Add a Feature
UX Case Study
DesignLab UX Academy
Increasing customer engagement on netflix to improve customer retention
BACKGROUND
Netflix
Netflix is a streaming service that offers a wide variety of award-winning TV shows, movies, anime, documentaries, and more on thousands of internet-connected devices. You can watch as much as you want, whenever you want without a single commercial – all for one low monthly price. There's always something new to discover and new TV shows and movies are added every week!
Roles
Product Designer
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Interaction Designer
Tools
Figma
Miro
Maze.co
Duration
2 weeks
OVERVIEW
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
think
Understanding the competitors and brainstorming potential ideas or features that would improve and increase Netflix’s customer retention rate.
design
Designing a feature that current and former Netflix users validated during user research and survey.
Test
Prototyping and testing the feature to understand users’ reaction and overall experience with the new feature.
PROBLEM
Netflix are losing their long-standing subscribers to other competitors.
In the Q1 2022, Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers, which brought Netflix’s subscriber base to 221.6 million, down from 221.8 million in the previous quarter. (Source: TechCrunch) In addition, Netflix is also losing their long-standing subscribers who have been subscribed for more than three years. (Source: The Information and the Verge) Roughly 13 percent of cancellations in Q1 2022 were actually subscribers who have been with the service for more than three years.
SOLUTION
Keep Netflix users engaged by bringing everyone together for a movie.
invite friends to the watch party
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Invite up to 10 people who you know with a special link.
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Manage your group before the stream begins.
grab popcorn and start streaming
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Start streaming without the stress and complicated set up.
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Simple design for minimal distractions.
feel connected and enjoy the show
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Send messages and reactions to the group throughout the stream.
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Request for breaks to refill some popcorn!
BRAINSTORMING SESSION
How can I improve Netflix’s customer retention rate? What features do competitors have that Netflix does not?
PHASE 1: THINK
To answer the questions, I did a brainstorming session to generate potential features that may improve customer retention. I looked into features that Netflix’s competitors had that Netflix have not introduced, features from other streaming services aside from movies that could be adopted, features that were developed with social elements, and any potential features that users have repeatedly asked for online. Looking into these four areas allowed me to learn and understand Netflix’s competitors and what features are currently available or have been asked for.
From the brainstorming session, I noticed two potential features were mentioned repeatedly: Watch Party and Personal Recommendations, so I decided to look into potentially designing one of the two features. Why? Since these features are currently available, Netflix can learn from their competitors and implement a feature that is a better and more improved version for Netflix’s platform.
USER INTERVIEWS AND SURVEYS
Which feature should be a priority?
To get a better sense of which feature users are more likely to use, I conducted 4 user interviews and collected 11 surveys from current and former Netflix users to validate which feature (Watch Party or Personal Recommendations) to move forward for the project. Questions were asked to understand users’ current experiences with Netflix, understand users’ behaviors when using Netflix and other streaming services, and discover users’ expectations of the two potential features if they were to use it. The data was synthesized through thematic analysis then grouped by current behaviors and expectations for each feature.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Users want a watch party feature to connect with long-distanced friends and family members.
Although users found the personal recommendation to be unique and allowed them to be exposed to different and new content, users wanted a better way to connect with friends and family. Currently, users are utilizing different screen sharing platforms to stream movies or tv shows together. However, these screen sharing platforms provided lower quality viewing. Other users have resorted to using other set ups like Facetiming together and timing watch sessions to enjoy movies or shows simultaneously.
The watch party feature should include:
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Ability to chat and interact with friends throughout the stream.
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Ability to easily invite friends, manage the party, and control the stream as a host.
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Ability to request for breaks as a member of the watch party.
PATTERNS + TASK FLOWS
HOW does the FEATURE currently work for other competitors?
PHASE 2: DESIGN
When it was time to ideate designs, I reviewed existing watch party features from different competitors (Disney+, Hulu, and Amazon Prime) to understand their design patterns and how the feature worked on their platform. Although these competitors have a watch party feature, there are slight variations of how the feature worked. For example, Disney+ GroupWatch does not support text or video chat, but allow users to react within the feature. Amazon Prime Video’s Watch Party and Hulu’s Hulu Party support text chat, but Hulu Party allows users to control their own playback and click to catch up and be in sync with everyone in the party. By understanding how the feature currently works from different competitors, I would take some design elements that works and improve their designs for Netflix.
Once I uncovered some design patterns across all competitors’ feature, I created the task flows for Netflix’s Watch Party feature. Keeping the patterns in mind, I explored different designs for the Watch Party feature before developing a mid-fidelity wireframe of the task flows. Few of the sketches can be found here.
DESIGN THE USER'S JOURNEY
HOW WOULD Netflix’s WATCH PARTY FEATURE WORK AS A HOST AND THE member?
As a host of the watch party, the user should be able to the following:
invite friends to the watch party
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From Netflix’s app home screen, user can select their show or movie to start a watch party.
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Invite up to 10 of their friends to the watch party using a special link to the session.
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Manage their watch party as members joins.
