple profiles within one account. One user’s recommendation wouldn’t be influenced by other users who share the same account. It is considered one of the main factors that contribute to the success of Netflix.
However, the design of the recommendation system does not provide much flexibility for its users to indicate their preference manually. If users are not satisfied with the recommendations generated by the algorithms, they do not have much control over it. Even if users can Rate (Thumb up/down) a video on the information page, the application does not explain to users the purpose explicitly. So users would feel less motivated to do so. To give users more control, Netflix can provide more possibilities of allowing members to make decisions of the recommendation in real time and receive instant feedback to their behavior. For example, providing the option to remove a row that the user is not interested in, then auto-generate another row instantly as a replacement. Through such kind of interaction with Netflix, users would feel more in control compared to all the decisions made by the system of Netflix invisibly.
｜Search function
Search guidance
For content-heavy apps like Netflix, the search function is an important shortcut for finding desired shows or movies. In this app, it is the second tab on the bottom navigation bar.
Compared with having a search box above each page, we think it has 3 advantages:
#1 Users could always use this shortcut to search when in other tabs.
#2 The search results remain on the search page, which users can always go back to.
#3 It gives consideration to two types of users separately: people with a clear goal, or who just casually watch recommended content.
However, a few things can be improved either:
When clicking on the search tab, the keyboard will pop up to encourage users to type into the search box. However, there is no sample search query suggesting what users can search for in the iOS version. They have to discover whether they can search through different criteria. What’s more, users are likely to search the same things more than once, we are not sure why it doesn’t remember the search history.
To give users some guidance, the “Popular search” part shows the top searches. The arrow on the right side of each item allows users to directly start watching but it looks more like an expansion indicator. So users might get confused when they want to expand the list but the videos start playing.
Search suggestion
The Search suggestion is impressive. The search box applies an auto-suggestion mechanism that helps users articulate better their search queries. Instead of auto-completing keywords, it presents related images directly and reactively to what is typing in. So the search is more effective compared to having to click on the enter button each time.
In case users don’t find the video they want after going through all the results, some related titles are provided at the bottom. In this way, users are more likely to find the videos they want with little effort. The only concern is that some users might overlook this function because of its location.
Search results
Typing the keywords, we get related movies and shows. Interestingly, the number of search results won’t be more than 10 lines. We guess it can limit users’ choices and reduce cognitive efforts. But it also means that users couldn’t have an overview of all results and might think Netflix doesn’t have much content.
Another concern is that these results are not sorted and even the most relevant ones are not highlighted. Moreover, movies coming soon look the same as the others. Users could experience disappointment if they thought these were available. Generating a simple way of classifying the searching results could be beneficial for clarifying the information hierarchy.
｜Watching experience
Smart Download
As for the watching experience, Netflix built a great user experience on the “Download” feature. Smart download is a popular feature that gets the next episode downloaded for you and deletes those you’ve already watched, which can help users spend less time managing downloads and make the whole watching experience more smooth. When users download the video, there will be an animation to remind users that the video is being downloaded and the download icon on the bottom navigation will show the progress of download. But at the same time there are some aspects which can be improved a lot.
Previews
There are many short previews of the movies and series you may like below the big poster on the homepage. And they all have different colors on the border, but the meaning of the color is not clear for users. When users tap one preview and go to the preview page, they can switch the preview just by swiping the screen. However, once they go back to the homepage, they will never know which previews they have watched unless they remember the name of them clearly.
My list
When users find the movie or series they want to watch later, they can add it to “My list”, which is a convenient feature for users to mark their preference. Users can get access to this feature on the homepage, but the only way to look through the list is swiping “My list”, which is likely to be time-consuming if users collected many series or films. Besides, users can find a separate “My list” page by tapping the “More” button on the bottom bar, but it is hidden and inconvenient for users. It might be helpful for users if they are swiping the screen for a while, then Netflix will lead them to the separate “My list” page.
Compared with the iOS version, in terms of this function, the Android and website version of Netflix is more intuitive, the separate “My list” page is available on the homepage.
Playing video
If users try to select other seasons of the series they are watching, another page will appear on the screen to show all seasons of this series. This interaction can probably make users confused, they are not sure whether they are still on the playing page. And it is not in line with people’s usual operating habits, for example dropdown menu is more common and clear.
Coming soon
In the middle of the bottom bar is the “Coming soon” feature. The trailers on this page will automatically play without any users’ operation, which has pros and cons. The good thing is that it encourages users to scroll down the screen to see more videos with less effort. On the other hand, if users do not mute the video in advance or they might feel uncomfortable with some clips, suddenly playing video will make them feel out of control.
When people browse these videos, there is no clue how far they have gone or how many previews are left, which will lead to frustration and uncertainty.
