BACKGROUND
In an effort to bring reviews back, I decided to develop SocialEyes. SocialEyes gives users the ability to create social environments within Netflix and under those environments, allow you to rate content.
I believe that with a tool such as SocialEyes, users will feel more engaged and want to take in content that is reviewed by people they know and trust. Additionally, this prescriptive journey streamlines the time spent looking for something to watch. Build, Rate, and Enjoy are SocialEyes principles.
Build your community
Rate your favorite TV shows and Movies
Enjoy more time watching
Worried you're wasting your life away watching Netflix? Turns out, you should really be worried about the amount of time you spend looking for something to watch. A new study reveals that Netflix users spend 17.8 minutes, on average, browsing possible TV and movie options before selecting something. With that being said, I’ve designed SocialEyes.
THE PROBLEM
SocialEyes is designed to minimize the time spent searching for something to watch by leveraging community based engagement and ratings. Build your own SocialEyes communities and learn what your friends and family are watching, rating, and recommending to one another.
In an article written by Amelia Ward, people spend 187 Hours a year searching for something to watch on Netflix. Yes, that’s over one week.
In 2018, Netflix removed reviews in an effort to prevent user sabotage for specific content. Certain users would purposefully “review bomb” a show or movie in hoped of bringing its rating down. SocialEyes mitigates this by limiting reviews to those only in your community. This approach gives community members organic and unbiased ratings from people they trust.
USER PERSONA
Jason Bryant
AGE 31
OCCUPATION Uber Driver
GENDER Male
INCOME $38k
LOCATION Seattle, WA
ABOUT
Jason has spent most of his career working for himself. By day Jason is a freelance photographer, by night he is an Uber driver to help pay the bills. During quarantine, and work at a standstill, Jason spent a lot of time watching movies and catching up on television shows.
NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS
Ability to maximize time on Netflix and spend less time finding something to watch
Spend time connecting with others
Read honest reviews about content on Netflix that is not biased
Ability to leave reviews and share some what he is currently watching
FRUSTRATIONS
Spending too much time trying to find something to watch on Netflix
Getting spoilers from friends and family
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH
Let’s face it.. we know who the competitors in this space are, right? Although there are many different streaming services, only a handful can rival Netflix and its 214 million worldwide users. With a combine user count of 121 million, Hulu and HBO Max are still a force to be reckoned with.
Since the goal for SocialEyes is for users to rate content within their communities, there is no one better than Rotten Tomatoes in terms of reviews. When thinking of competitors, all those listed below are worth mentioning and used as an inspiration when designing.
MOOD BOARD
Clean and Bold. This was the inspiration when designing the SocialEyes mood board. Behance served as a great tool to pull designs that I really enjoyed.
TASK FLOW
The goal for this task flow was to solve the problem Jason and most people face when using Netflix. Find something to watch, fast. Login, join your community, pick up where you left off or get inspired by what your friends are watching and rating. With less time finding something to watch and more time watching, Jason feels more inclined to rate content share with friends.
UI KIT
As SocialEyes is an extension on Netflix, I did now what to reinvent the wheel. My goal was to utilize the same Raleway font, as well as distinct E50914 Red throughout my design.
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
With the exception of adding SocialEyes to the top navigation, I kept the overall design uniform as I did not want to distract the user. Within “The Boys” community page, I utilized profiles under tiles to represent which friends are currently watching that show or movie. It was important for me to add new design elements, while staying true to what users have grown accustom too.
HIGH FIDELITY DESIGNS
This is where the fun starts! he high fidelity wireframes represent what Netflix is, and how SocialEyes compliments it. Community pages, user profiles, and rate screens are what bring SocialEyes to life. I also wanted the user feel directed to SocialEyes when using Netflix. I added the “Create your Community, join SocialEyes” line to the homepage for those just getting started.
Home Page
SocialEyes “The Boys” Page
User Profile
Content Page
Play Page
Rating Page
Rating Page
Community Ratings Page
WHAT I LEARNED
My goal was to create a community based feel within Netflix and allow for users to spend less time looking for something to watch, as well as leave ratings on content that others members in their community would find beneficial. Between testing and user feedback, my biggest takeaways when designing SocialEyes were the following:
Users felt inclined to leave ratings knowing that it would be visible to other members. I had one person mention that it “added a layer of fun and transparency” to the experience.
98% of users navigated through SocialEyes with 90% error free rate.
100% of users prefer to leave a rating instead of a review.
4 out of 5 users mentioned that the SocialEyes experience felt identical to Netflix.
