Last week Netflix unveiled a major upgrade, the first in four years. According to Netflix, the new and improved platform was “built from the ground up to make it faster and easier” for millions of subscribers to find something to watch and to take advantage of browser changes to give users a richer visual experience. The roll-out began on June 15 and will take about two weeks to reach all subscribers. In some cases, viewers will need to upgrade their browsers to use the new version.Netflix now operates more like an app, making it easier to navigate and search for shows. Instead of having to click through to get information about a specific title, subscribers will see the information in-line (rating, description, length, when made, number of episodes, a slideshow of images from the title, etc.) and in context when they hover over a show with their mouse.To browse episodes, read details or reviews, subscribers just click on the title or synopsis. Scrolling through shows is also faster and easier, moving through a full row at a time instead of one title at a time, a big improvement from the carousel browsing feature which Business Insider calls Netflix’s “most annoying feature.”
The new look and improved navigation are the most noticeable changes, but Netflix did a lot of behind-the-scenes testing to ensure this version is user-friendly, said The Verge. For example, Netflix used virtual focus groups to test specific designs of programs like House of Cards to see which images were clicked on and viewed more. It sent out 15 million email surveys and did more than 1,500 interviews to understand how subscribers use Netflix. Netflix is also paying attention to subscribers’ actual viewing patterns.”Most of our personalization right now is based on what they actually watch, and not what they say they like,” said Todd Yellin, Netflix’s vice president of product innovation. “We’re not just looking for clicks here, because that’s not a good metric. We’re looking for finding the right people to watch the show, because we want to promote our shows to the right people who will actually play it through.”Insider Take:We tested Netflix on four different devices: online at Netflix.com from a desktop computer, on an Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S6, via PlayStation 4 and via a Blu Ray player. The first three devices included the upgraded version; the fourth did not.Overall, the new look is visually appealing, but we think navigation is the best part of the upgrade. It is much easier to scroll through the categories and rows of shows and to get additional information without having to click through to another layer of screens. We are busy and impatient, and anything that makes our lives faster and easier is likely to be well received.From a subscription company standpoint, we would like to have seen this upgrade sooner, but Netflix took time to study subscribers’ viewing habits to identify trouble spots and opportunities, so it was probably worth the wait. It sounds like Netflix will continue to study subscriber patterns, so that it can adapt more quickly to changing technology and viewing habits in the future.This monitoring and testing will be critical to Netflix’s success. With a growing over-the-top (OTT) TV subscription market, Netflix will need to stay on its toes to retain its customer base while striving for future growth in the U.S. and international markets.Have you seen the upgrade yet? What do you think of it?
