Netflix-Feature

A Netflix feature that would make watching content more collaborative, even when continents apart

Duration: 4 Days
Focus: User research, wire-framing, prototyping, usability testing

0. Background

The Problem + How I was involved

The challenge was to create a chat feature that users can use with friends while watching the same content on Netflix.

This was a four day solo-project.

This idea was ultimately used by Netflix, and named as "Netflix Party" (and now currently called "Teleparty").

1. Empathize

Getting to know the problem

I began by conducting interviews to collect qualitative data. During the interview, I asked questions pertaining to peoples' opinions and behaviors regarding watching content and chatting with friends.

Do you have a streaming service that you use to watch shows and movies?
Do you watch the same shows as your friends?
Do you talk about the same shows with your friends? If yes, when and how?
Do you ever chat with your friend while watching the same content?
Have you ever wanted to watch something with your friend but could not?
In what ways do you find most enjoyable when chatting with your friend? (Chat in person, message, pictures, emojis, gifs, etc?)
How do you think being able to chat with your friend while watching the same content will change your experience?

From the interview, I gathered qualitative and quantitative findings.

Qualitative data:

“being able to message my friend might make the experience more collaborative”
“Instead of figuring out when to go to the movie together, you can arrange to watch stuff at your respective homes”
“when my friends and I would meet up we would talk about shows face to face”
“we would recommend shows to each other”
“[having a messaging feature] would ruin my experience. I want to focus on the movie instead of chatting with someone”
“if you need to read subtitles, it would be annoying because reading messages would distract you a lot”
“I want to focus my attention to watching than having to type messages”

Quantitative data:

7/7 had Netflix
6/7 consciously watched the same shows as friends
6/7 talked about shows with friends in person
0/7 simultaneously watched content and messaged friend

2. Define

Evaluating our findings

It seemed that the majority did not find the idea of messaging and watching something at the same time a pleasurable experience. That made me wonder why, and after evaluating the interviews deeper, I realized a pattern.

Interviewees associated "chatting" with typing words and reading words, and felt that the process of reading was time consuming and distracting.

If we examine the way people communicate through digital platforms, we are integrating the use of visual elements like emojis and gifs as a new way of expressing and communicating.

This realization made me curious about exploring the potential of using emojis as the main form of communication for this chat feature.

3. Ideate

Getting creative

Based on the insights, I thought about creating a chat feature that only uses emojis. Emojis are useful visual communication tools that requires no reading for users.

The one con of using emojis is that it is very difficult for people to engage in a deep, meaningful conversation with just emojis. However, 85% of the interviewees mentioned that they prefer to talk in person about the content they watched in detail. So, this chat feature will primarily be used for the purpose of exchanging quick, visual remarks that represent what the users are feeling in that moment, and would not require much thinking for both parties.

My idea was an integrated experience using a phone and TV, which two or more users would be able to synchronize their respective TV screens that are controlled through the mobile Netflix app. Once the movie is playing, users can chat by exchanging emojis.

The job to be done for this feature was,

When Julie is on a business trip and away from home, she wants to watch Netflix together with her boyfriend so she can maintain a healthy relationship.

I then created a happy flow for one user (Julie).

4. Prototype

Bringing the idea to life

I created low-fi prototype first to determine what content was necessary to make this feature work.

After testing the low-fi prototype and gaining insight, I iterated my prototype. I then designed the high fidelity prototype while referring to the Netflix brand interface inventory I created. The elements in the inventory helped me design the prototype to be consistent with the Netflix brand.

I created prototypes for two users. One user would be the primary controller while watching the content. This means that this user would be in charge of the initial synchronizing of the content with whoever s/he is watching with. This user will send a code generated by the app to his/her friend. The second user would input the code, and have the screen synchronized.

5. Final Thoughts + Next Steps

Takeaways

This project challenged me to think of a creative solution that users want in the first place. This was because from during the user research phase, the majority of the interviewees did not seem keen about using chat feature in the first place. Despite the doubtful outlook people had of this idea, I was able to dive deep into the problem to understand it at its core, and think of a creative idea that redefined the way people chat under the circumstance of watching content.

Because this project was done within four days, it was a challenge for me to think of which stage and method to focus for the design thinking process. In many occasions, I had to think with my gut due to time constraints. For the next steps, I would like to think about how the user flow would be like when more than two users want to chat with each other.

Read about this project in full detail here