This case study outlines the research conducted on various user experiences for Netflix. The project was a collaborative effort completed as part of a team, where we delved into user habits, conducted surveys, and analyzed patterns to provide insights into how Netflix users engage with the platform.
Role
UX researcher and designer
Date
December 2024
Project Overview
Goal
Identifying gaps and opportunity areas in the Netflix streaming platform to improve the account sharing and explore potential new features to improve user experience.
Research Methods
-
Heuristic Evaluation
-
Journey Mapping
-
Surveys
-
Focus Group
To analyze and evaluate how to improve Netflix’s service to stay competitive in the current market, being more efficient and innovative with their features to keep or attract more users.
Why
Timeline
Heuristic Evaluation
Assess the Netflix website’s usability, and user experience; focusing on key features such as navigation, interaction efficiency, and feedback mechanisms. The end goal is to provide recommendations to improve the user experience for most users.
How
After conducting individual evaluations, we shared and categorized our data using an affinity map. As a group we analyzed and selected the highest priority issues based on the severity scale.
Scenario
A friend shares their Netflix account with you, so you will need to add a new profile. You want to explore the platform to find something interesting to watch. You are interested in discovering a new movie, you prefer the True Crime genre but are open to personalized recommendations from Netflix. You pick a movie with the hope it has subtitles in the language you are trying to learn.
Steps
1. Sign in
2. Add new profile
3. Set up new profile
4. Search True Crime movies
5. Browse from the list of movies
6. Select movie and watch
7. Change subtitles
8. End movie
9. Rate movie
Gathering Data
Our team performed a Heuristic Evaluation to assess Netflix's website’s usability and user experience. Each team member individually evaluated the website against Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics. 
The team then came together to share and discuss their findings. All data was organized under a specific heuristic during the initial session.
After the initial organization of individual findings, our team used an affinity mapping to organize usability issues into general categories. We found that many issues discovered through heuristic evaluation fell within these areas: Response, Design Standards, System Control and Error Prevention.
Summary of Recommendations
Response
Providing clear, immediate feedback to users, making it easy for them to complete tasks with minimal effort. Make sure important information is visible and easy to find without excessive searching or navigating through menus.
Design Standards
Maintain UI consistency in both visual design and interactions by adhering to industry standards. Ensure interfaces are highlighting essential information to users.
System Control
Ensure the platform offers navigation options that allow users to maintain control, enhancing efficiency for both novice and experienced users. Allow users to customize audio and visual settings in case they have sensitivities.
Error Prevention
Minimize errors by offering guidance and options to undo actions, preventing mistakes, and providing feedback to ensure efficient recovery. Provide relevant search results and copy to keep messages clear.
Journey Map
Purpose
Visualize process of reaching a goal while evaluating user’s pain points and related thoughts and emotions.
Discovery
While conducting the Heuristic Evaluation, we ran into an issue of some of the team members not having an extra profile slot to evaluate a profile, adding experience.
Our team identified this pain point and gained a curiosity about account sharing. As a result, this topic became the prompt for our problem statement and the main topic for the rest of our research.
Problem Statement
Netflix users experience challenges with profile setup and account-sharing functionalities. Shared accounts often lead to frustrations around management and personalization, impacting overall user satisfaction.
Survey
Our research aims to understand patterns and motivations for Netflix account sharing and the decision-making processes surrounding subscription payments.
Participants
The participants we targeted are Netflix subscribers who manage a shared account or are a part of an account with multiple users. During four days, we collected data from 38 Netflix users through a Google Forms survey.
Why
-
Quick and easy to reach a large number of people
-
Closed-ended questions that allow for analysis
-
Gather measurable data that can be quantified
Survey Key Takeaways
-
Primary motivation for account sharing was family access
-
Users are protective of their personal accounts, depending on who they share with.
-
Payment arrangements were highly varied
-
80% of users were unaware of official sharing policies
-
Geographic access and authentication are major pain points
Focus Group
Our Focus Group aims to identify pain points in Netflix’s account management and understand user preferences for potential new features. Part of our objectives is to evaluate the proposed ideas for future improvement to make Netflix more user-friendly and competitive. Our participants have different demographics and experiences sharing their Netflix account.
-
Households with multiple users (e.g., families, significant others, roommates).
-
Frequent account sharers (e.g., people accessing accounts across different locations).
Statistics
78%
Users reported frustration and dissatisfaction with the restriction sharing policy.
23%
Users said they would like to have an "incognito mode" for a privacy feature.
45%
Users expressed discomfort with Netflix's authentication process.
35%
Participants mentioned interest in having a feature to synchronize profiles for shared viewing experiences.
23%
Users expressed they would like to have a pin or authentication code for privacy.
88%
Users unaware about the extra member.
Recommendations
1. Promote the "Extra Member" Slot
Improve communication and awareness about the "Extra Member or Slot”.
Benefit:
Making this option more prominent will reduce confusion and improve user experience.
2. Authentication Flexible
Implement a feature that allows multiple trusted users to provide login access without needing to rely on one person.
Benefit:
Flexible authentication could improve the user experience and maintain satisfaction.
3. Enhance Profile Privacy and Customization
Adding profile privacy features, like PIN codes, password protection, or incognito mode, ensures that individual users can keep their preferences and watch history secure.
Benefit:
Allowing individual PIN and incognito mode, Netflix can offer personalized and secure experiences for each user.
4. Offer Profile Synchronization Options
Enable synchronization for watching shows together with any Netflix user in the same country.
Benefit:
Profile synchronization can meet user demands for interactivity and flexibility to make the service more dynamic.
Concept Mockups
Based on the Focus group takeaways, we created a few concept mockups addressing these issues.
Promoting the "Extra Member" Slot when a new user is deciding their plan.
Once the user is out of slots to add, a button saying "Add Extra Slot" appears.
Enhancing profile privacy and customization, allowing the users to put a lock on their profile.
Enhancing profile privacy and customization offering incognito mode.
Profile Synchronization to watch shows together with any Netflix user in the same country.
Next Steps
Follow-up Research
-
Develop a quantitative survey to validate qualitative findings
-
Conduct competitive analysis with other streaming platforms
-
Create user personas based on sharing behaviors
-
Prototype potential new features based on focus group suggestions
Provide Recommendations for Netflix
-
Develop feature recommendations that address user needs
-
Propose pricing models for account sharing
-
Suggest improved privacy and profile management options
Case Study Takeaways
We found critical challenges in two interconnected areas for Netflix users: challenges with profile setup and account-sharing functionalities. Shared accounts often lead to frustrations around management and personalization, impacting user satisfaction.
Results
-
Usability Challenges - inconsistent design, lack of clear feedback, limited user control, and insufficient error prevention.
-
Account-sharing - frustrations based on location-based restrictions, lack of privacy controls, and the lack of account-sharing customization settings.
-
Potential features - enhance privacy, customize sharing controls for user flexibility.
Reflection
Netflix can improve user satisfaction by reducing user frustration by streamlining account sharing, communicating their product offerings and policies better, and introducing user-centric, privacy features.