Netflix Theatre
Netflix Theatre
Netflix Theatre
Incorporating a sense
Incorporating a sense
Incorporating a sense
of community to the platform
of community to the platform
of community to the platform
Student Project
Design Thinking
User Experience
Student Project
Design Thinking
User Experience
Student Project
Design Thinking
User Experience
Role
Designer
Duration
June - Aug 2023
team
Kelly
Phil
Corina
An
Quymbee
Netflix Theatre
We designed the “Netflix Theatre” and I was involved with initial research, interviewing case workers, brainstorming and designing. The Theatre feature helps viewers enjoy long form video content in the comfort of their home with a community experience Netflix Theatre adds another layer of engagement with the content, enabling them to pick and choose their preferred way of watching. This is a student project
What is the Context
In the post-pandemic era, content consumption has shifted to a more personalized experience, with people enjoying shows and movies at their own pace on OTT platforms like Netflix.
While this offers convenience, it has led to a decline in the communal aspect of shared experiences. Netflix, as the leading streaming platform in the US, holds the potential to bridge this gap. With its vast audience, Netflix can use its platform to foster shared experiences, reconnecting individuals and bringing back the joy of communal engagement.
What was the Problem?
Currently, viewers in a community seeking to watch online content often rely on unreliable third-party services like Teleparty and TwoSeven. Additionally, finding like-minded people to enjoy content with is a common challenge. This results in viewers going outside Netflix to find workarounds to community watching
What was the Goal?
Foster a renewed sense of community post-COVID-19 by strategically utilizing long-form video content to engage and connect individuals in meaningful ways.
1
Recreating the community experience
3
Facilitating meaningful conversations
2
Connecting like-minded people
Final Solution
Introducing 'Netflix Theatre,' a feature designed for viewers who relish community watching from the comfort of their homes. This feature allows individuals to enjoy content with a group of their choice, selecting the ambiance and viewing preferences for their favorite shows.
Netflix Theatre
We designed the “Netflix Theatre” and I was involved with initial research, interviewing case workers, brainstorming and designing. The Theatre feature helps viewers enjoy long form video content in the comfort of their home with a community experience Netflix Theatre adds another layer of engagement with the content, enabling them to pick and choose their preferred way of watching. This is a student project
What is the Context
In the post-pandemic era, content consumption has shifted to a more personalized experience, with people enjoying shows and movies at their own pace on OTT platforms like Netflix.
While this offers convenience, it has led to a decline in the communal aspect of shared experiences. Netflix, as the leading streaming platform in the US, holds the potential to bridge this gap. With its vast audience, Netflix can use its platform to foster shared experiences, reconnecting individuals and bringing back the joy of communal engagement.
What was the Problem?
Currently, viewers in a community seeking to watch online content often rely on unreliable third-party services like Teleparty and TwoSeven. Additionally, finding like-minded people to enjoy content with is a common challenge. This results in viewers going outside Netflix to find workarounds to community watching
What was the Goal?
Foster a renewed sense of community post-COVID-19 by strategically utilizing long-form video content to engage and connect individuals in meaningful ways.
1
Recreating the community experience
3
Facilitating meaningful conversations
2
Connecting like-minded people
Final Solution
Introducing 'Netflix Theatre,' a feature designed for viewers who relish community watching from the comfort of their homes. This feature allows individuals to enjoy content with a group of their choice, selecting the ambiance and viewing preferences for their favorite shows.
Netflix Theatre
Stephen Mayer, a Salt Lake City native, was nurtured in the publishing world by his magazine-running father and developed a fascination for fonts upon receiving a Mac for his family. During his collegiate years, he skipped lectures and gained knowledge about typeface—and life—by working as a designer for his university newspaper.
He also worked independently as a consultant, bridging the gap between typeface creators and users, always championing the needs of both parties. Not only is he the co-founder of the web platforms, Typographica and Fonts In Use, Stephen has also penned a regular column for Print magazine and authored the acclaimed book The Anatomy of Type. In 2017, he became an integral part of the nonprofit library and museum, Letterform Archive, as an Associate Curator and Editorial Director.
What is the Context
Stephen Mayer, a Salt Lake City native, was nurtured in the publishing world by his magazine-running father and developed a fascination for fonts upon receiving a Mac for his family. During his collegiate years, he skipped lectures and gained knowledge about typeface—and life—by working as a designer for his university newspaper.
