UX Researcher, UI Designer
3 months, March 2024 - May 2024
Figma
You are able to find the case study article here.
Figma prototype link can be found here.
Password: leahkim.star
Everyone has experienced endlessly scrolling on Netflix, not knowing what to watch. You click on a thumbnail, you read the summary, you watch the preview… But in the end, you think to yourself,
“Hmm maybe this isn’t for me.”
“There’s probably something better to watch.”
“Not too interesting… might be a waste of time.”
and close the pop-up. Then you click onto the next most eye-catching thumbnail, just for this cycle to continue on, and on, and on…
From this phenomenon, I initially wondered if the overwhelming UI with so many thumbnails of movies on such a small screen was the reason to users rarely choosing their phones as a movie screen. So, I wanted to find a better way for people to decide on what to watch.
For the case study, I conducted a total of six user interviews. Four of them were what I call Netflix Manias, and the other two No-Netflixers.
During my interviews with the netflix manias, I found out that users usually went back to netflix after first subscribing to it, as they would always want to go back to watching their favorite films, or watch things that are currently popular. Another thing was that the users appreciated the variety of film choices. However, people found it tedious to look through all the options Netflix has for their users, and that their suggestions weren’t organized in the most effective way. Due to this problem, many users would resort to their favorites lists, or continue watching sections to enjoy what they already know is best. Or, they would consider external factors such as what is popular those days, or what their friends suggest to them.
On the No-Netflixers side, they revealed that surprisingly, they did not appreciate the film choices on Netflix and did not see it appealing enough to subscribe to, showing that there are audiences that suit Netflix’s film choices and some that do not. The only time they were interested in a subscription was when there was a popular film going around like squid games that many people talked about. Though, that was still not intriguing enough for them to subscribe to.