Netflix is arguably the most popular streaming service of all time. Fans are drawn to the service’s commercial-free experience of easily accessible movies and television. While other streaming services like Hulu, HBO, and Disney+ have also found huge success with their platforms, Netflix still remains number one.
Netflix, like many other cable television channels, has a calculated flow to keep viewers hooked to the platform. First, let’s look at the design of the app. When you click on your avatar and enter into Netflix, the first and biggest thing you see is a newly released movie and TV show that Netflix wants you to watch. The trailer for the show or movie also plays after only ONE second of being on the screen. It can be irritating having something play for you without consent, but sometimes if the trailer looks interesting enough, I will continue watching. Also, if I went on Netflix with no prior intention for what to watch, I might even click to watch that show or movie. Netflix makes the content large and bold and plays the trailer to make the viewer inclined to watch it because it’s the first thing they see, so it’s the easiest choice for them. They do not need to overthink it. The content will repeatedly show up at the top of the screen for days or in other categories like “Popular on Netflix” or “Top 10 in the U.S. Today,” so you feel even more inclined to watch it since Netflix keeps recommending it and people seem to enjoy it. For example, I had no intention of ever watching “Ginny and Georgia,” but it was the first thing I saw every time I went on to Netflix, I saw the show in the “Top 10 in the U.S. Today” and was curious why it was popular, and the show made its way into every category on the app (it was in the obvious category “Netflix Originals,” but in less obvious categories like “Because You Watched ‘Glee'”). Eventually, I broke down and finally watched “Ginny and Georgia.”
Netflix uses repetition of showing content on the website, immediate trailer viewing, and categorizing content to make the viewer believe the show is perfect for them in order to keep subscribers hooked onto the platform. While viewers may believe they are in control and picking what they want to watch, they are not, Netflix is slowly brainwashing the viewer into watching what they need to be popularized. Trashy shows like “Ginny and Georgia” need more of a boost to get people to watch them unlike critically acclaimed shows like “Breaking Bad.” I mean, how did “Ginny and Georgia” get a season 2? Overall, Netflix’s flow strategy can essentially make anything popular.
One reply on “The Flow of Netflix”
Behavioral economics and effective marketing / design are very interesting topics to explore – particularly when analyzing modern media / web giants like Netflix and Amazon. Netflix’s ability to guide users into new content and keep user engagement is really a testament to the power of the Internet, and how such user-facing design has fundamentally changed our means of engaging with media in the modern world. Even before Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu, cable companies recognized the power of good (and influential) design, but none had perfected it as well as these companies. Relative to television in the 80’s, modern TV’s with their “channel guides”, “search” functions, and the ability to sort by genre seem almost like science fiction. However with the introduction of streaming, these once-modern designs feel clunky and antiquated. Modern web streaming services have the freedom to change around their UI on an almost weekly basis, making subtle changes to fonts, layout, color schemes, algorithms, and any number of elements that subtly guide users to keep watching. It’s very interesting and I’d love to unpack it further, maybe in a future post?