He also worked independently as a consultant, bridging the gap between typeface creators and users, always championing the needs of both parties. Not only is he the co-founder of the web platforms, Typographica and Fonts In Use, Stephen has also penned a regular column for Print magazine and authored the acclaimed book The Anatomy of Type. In 2017, he became an integral part of the nonprofit library and museum, Letterform Archive, as an Associate Curator and Editorial Director.
What was the Problem?
Stephen Mayer, a Salt Lake City native, was nurtured in the publishing world by his magazine-running father and developed a fascination for fonts upon receiving a Mac for his family. During his collegiate years, he skipped lectures and gained knowledge about typeface—and life—by working as a designer for his university newspaper.
He also worked independently as a consultant, bridging the gap between typeface creators and users, always championing the needs of both parties. Not only is he the co-founder of the web platforms, Typographica and Fonts In Use, Stephen has also penned a regular column for Print magazine and authored the acclaimed book The Anatomy of Type. In 2017, he became an integral part of the nonprofit library and museum, Letterform Archive, as an Associate Curator and Editorial Director.
What was the Goal?
Foster a renewed sense of community post-COVID-19 by strategically utilizing long-form video content to engage and connect individuals in meaningful ways.
1
Recreating the community experience
3
Facilitating meaningful conversations
2
Connecting like-minded people
Final Solution
Introducing 'Netflix Theatre,' a feature designed for viewers who relish community watching from the comfort of their homes. This feature allows individuals to enjoy content with a group of their choice, selecting the ambiance and viewing preferences for their favorite shows.
What did our Research teach us?
We interviewed over 20 viewers for this project to bring enough data and inputs to generate concepts and hypothesis and found 6 interesting viewers who provided us with the most amount of insights.
1
Filmmaking enthusiast
Watches movies with like-minded friends often using apps like Teleparty and 27
Would pause and discuss scenes and dialogues
2
The Suggest-er
Doesn’t have friends who watch the same shows
Resorts to forums like Reddit to discuss interesting plot lines and scenes
3
Twitch Streamer
Streamed video games on platforms like Twitch
Made multiple friends from all over the world
4
The Shy One
Curious about platforms like Omegle but too shy
Wants friends who are as passionate about the same interests without having to put in too much effort
5
The Ardent Discusser
Has gotten into productive debates with people online
Rewatches favorite episodes and scenes repeatedly
6
The Theatre Buff
Is an introvert
Would love to watch mass screenings but is too shy to go to them
What were the BIG 3 insights from the research?
How is this significant to the users?
“ I love watching and discussing movies and shows with like-minded people”
Filmmaking Enthusiast
“Streaming is so much fun, I really enjoy the conversations I have with strangers online”
Twitch Streamer
“I keep suggesting shows but no one watches them, only if they knew how good they are”
The Suggest-er
“I want to talk to people about new shows, but i don’t know how to strike a conversation”
The Shy One
What was the Opportunity here?
Implementing a community-oriented feature could attract more customers to Netflix, as viewers would invite friends to join the platform for shared content experiences. This initiative aims to reduce reliance on third-party applications and non-paying viewers using watch parties over Zoom.
Who were the other competitors?
We conducted an extensive competitive analysis for the feature we were going to build. This ensure that we could understand, learn and choose the best features from each of the competitors to create a new feature that would be the most appropriate
As an OTT platform Netflix has multiple competitors, but while considering the competition for this feature we also included non-video platforms such as social media and forum/discussion platforms as well. We believe that this is also a space where people actively discuss movies and tv shows.
What did we focus on?
1
Revisiting Cable Traditions
Focusing on the basic cable tradition of showing Die Hard around Christmas time, this concept blends existing content with recorded interstitial segments and live chat/video component.
3
Rewatch, sans judgement
A revamped user interface enhances the viewing experience by allowing viewers to select specific chapters, providing the freedom to start watching with strangers and relish the content without the familiarity of repetition. Viewers can also customize the start time of their viewing session.
2
Watch together, with comfort
Proposing a new feature that enables viewers to initiate movie sessions with like-minded strangers online, focusing on shared interests. In this distinctive feature, movies and shows always start from the beginning. The option to create rooms accommodating 3, 5 or 10 individuals enhances the quality of the communal aspect of the experience.
Final Designs
We created an initial prototype for the Netflix Theatre to test with users. We tested it with the same audience that we conducted a test of each of features.
Watch Rooms
Small intimate rooms to find like minded people, enjoy full episodes with them and to appreciate the content.
Instantly join any existing Watch Room instead of waiting
Choose the number of people in the room and the time of the Watch Room to schedule a Watch Room
Keep track of the Watch Rooms in the Calendar. Add shows to calendar with ease.
