Choice Paralysis in Netflix
Problem
When customers open the Netflix app, we want to ensure they can find something they want to watch.
Why does it matter?
Each time a customer unsuccessfully opens Netflix to find something to watch, it chips away at their perceived value of the platform.
Context
It’s well known that the overwhelming number of titles on the platform can cause choice paralysis for customers. Netflix’s core design struggle is balancing choice and usability.
Use cases
Viewer opens Netflix to find something to watch but is immediately overwhelmed by the choices and isn’t able to get started in their search. (Freeze)
Viewer has been exploring sections and titles for ~2 minutes but hasn’t been able to find something? (Fight)
Viewer opens Netflix to find something to watch but is overwhelmed and immediately leaves (Flight)
Quick research
Given this was a timed challenge, the scale of research was limited. I focused on quickly uncovering some of the psychology around decision making. Understanding the involvement of cognitive, emotional, social, and environmental levers helped me better understand some of the existing strategies Netflix uses to leverage these psychological factors. It also helped me imagine how we could potentially improve or build off of current strategies.
Existing UX strategies
There’s already strategies in the app to help customers find things to watch.
Top 10 in Canada
Uses social cues to guide customer towards watching the most popular titles in their geographic region.
Why it might not work
It seems to represent all Netflix watchers, which a lot of people won’t feel represented by. If someone already doesn't feel well represented within their country, they might read this as "Here's what normal Canadians are watching".
Potential path
How might we use social cues that better represent a users demographics?
Themes and genres
Uses traditional genres and some new school themes to help customers narrow their search.
Why it might not work
Great movies are hard to label and sometimes a single genre classification isn’t enough. Movies are becoming a genre boiling pot. Categories like “Horror” and “Comedy” feel rigid and alone don’t give a clear description for modern movies.
Potential path
How can we give customers more control to fine-tune their genre searches?
