Netflix currently creates categories comprised of television and movies based on what its user likes and watching habits. The streaming service lets users have the option to add shows to "My List," a category where content is stored for them to watch later. What if we could add more functionality to the "Lists" feature giving the user more options to curate their Movie/TV show recommendations?
In its current form, the My List feature is limited to its capability. The feature is just a dumping ground for sending content to watch later. If the user has numerous items in their My List, finding content to watch could be overwhelming and time-consuming.
Working within a four-person team, we developed a way for the user to create multiple lists to organize and store content that makes sense for the user. We also created a way for a user to share a list with another user to add to their account.
To carry out our user research, we created a survey to gain knowledge about what video streaming services people use. We also conducted video interviews to determine why people use these services and their feelings towards different video streaming services. Below are some quotes from our interviewees.
Once we conducted all of the interviews, we organized the content during an Affinity Mapping session.
After synthesizing all of our research, we would interpret all of the data into two user personas to represent how different users might interact with the website based on their goals.
Netflix needs a more efficient and effective way for Netflix users to manage the 'My list' feature to better organize and share movies and tv show recommendations.
By designing Netflix’s My Lists feature to incorporate creating and editing capabilities, we will enhance the experience of organizing and sharing video content on Netflix's platform.
Our team decided on three key features that would address the needs and goals of the user personas:
Create and Edit Lists
Our team created functionality allowing users to create new lists and edit list names, allowing for a better organizational scheme inside the platform.
Share Lists
Users can share lists with their friends via the share button located next to a list.
Receive and Save Lists
Users have the option to save lists that have been shared with them. Each list is labeled with the creator's name.
In its current state, Netflix allows users to add content to only one List. By doing so, the user creates clutter and makes their List disorganized. By developing a way for users to organize their content, we would be removing a crucial pain point in their Netflix streaming experience.
With the idea for the features solidified, we thought about how the typical user would access it. We didn't want to create anything drastically different from what was already present in the Netflix UI that users were accustomed to. The team decided that changing the tab's language for the tab on the main navigation bar from 'My List' to 'My Lists,' highlighting that users could access their own and their friend's lists on this page.
After synthesizing the research we began working through visuals through sketches. We focused the sketches on screens that were directly related to the tasks that we wanted the user to go through, highlighting the new feature we wanted to implement. These sketches demonstrate our initial ideas about how to implement the create a list feature and sharing a list.
Our goal for the first prototype was to A/B test methods of separating personal and friend-shared lists. After our user tests, we discovered that our users preferred both lists stay within the same page, so for the next iteration we would develop the UI to accommodate a single-page design.
On our second prototype, users were able to test the feature more quickly. However, we noticed some of our users gravitated towards the search bar as their first task, which we had not built out. We also discovered most users did not think adding a description to each list was necessary, so we removed that feature.
For our final prototype, we built out the search feature further, added color to indicate visual cues within action icons, and further developed the link-sharing feature through text message.
Creating a New List
Users now have the ability to add titles to multiple lists. List names can be customized.
Sharing a List
Users can share their lists using the share button.
Receiving a List
Users can receive lists from friends. Netflix will save those lists under the "Friends List" tab.
Below is a walkthrough going through our users' tasks they completed during testing.
Most of our users we interviewed use a computer to stream Netflix but streaming on tv and mobile devices is also very common. Our current solutions would translate well within the web application, such as Apple TV and the mobile version.
If these solutions were implemented, we could expand our feature within the search page to search playlists from other Netflix users. This would allow a user to search for friends' lists or public figures' lists they would be curious to watch.
Check out the Desktop Prototype in its current state
After some feedback from users, they wanted to see how the mobile version would flow. I went ahead and created the prototype on the right to help users visualize it. Currently, the Netflix app's mobile version has a share feature, so I wanted to stay in line with their process while incorporating the other editing features we developed.
View Mobile Prototype in its current state
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