2. Watch Scene
Watch popular/favorite scenes with people who have similar taste from all over the world. Discuss theories, plot-twists and future plots.
Join Watch Room that's watching your favorite episode, skip to your the scene you want to watch and discuss with like-minded viewers
Interact with fellow viewers by using the text and emotive react feature in the chat. Users can minimize chat when they want to focus on the show
2. Netflix Premiere
Watch popular/favorite scenes with people who have similar taste from all over the world. Discuss theories, plot-twists and future plots.
Join an existing Theatre that is playing a classic like Die Hard, enjoy the theatre ambience and chaos with thousands of viewers
Not enjoying the chaos? Use the chaos slider to tone down how disruptive the chat and reacts can get
Watch the Premiere of the latest movie and TV shows along with cast and crew. This feature lets the viewers drop in any questions they want to ask the team and have them answered at the end of the Premiere
What did our Research teach us?
We interviewed over 20 viewers for this project to bring enough data and inputs to generate concepts and hypothesis and found 6 interesting viewers who provided us with the most amount of insights.
1
Filmmaking enthusiast
Watches movies with like-minded friends often using apps like Teleparty and 27
Would pause and discuss scenes and dialogues
2
The Suggest-er
Doesn’t have friends who watch the same shows
Resorts to forums like Reddit to discuss interesting plot lines and scenes
3
Twitch Streamer
Streamed video games on platforms like Twitch
Made multiple friends from all over the world
4
The Shy One
Curious about platforms like Omegle but too shy
Wants friends who are as passionate about the same interests without having to put in too much effort
5
The Ardent Discusser
Has gotten into productive debates with people online
Rewatches favorite episodes and scenes repeatedly
6
The Theatre Buff
Is an introvert
Would love to watch mass screenings but is too shy to go to them
What were the BIG 3 insights from the research?
How is this significant to the users?
“ I love watching and discussing movies and shows with like-minded people”
Filmmaking Enthusiast
“Streaming is so much fun, I really enjoy the conversations I have with strangers online”
Twitch Streamer
“I keep suggesting shows but no one watches them, only if they knew how good they are”
The Suggest-er
“I want to talk to people about new shows, but i don’t know how to strike a conversation”
The Shy One
What was the Opportunity here?
Implementing a community-oriented feature could attract more customers to Netflix, as viewers would invite friends to join the platform for shared content experiences. This initiative aims to reduce reliance on third-party applications and non-paying viewers using watch parties over Zoom.
Who were the other competitors?
We conducted an extensive competitive analysis for the feature we were going to build. This ensure that we could understand, learn and choose the best features from each of the competitors to create a new feature that would be the most appropriate
As an OTT platform Netflix has multiple competitors, but while considering the competition for this feature we also included non-video platforms such as social media and forum/discussion platforms as well. We believe that this is also a space where people actively discuss movies and tv shows.
What did we focus on?
1
Revisiting Cable Traditions
Focusing on the basic cable tradition of showing Die Hard around Christmas time, this concept blends existing content with recorded interstitial segments and live chat/video component.
3
Rewatch, sans judgement
A revamped user interface enhances the viewing experience by allowing viewers to select specific chapters, providing the freedom to start watching with strangers and relish the content without the familiarity of repetition. Viewers can also customize the start time of their viewing session.
2
Watch together, with comfort
Proposing a new feature that enables viewers to initiate movie sessions with like-minded strangers online, focusing on shared interests. In this distinctive feature, movies and shows always start from the beginning. The option to create rooms accommodating 3, 5 or 10 individuals enhances the quality of the communal aspect of the experience.
Final Designs
We created an initial prototype for the Netflix Theatre to test with users. We tested it with the same audience that we conducted a test of each of features.
Watch Rooms
Small intimate rooms to find like minded people, enjoy full episodes with them and to appreciate the content.
Instantly join any existing Watch Room instead of waiting
Choose the number of people in the room and the time of the Watch Room to schedule a Watch Room
Keep track of the Watch Rooms in the Calendar. Add shows to calendar with ease.
2. Watch Scene
Watch popular/favorite scenes with people who have similar taste from all over the world. Discuss theories, plot-twists and future plots.
Join Watch Room that's watching your favorite episode, skip to your the scene you want to watch and discuss with like-minded viewers
Interact with fellow viewers by using the text and emotive react feature in the chat. Users can minimize chat when they want to focus on the show
2. Netflix Premiere
Watch popular/favorite scenes with people who have similar taste from all over the world. Discuss theories, plot-twists and future plots.