Design Decisions:
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Add the Watch Party Button as the second button from left since the My List button is the highest priority for the users to add the show or movie to their curated list.
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Allow the user to send a special link that can be copied and shared via preferred messaging app for simplicity and familiarity of sharing process.
Start and control the stream
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Send messages and reactions to the group throughout the stream.
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Have full control of the party’s stream by pausing for breaks when requested, resuming stream, or skipping 10 seconds.
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Start a new episode or end a watch party session for the entire party.
Design Decisions:
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For the chat section, the keyboard will be the width of the iPhone 11 mobile keyboard to avoid disrupting the user’s (host and member) view of stream when their iPad is on landscape orientation.
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Allow the users to be updated throughout the stream in the chat section (i.e., pause requests, stream paused or resumed, etc.) so that everyone in the watch party session are aware of what is going on throughout the stream.
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Expand the chat section when credits are rolling to encourage users to engage with one another. This also allows users to discuss if they want to continue streaming the next episode/movie or end the session.
As an invitee/member of the watch party, the user should be able to the following:
Open the invite link and sign in to join watch party
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When the user receives the invite link, the user should be redirected to sign in to the Netflix app.
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Join the waiting room of the watch party.
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View who is joining the party and know when the host will start the stream.
Design Decisions:
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A countdown should be shown in both host and member view to indicate that the stream is about to start.
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The default view of the stream for both host and member of the party should be the chat section slide open to encourage users to engage throughout the stream. The chat section can be minimize to allow full screen view and will have a chat icon for easier access.
Requests for breaks and leave the watch party
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Like the host, send messages and reactions to the group throughout the stream.
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Request for breaks or be notified when a break was requested.
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Leave a watch party once the show or movies ends.
Design Decisions:
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The member should be able to click a button to request for a break. This button would not disrupt the stream by immediately pausing, instead the default view of the stream will show for the host to indicate a pause was requested. For other members, a request notification banner will show regardless of view (full or default screen).
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Members are not allowed to have playback or pause control to avoid out of synchronization throughout the stream. Allowing for personal playbacks would not simulate the experience of watching a movie or show together in person.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
What happens if the invitee is not an active netflix subscriber?
For the watch party feature to work, all invitees must have an active Netflix account to use the feature. By having an active subscription, it allows Netflix to ensure users are up-to-date with their subscription while providing a feature that would encourage users to continue using their services or convert former and new users to subscribe in order to use the feature.
For the invitee with an inactive Netflix subscription, the user should be able to do the following:
View the trailer and start a subscription
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The user should be redirected to the Netflix site to view the trailer of what their friends will be watching.
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Be prompt to start a new subscription before joining the watch party.
Design Decisions:
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The user will see a trailer to get a preview of the show when they open the invite link.
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Allow the user to start a new subscription using the method that Netflix currently set up. This provides opportunities for new users to their subscription and allow Netflix to convert users to their platform.
View the trailer and restart subscription
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The user should be redirected to the Netflix site to view the trailer of what their friends will be watching.
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Sign into their account and be prompt to restart their subscription before being redirected to the watch party.
Design Decisions:
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The user will see a trailer to get a preview of the show when they open the invite link.
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Allow the user to restart their subscription using the method that Netflix currently set up. This provides opportunities for former users to restart their subscription and allow Netflix to convert users to their platform.
For the invitee who never had a Netflix subscription, the user should be able to the following:
TESTING + IMPROVEMENTS
Where can I improve my design?
PHASE 3: TEST
I collected 15 unmoderated usability tests to validate my designs for the feature. Overall, the users who took the usability tests enjoyed the feature and were mostly surprised by the social aspect of the feature. On average, the users rated 4.6 out 5.0 that they would most likely continue using the feature on Netflix.
Final host version’s prototype can be found here. Final invitee version’s prototype can be found here. Usability testing debrief can be found here.
The final designs are shown below.
KEY FRAMES FOR HOST VIEW
KEY FRAMES FOR INVITEE/MEMBER VIEW
CONCLUSION
Actionable steps
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Continue iterating to improve the watch party feature, such as adding host’s control panel to manage the party during the stream, adding the ability to switch hosts, allowing users to leave the session during the stream, and allowing host to select shows/movies after the stream ends.
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Ideate and design the feature’s experiences for across the Netflix existing platforms, such as web browser, mobile app, and TV app.
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Although I have a feature designed, I’m understand that there are possible technical constraints that I may not be aware of since I do not fully know Netflix’s technical capabilities.
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When designing a solution to a business problem, I need to keep in mind of how my designs impact the business since my design decision can cost the business’ to lose money or even lose subscribers.
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For the watch party feature, microinteractions were extremely important to help the users to feel immersed in the experience during usability testing. I definitely needed to account for how much time that I spent focusing on prototyping the feature.
lessons learned
Roles and Responsibilities
Roles
Product Designer
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Usability Tester
Tools
Figma
Miro
Project Duration
2 weeks (85 hours)
June 24 - July 9
Roles and Responsibilities
Roles
Product Designer
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Interaction Designer
Tools
Figma
Miro
Maze.co
Duration
2 weeks
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