Netflix Preparing Major Redesign of Home Screen, But Could an Updated Interface Backfire?
The updated user interface for Netflix’s TV apps is intended to streamline the experience, but does Netflix’s UI need to be changed?
Netflix is working on something big. That fits with its status as the world’s largest streaming service, but is it in the streamer’s best interest? As reported by The Verge, Netflix is working on a big update to its home screen for its TV apps, which could roll out to customers later in 2024. Below you’ll find a preview of the new interface, and my thoughts as to why a major redesign may not be in the streamer’s best interests.
Key Details:
- Netflix’s new TV user interface replaces static tiles with boxes that enlarge to fill more of the screen, better highlighting that specific title.
- The lefthand pop-out menu will move to the top of the screen, and the options within the menu will be streamlined.
- Netflix has the most popular user interface in streaming, and tinkering with that interface could lead to poorer content discovery on the service.
The currently being tested updates to Netflix’s user interface for its TV apps start with its content tiles. Before any changes are made, when a Netflix user scrolls over a tile, that show or movie’s trailer begins playing at the top of the screen. The new interface consolidates all of the information about the show under the tile, while the tile itself expands to fill more of the screen instead of playing a trailer up top.
The new Netflix layout will put title previews front-and-center, instead of shoving a trailer to the top of the screen.
According to Netflix’s senior product director Pat Flemming, the change is all about allowing viewers to keep their focus on one part of the screen, instead of having to look around to seek out the information about the title they want to watch.
“We often see members doing gymnastics with their eyes as they’re scanning the home experience,” Flemming told The Verge. “We really wanted members to have an easier time figuring out if a title is right for them.”
The other biggest change to the UI will be the disappearance of the lefthand pop-out menu. Those options will be replaced by a slimmed-down row of choices at the top of the screen. Viewers will be able to press the Back button on their remote to go to the top-row menu automatically, instead of having to scroll there manually. The new menu offers fewer choices than the current one, with “Home,” “Shows,” “Movies,” and “My Netflix” as the only options available. The “My Netflix” hub first rolled out for Netflix mobile app users last summer, but hasn’t made its way to other platforms yet.
The newly-relocated menu on Netflix’s updated interface will streamline the options customers see.
“Think of this as a first effort, our best initial swing, at what we think is a great new TV experience,” Flemming says. “If this goes well, which we are enthusiastic and hope that it will, then we would love to share this with most of the member base in the coming months and quarters.”
Is a UI Redesign Wise on Netflix’s Part?
User interfaces are a key part of how streaming customers discover content. Recent data included in a report by Comcast showed that 50% of viewers say they found a new title to watch solely from a provider’s app, and another 45% say program guides have helped steer them toward new shows and movies.
That data, in itself, could serve as a warning to Netflix not to be too cavalier with changes to its user interface, but a 2023 survey from Variety makes that warning even more explicit. The survey showed that 42% of streaming customers identified Netflix as their favorite user interface; only one other streaming service (Hulu) had more than 10% of customers say it was their favorite.
Netflix has nearly 270 million subscribers, and has obviously built a reputation as a leader in streaming. But a UI update that makes it more difficult to find content on the streamer could damage that reputation, and while I don’t think a hefty cancel reaction is likely based solely on a new UI, I do think it could meaningfully decrease daily engagement with the streamer if viewers don’t like the update.
Flemming’s words about the deliberate nature of the testing process for Netflix’s new home screen show that the company knows it’s important to get it right. But if it fumbles the new user interface, it will have to go back to the drawing board quickly to keep viewers from growing frustrated with Netflix.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.