Netflix is rolling out updated UX across its TV and mobile apps, and one of the features reminds me of my favourite dead streamer - Quibi.
Quibi which was born, and died in 2020 offered high-quality, ten-ish minute television shows exclusively on mobile. The content could be watched in portrait or landscape and featured some giant names like Zac Efron, Will Arnett, and Tom Cruise, alongside celebs that would be cancelled as unceremoniously as Quibi was like Tyra Banks, Kevin Hart, and Jennifer Lopez. It really was ahead of its time.
Netflix is trialing a similar format on mobile, with a TikTok style feed that shows short segments of clips and movies. While these aren't bespoke pieces of content, it sure smells like a quick bite to me. Users can save these tidbits to My List, share them with friends, or tap through to begin watching the full title.
Other new discovery tests include an AI powered search engine which allows users to describe what they want to watch rather than searching for exact titles. Searches like "show me a funny, 90 minute movie" could pull up short runtime comedies, while "I want something that will make me cry" will likely surface a bunch of films where the dog dies. Right now this is running on a small beta on iOS, so whether this actually makes it to the full version is yet to be seen.
Alongside the mobile update, Netflix's television app is getting a full redesign. The homepage will focus on showing more content information up front so you don't have to click away to make decisions. New tags like "#1 in TV Shows", "New Season" or "Award Winner" will also pop up while browsing, and the navigation area is moving to the top nav rather than the sidebar.
Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim and Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone called the new look "more flexible, and more in tune with how people actually use Netflix today." Of course change is scary so people are bound to have opinions about the new UX elements but it will take a while to see how these shake out. Netflix says the updates will rollout gradually within the coming months, so time will tell.
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