Adding a Social Feature to…
Project Overview
Netflix subscribers don’t have a way to share and receive show or movie recommendations through the Netflix application. With our growing need to connect with friends online, Netflix Circles allows users to share their unique profile with their close friends, share recommendations, and view their watchlists.
Project Type : Feature addition
Team : 3 UX/UI Designers
Tools : Figma, Miro, GitHub, VS Code, G Suite
Timeline : October 2022, 3 weeks
User Research
We began by defining who our user base is and whether they would value such a feature on their Netflix account.
Step 1 : Proto-Persona
Ryan is an Avid Movie Lover
…who enjoys connecting with friends and family over new TV shows and Movies. He loves to watch all the trending flicks, but often forgets what his friends have recommended.
Age: 30
Location : Sacramento, CA
Occupation: Software Engineer
Goals
Wants to see what his friends are watching right now.
Would like to share his favorite stuff with his friends in one place.
Wants to watch the recommendations his friends give him.
Motivations
Enjoys seeing friends’ recommendations.
Wants to stay up-to-date on the latest trending must-sees.
Pain Points
Finds himself forgetting what his friends have recommended and what he wanted to recommend to his friends.
Doesn’t like feeling out of the loop on a good show.
Step 2 : User Interviews
Understand Netflix subscribers’ needs in a social feature. Would they value sharing and receiving recommendations through the application? What would make this feature fun and easy to use?
Goal
Demographics
Netflix Subscribers
Movie and TV lovers
People who enjoy socializing over TV and Movies
Methodology
4 interviews conducted via zoom and in-person with people who meet our target demographic.
“Talking about new movies and TV shows is a big thing amongst my friends. I’m always looking for something to watch, and so are my friends”
“I love to hear about other peoples’ viewing tastes to connect with them.”
“Hearing what other people are currently watching makes me feel caught up on their life.”
Step 3: Google Survey
31 users took our survey.
Survey Results Revealed…
More than 80% of users are likely to recommend shows and movies to their friends.
The vast majority of people would invite friends to view their Netflix watchlist
More than 90% of users watch Netflix using a smart TV.
Step 4: Analysis
Movies and TV are a big part of social life and friend interactions
Would add multiple friends to Netflix if it were possible.
Affinity Diagram
All the users we interviewed love to recommend and receive recommendations from friends.
Connecting with friends over TV and movies was a common theme among users.
Users who don’t regularly use social media would enjoy adding friends to their Netflix circle.
Can’t remember what they wanted to recommend to a friend
From our research we found…
Netflix subscribers don’t have a way to share and receive show or movie recommendations through the Netflix application. Instead, they often find themselves trying to track suggestions mentally, forgetting what they wanted to recommend and what their friends had recommended in the past.
Users need a way to easily share and receive show or movie recommendations with friends through the Netflix app
Ideation
With the need established, we began brainstorming ideas using the “I like, I Wish, and What If” method based on the responses recorded in the Affinity Diagram. We voted on our favorite ideas.
Using a Feature Prioritization Matrix, we established the scope of the project. The focus would be on High Impact features - seeing what friends are watching and sharing recommendations.
A journey map of a user discovering the new Netflix Circles feature.
Information Architecture
A competitor analysis revealed that Plex, a smaller streaming service, shared some of our core ideas. We aim to enhance this feature for a broader audience on Netflix, leveraging its user interface and style. In comparison, Spotify and Goodreads share a similar approach but, unlike Netflix Circles, do not support sending recommendations directly within the app.
A user flow helped to visualize each screen a user would encounter when interacting with Netflix Circles.
Prototyping
Because Netflix is enjoyed by users across devices, we started sketching UI designs for Mobile, Desktop, and TV.
Desktop
TV
Mobile
These sketches were turned into low-fidelity clickable prototypes.
Desktop
TV
Mobile
User Testing and Iterations
We asked five users to test our digital prototypes for us across three devices: Mobile, Desktop, and TV.
Objective
To confirm the application is usable and intuitive for Netflix users.
To confirm users can add a friend to their Circle.
To see that users can recommend a TV show or movie to someone in their Circle.
Target Users
Tasks
Netflix users with interest in sharing their recommendations with friends.
Recommend a TV show or movie to a friend.
Add a new friend to Circle.
Browse existing Circle of friends’ profiles.
From user tests, we learned…
that some buttons were difficult to see against similarly colored backdrops, the color hierarchy was confusing, and some users suggested some adjustments to our modals when adding friends. We took these suggestions to heart and improved the prototypes.
How we improved…
Buttons have switched positions so that the user’s first ideal action after adding a friend is more convenient. In this case, “Go to My Circle” is moved to the top, over “Add more friends”
The style for the friend recommendations modal was reimagined, per Netflix’s style guide.
Final Prototype
We also had so much fun coding a feature announcement page for Netflix Circles, using Netflix’s Newsroom articles as inspiration!
Thoughts & Conclusion
This project provided helpful practice in identifying and replicating design patterns on an existing and well-established platform. In the end, we feel like our prototypes match well with the standards Netflix has in place.
Key Takeaways
Figuring out how to prototype, design, and demonstrate a TV UI experience was a challenge since we were limited to using a computer and mouse, rather than a TV remote. We rose to the challenge and successfully created a TV experience that clearly communicates how our feature works for TV users.
Next Steps
The scope of this project was focused on one feature, however along the way, we had ideas of additional features to add:
Covert Mode - the ability to customize visibility of which movie or show titles are shared with friends on your Currently Watching list.
Watch Parties - implement a chat system on the mobile app to communicate with friends while watching something at the same time on a different device (Desktop or TV).