In addition, on the “Coming soon” page, the previews include posters and videos, but the two forms are presented in very similar ways, therefore users even wait for posters to start playing.
｜Visual
Netflix has its own special and outstanding visual style, including layout, color, etc. By analyzing its visual features, we conclude that Netflix tries to make an entertainment app as simple as possible to provide users with relaxing and exciting experiences.
How to make users relaxed?
The simple layout
The home page of the app is very simple with only 3 tabs on the top and the posters for videos. As mentioned before, different from some apps that would add the search function on the home page, another tab is made on the bottom navigation bar, which reduces users’ visual pressure when they are on the home page.
The portrait mode
Different from all the other similar apps like Amazon Prime Video, which displays the videos in a landscape mode, the main part of the Netflix app consists of images of different movies and TV shows in the portrait mode. By doing this, the app looks more like a display with posters than videos that could animate, which gives users less pressure when scrolling down.
The black background
The black background simulates the feeling of sitting in the cinema, watching the movies with all the lights turned off. The familiar experience makes users more relaxed. Moreover, it helps users to concentrate on the videos without anything to distract their attention, hence they could get the most information with the least energy.
Familiar videos
When browsing the home page, we can see that the videos we added in our list or rated are shown on the page repeatedly in different parts. Since they are the videos we already know, the experience wouldn’t be so stressful compared with looking at an app with all the things we never knew about.
Reduce layers
To see more posters on the home page, users should swipe to left in each row. Compared with Amazon Prime Video, in which users can click on the title of the category to see more, Netflix reduces the layer by doing this so that users would not easily get lost.
Three things could be better:
- To keep it simple, the app only puts the name of the videos on the poster, some of which are not easy to be recognized because of the fonts. Even when users click on the poster, the page shows all the information without the name. The experience sometimes is not that good because of this.
- The biggest poster on the top is also from a video that the user has added in his or her list or recommended by Netflix. This poster is much bigger than those in other apps, occupying more than half of the screen. This can provide a relaxing feeling to users if this is of a video that users like. However, it also causes a bigger risk of bad experience if the user doesn’t want to watch it at this moment or the recommended one is not that suitable to the user. Besides, users need to scroll down to see other posters, which reduces the efficiency of browsing.
- Swiping to the left to see more TV shows or movies without any indication showing how many are left may let users feel insecure and out of control.
How to keep users excited?
Diverse categories
The app divides different videos into different categories not only in a traditional way such as action, comedies and crime, which is called genres here, but also in its own way like trending now and critically acclaimed films, listed in the main part as several sections. In this way, users could see more different videos when scrolling down.
Diverse forms of the covers
To avoid a boring experience for the user, the home page also shows the videos in diverse forms according to the sections, including the biggest one in the portrait mode, the round ones for preview, the ordinary posters, the posters with a play button for continue watching, the posters with large numbers for the top 10 today and the trailer video.
Recommended videos
As we mentioned before, some recommended videos would be shown in the first column. Since these are more likely to catch users’ attention and arouse their interests, users would also be more excited with these posters here.
Two things could be better:
Because Netflix has two sorts of categories, and it puts its own categories in the middle of the home page as different sections, the traditional categories could only be listed on the top bar. Users should first click on the TV shows or the Movies tab to go to the TV shows page or the Movies page and then click on the All Genres button to see them. This means users need one more step to go to another tab or go back to the home page. Compared with Amazon Prime Video, where users only need one click to switch among tabs, the experience of Netflix is not that simple and intuitive.
The sections named by Netflix seem to be a little messy and confusing. Why are the categories like this and what is the logic behind them? Why is “the previews” a separate category with only a few TV shows and movies instead of making previews available for all the videos like the website version? Besides, some categories are intertwined with others. For example, in the romance genre, we may get confused when seeing crime and international TV shows sections, which are independent genres as well.
｜Conclusion
According to the mission of Netflix, it is a passion brand that focuses on movie and TV series entertainment, aiming to offer freedom, flexibility and fun to users. We could see that the smart recommendation technology, the search function, the watching experience and the whole visual style of Netflix all strive to achieve its goal.
However, there is still room for improvement. The recommendation function is not flexible enough since it is not that controllable for users. The lack of indications such as the guidance before search (iOS) and differentiation between large amounts of search results leads to inconvenience to users. Watching experience seems to be not intuitive enough, including the lack of feedback of preview, the confusing position of My List and some uncomfortable experience on watching and the coming soon page. This will influence users’ feeling of freedom. For the visual part, sometimes there is a conflict between the fun that Netflix tends to offer and a streamless experience users may prefer. For example, the diverse categories may add to the entertainment of the app, but at the same time will cause confusion to users. Netflix needs to find a smart balance between them.
