Netflix Case Study: Usability and Accessibility
It’s been no surprise that the popularity of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and DisneyPlus have shot through the roof during quarantine. The world has had infinitely more time to be stuck at home, seeking escape from reality by binging more television than ever before. Without a doubt, Netflix has been the king of the streaming platforms, gaining nearly 16 million new global subscribers within the first month of quarantine alone. Along with its massive selection of content, Netflix has captured and withheld the attention of the general public with their originals. From Tiger King, that was perfectly released at the beginning of lockdown, to reruns of Avatar the Last Airbender that broke streaming records, to hauntingly beautiful new productions like The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix has cemented itself as a quarantine entertainment staple.
Having amassed countless hours of Netflix in front of my own screens, I’ve recently come to notice some of the wonderful features that make the site more usable and accessible. By analyzing a few categories of usability heuristics, I’ll break down some of the things that Netflix has done to enhance its site’s interface and overall design.
Learnability
Visibility and feedback:
Netflix has a very functional and easy-to-navigate site with many visual cues that showcase many navigational needs for the user. Immediately at the top navigation bar, you can begin your search for the perfect flick from their tabs of Home Page, TV Shows, Movies, Latest, and My List. The distinguishable search bar icon on the right can help you narrow down a more specific search as well. As soon as you make your selection, the video begins to buffer, with a red spinning loading icon placed over a vignetted background image from the show you’ve selected. This gives a visual signal to the viewer the status of their action request and allows them to know the system is processing.
Mappings:
The use of a volume slider that a user can move up and down to select the volume to grow louder or quieter is a familiar relationship to how we control volume in our everyday life. This is an example of a strong mapping control.
Affordances:
Netflix’s affordances are very straightforward and easy to use. The site is clearly mapped to show how you can interact with various video titles. When you hover your mouse around any title image, it immediately pops up a small preview scene that immediately plays a preview of the show or movie. Mousing over any of the CTA buttons, you can clearly see the differences between a neutral and active button. As a viewer mouses over a title’s drop-down arrow, the border outline turns white with a text bubble “Episodes & info”, popping up to give additional details.
Constraints:
Netflix utilizes constraints in its navigation bar to show which tabs are active and which are inactive. While on the Home page, the “Home” tab is shown in a bold white color while the other tabs have a more thin text and grayed-out color. Furthermore, when watching a video, the play bar at the bottom of the screen shows how far into the video you are. The red circle marks where in the episode you are, with the red line showing how much has been played, the light gray bar showing how much has buffered, and the darker gray bar showing how much has yet to load. The time shown in white at the end of the bar automatically changes to show how much time is left of the video.
Consistency and Standards
There is a clear and consistent layout used in the design of Netflix’s homepage, with consistent white font, and iconography. The rows of content that are sorted into various recommendations from “Popular on Netflix” to “Trending Now” can be easily navigated through with a carousel and arrows at each end. The pop of red color is used as an accent to label certain content as Netflix originals with the “N” logo on the top left of title cards and red “Top 10” bookmarks showcase the most popular shows on the platform. Furthermore, when watching any of Netflix’s original films or series, the signature N logo is animated across the screen, with the hallmark “ba-dum” sound to reinforce to viewers they are about to embark on a cinematic experience completely curated by Netflix. The consistent labeling and the overall coherent visual and auditory branding of the site makes the service feel very coherent and easy to use.
Help and Documentation
It is quite easy and intuitive to locate the Help Center on Netflix. Simply by mousing over your Profile Avatar, a drop-down appears where you can locate your Account Settings and the Help Center. In the Help Center, there is an immediate search bar with the text “What do you need help with?” allowing a user to populate their individual concern. There are also helpful categorizations of sections so users can find their solutions fast, with a “Recommended for you” section, and FAQ’s split up by different areas. Lastly, there are buttons to reach customer care directly, as you can call and start a live chat should you wish to contact them.
Efficiency
Netflix is quite efficient at giving its viewers a large number of streaming options to choose from. With their carousel categories, the site shows you titles that are personally recommended for you, titles that are most popular throughout the entire service, and titles that you have previously watched. Furthermore, the quick previews that play as you mouse over a title can quickly summarize the title while giving you a preview of the title’s tone and content. This allows users to pretty quickly find something they’re interested in, as they can efficiently scroll through curated choices and select a title.
Memorability
Netflix has a great feature that quickly shows users titles that they have begun watching and allows them to pick up right where they left off. This “Continue Watching For ______” section is the second row that populates on the site, and it is very effective so users don’t have to try and remember what shows they have been watching or exactly what time stamp they left off at. The feature of “My Lists” allows users to save titles that they are interested in and maybe want to come back to at a later time. Lastly, the “Watch It Again” section shows some of the titles you’ve already finished and can be a good reminder for some of your favorite shows. All these features greatly reduce the user’s memory load by having their history laid out for them.
Accessibility
Netflix has an inclusive design with many features that consider the needs of users with disabilities and impairments. First, the ability to provide audio and subtitles in many different languages allows for a diverse group of users to enjoy all the content they have. On top of the various language and subtitle options, they also have the option of Audio Descriptions to describe in detail what is shown on the screen for visually-impaired viewers.