Join an existing Theatre that is playing a classic like Die Hard, enjoy the theatre ambience and chaos with thousands of viewers
Not enjoying the chaos? Use the chaos slider to tone down how disruptive the chat and reacts can get
Watch the Premiere of the latest movie and TV shows along with cast and crew. This feature lets the viewers drop in any questions they want to ask the team and have them answered at the end of the Premiere
What did our Research teach us?
We interviewed over 20 viewers for this project to bring enough data and inputs to generate concepts and hypothesis and found 6 interesting viewers who provided us with the most amount of insights.
1
Filmmaking enthusiast
Watches movies with like-minded friends often using apps like Teleparty and 27
Would pause and discuss scenes and dialogues
2
The Suggest-er
Doesn’t have friends who watch the same shows
Resorts to forums like Reddit to discuss interesting plot lines and scenes
3
Twitch Streamer
Streamed video games on platforms like Twitch
Made multiple friends from all over the world
4
The Shy One
Curious about platforms like Omegle but too shy
Wants friends who are as passionate about the same interests without having to put in too much effort
5
The Ardent Discusser
Has gotten into productive debates with people online
Rewatches favorite episodes and scenes repeatedly
6
The Theatre Buff
Is an introvert
Would love to watch mass screenings but is too shy to go to them
What were the BIG 3 insights from the research?
How is this significant to the users?
“ I love watching and discussing movies and shows with like-minded people”
Filmmaking Enthusiast
“Streaming is so much fun, I really enjoy the conversations I have with strangers online”
Twitch Streamer
“I keep suggesting shows but no one watches them, only if they knew how good they are”
The Suggest-er
“I want to talk to people about new shows, but i don’t know how to strike a conversation”
The Shy One
What was the Opportunity here?
Implementing a community-oriented feature could attract more customers to Netflix, as viewers would invite friends to join the platform for shared content experiences. This initiative aims to reduce reliance on third-party applications and non-paying viewers using watch parties over Zoom.
Who were the other competitors?
We conducted an extensive competitive analysis for the feature we were going to build. This ensure that we could understand, learn and choose the best features from each of the competitors to create a new feature that would be the most appropriate
As an OTT platform Netflix has multiple competitors, but while considering the competition for this feature we also included non-video platforms such as social media and forum/discussion platforms as well. We believe that this is also a space where people actively discuss movies and tv shows.
What did we focus on?
1
Revisiting Cable Traditions
Focusing on the basic cable tradition of showing Die Hard around Christmas time, this concept blends existing content with recorded interstitial segments and live chat/video component.
3
Rewatch, sans judgement
A revamped user interface enhances the viewing experience by allowing viewers to select specific chapters, providing the freedom to start watching with strangers and relish the content without the familiarity of repetition. Viewers can also customize the start time of their viewing session.
2
Watch together, with comfort
Proposing a new feature that enables viewers to initiate movie sessions with like-minded strangers online, focusing on shared interests. In this distinctive feature, movies and shows always start from the beginning. The option to create rooms accommodating 3, 5 or 10 individuals enhances the quality of the communal aspect of the experience.
Final Designs
We created an initial prototype for the Netflix Theatre to test with users. We tested it with the same audience that we conducted a test of each of features.
Watch Rooms
Small intimate rooms to find like minded people, enjoy full episodes with them and to appreciate the content.
Instantly join any existing Watch Room instead of waiting
Choose the number of people in the room and the time of the Watch Room to schedule a Watch Room
Keep track of the Watch Rooms in the Calendar. Add shows to calendar with ease.
2. Watch Scene
Watch popular/favorite scenes with people who have similar taste from all over the world. Discuss theories, plot-twists and future plots.
Join Watch Room that's watching your favorite episode, skip to your the scene you want to watch and discuss with like-minded viewers
Interact with fellow viewers by using the text and emotive react feature in the chat. Users can minimize chat when they want to focus on the show
2. Netflix Premiere
Watch popular/favorite scenes with people who have similar taste from all over the world. Discuss theories, plot-twists and future plots.
Join an existing Theatre that is playing a classic like Die Hard, enjoy the theatre ambience and chaos with thousands of viewers
Not enjoying the chaos? Use the chaos slider to tone down how disruptive the chat and reacts can get
Watch the Premiere of the latest movie and TV shows along with cast and crew. This feature lets the viewers drop in any questions they want to ask the team and have them answered at the end of the Premiere
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