What does a streaming expert think of Hulu’s user interface?
What does a streaming expert think of Hulu’s user interface?
Does Hulu have an above-average user interface, or does it fail to stack up in key areas?
A streaming service’s user interface is one of the most important features of the entire platform. A user interface can allow viewers to navigate to new titles and check out old favorites with ease, or it can bury your chosen content in a mountain of chaff that you don’t really want to pick through. Having a good interface can be the difference between losing a customer and not for some streamers.
With that in mind, The Streamable wants to help audiences know which streaming interfaces work well and which don’t. We’ll start with the general entertainment streamer Hulu; this service has content for everyone, but how does its UI hold up to scrutiny? Keep reading to find out!
Does Hulu have a good user interface?
What is the Hulu home screen like?
When opening the Hulu app on a smart TV, the layout is fairly standard. The top of the screen is dominated by the TV show or movie Hulu wants you to see most at that given moment in time, and the content rows with TV shows and movies are below. Hulu’s options menu is on the left side of the screen, where you’ll find options for Search, Home, TV, Movies, Sports, News, My Stuff, Hubs, and Settings.
Let’s start with a positive here: I like that Hulu doesn’t auto-play a trailer as soon as I open the app on smart TVs — though it does on the web. If I want to seek out a trailer for a specific title, I’ll seek it out myself. If I’m about to watch the movie or show in question, I don’t really need to see a trailer, and auto-play videos can slow down smart TV and streaming device loading times.
One negative with the Hulu home screen is its decision to bury the Continue Watching row beneath four or five other content carousels. When I open a streamer, most often it’s to watch a show or movie I had been viewing previously. I don’t really want to scroll through the service to find this row; I’d like it placed a little more prominently in the interface.
The Hulu home screen forces you to scroll a little too far to find your Continue Watching row for my taste.
Is content discovery easy on Hulu?
This is one area where I think Hulu does a good job. It doesn’t make the search bar hard to find; it’s right at the top of the left-hand menu on the streamer’s interface. Hulu also has a good variety of carousels to make it feel like you’re being shown titles relevant to you, as well as more generic options like Newly Added Movies, Trending titles, and Procedural Dramas.
One minor quibble I have with this aspect of Hulu, and it’s similar to the one I laid out above: Hulu makes you scroll through too many content rows to see carousels of titles that are specific to your viewing history. These are interspersed throughout the interface, and I understand the idea is to expose viewers to titles they might not otherwise see. Nevertheless, it’s not my preference.
Is it easy to move between categories on Hulu?
Yes, and I appreciate the way that the left-hand menu is specifically laid out for this reason. It breaks down the streamer’s catalog into categories that are still fairly broad, but focus on a particular theme. The home page is a bit chaotic in this regard, showing live news and sports programming options in addition to the on-demand library.
If you navigate to the Sports page on Hulu, you’ll clear away anything that doesn’t fall into that category. That makes it much easier to know what you’ll see, and what you won’t see while you’re browsing the library.
How are Hulu’s playback controls?
When clicking on a show or movie on Hulu’s home page, you will be taken straight to playback, and not to the show’s detail page. This can be a good thing for some, but I prefer to go to a show’s detail page first, because it’s easier to find a specific episode of the series that way. To get to the details page on Hulu, I had to start playback, then click the Info button, which I thought was an unnecessary extra layer.
Outside of that issue, however, I didn’t have any problems with Hulu’s playback controls. The service offers a Next Episode button as well as a Start Over option, as well as easy-to-find subtitle and audio controls. All you have to do is press up on your smart TV remote to open the playback buttons, and you can scroll down to find similar titles while the episode continues.
When fast-forwarding and rewinding, Hulu’s interface allows you to scroll up to 32x speed. I also found myself able to skip forward 10 seconds by using the right circle button on my Fire TV remote.
How easy is it to skip credits and intros with Hulu?
Hulu’s Skip Intro button pops up automatically when an episode starts, though if you advance far enough into the credits it may disappear on you. The skip to next episode also comes up without having to prompt it — at least on my TV. That makes it much easier to get into the meat of an episode, and to continue a binge without having to interrupt your flow.
Conclusions
I found the Hulu interface pretty easy to use. It’s not too flashy, that can be a good thing. It does push you toward shows and movies you haven’t watched yet a little more than I’d like — I certainly understand why Hulu would want to do this, but it doesn’t work as well for me. Overall, however, Hulu’s UX is intuitive, simple to navigate, and mostly does a good job of helping the viewer find what they want to watch.
Overall score: 8 out of 10
Hulu
Hulu is a video streaming service that gives access to thousands of full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, kids shows, and Hulu Originals like “Only Murders in the Building,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”