Part One of an Ongoing Series

And so nettle opens a file on Netflix. Time to check 'em out. Over the next couple of weeks we'll take a look at both Netflix and lesser-known GreenCine. First, let's do Netflix.

I used to drive by Netflix's Los Gatos headquarters every time I took the dog to the vet and I've been reading about the company on The WELL for years, but despite routinely visiting the Netflix website I never signed up.

But Netflix is offering a 10-day free trial right now, so I figured, what the heck. I'll rent some vids, and see what the experience is like.

Netflix does some things well, some things not so well. What follows are random observations regarding what I saw and how I was able (or not able) to find and do what I wanted to find and do on the site.

1. The Home Page
There are three main types of home pages, depending on your browser's cookie status.

a. Cookies-Off Home Page [Good] Netflix handles browsers with cookies-turned-off gracefully and well, with a page specifically designed for just such a situation. Users get some brand awareness and incentive for turning the damn cookies on and Netflix even explains in detail how to do so for various popular browsers. Good job, guys. [Bad]: Hmm, maybe it's not Good after all. I mean think about it: if Amazon's homepage behaved this way, Amazon would have a lot of explaining to do (and would probably have fewer customers). Netflix has made a technology decision to go all-or-nothing on cookies. It'd be interesting to know what the data says about percentage of users hitting Netflix.com in this state versus the other two states listed below. If the percentage is small, then this is fine. If the percentage is significant, then maybe this is not so fine. Netflix, do you know the percentage? [So-so]: There are multiple colors for text hyperlinks on this page. This is an inconsistency. The most important link on the page, the one that says "My Cookies Are Activated! I'm Ready to Try Netflix for Free Now!" has black text, even though it's a hyperlink. Whereas elsewhere on the page are links in the conventional blue color. Some users might not realize the most important link on the page is actually a link, if they're used to only blue links. b. Cookies-On, Not-logged-in Home Page If you're not logged in, or are an unregistered user, but your browser's cookies are turned on, you get a "sign up now" promo page for a home page. When you arrive at this version of the homepage, uncookied and unknown to Netflix, it's like arriving at the parking lot of a Blockbuster store. You're not yet in the store, but you can see through the store's window and know that there are videos to be rented inside. Of course, being in the parking lot, you have no idea whether or not the store has what you want. You kinda have to go inside... [Good] The design is clean, not dense; lots of whitespace. Netflix understands that women's faces and friendly animals appeal to consumers, so it's not surprising that the top center position of the page alternates between a happy woman holding a Netflix envelope, and a happy puppy holding the same. (Yo Netflix: we're dying to know what your data's telling you: are you getting a better conversion rate with the woman or the puppy? Do tell!) [Bad] This version of the homepage is all about customer acquisition, with loud and clear above-the-fold messaging. That's good! Go get 'em, Netflix! Sign 'em up! Gotta get to 1 million subscribers, and fast! Keep kicking Blockbuster's ass! Just one problem: there is no affordance anywhere on the page for searching for DVD titles. This is not good. Imagine this scenario: Joe Vidiot comes to the homepage, cookies turned on, and thinks, hmm, all my friends have Netflix, but I know I'm more sophisticated than them, and they'd never rent the kind of stuff I'd rent, but I'm curious to know if Netflix has Z, by Costa-Gavras. Well guess what, there's no way to search. Joe Vidiot is not one to back down easily, and looks very carefully all over the page, top to bottom, bottom to top. Nope. No search. Nada. Then he hears the TV on in the other room, he looks at his watch, sees it's time for The Simpsons, and gets up from the computer and walks away. You've lost a customer. Bad. I can hear Netflix saying, "But wait, there is a "Browse the store" link!" Yes indeed, there is one. If you look very carefully you might find it. But that doesn't really help the "I know exactly what I want" customer, now does it? Only a search option does that. [So-so]: One of the most prominent above-the-fold positions is held by the redemption code text-entry field and corresponding button. At first glance, I bet many users think that's the search box. (I wonder how many movie titles users type into that box. Netflix, have you checked? What? You're not logging everything? How else are you gonna know what's on the mind of the user? Data is your friend.) Also, sometimes this redemption code stuff doesn't appear on this page. It seems to be there sometimes, and sometimes it's not there. What about users who have a redemption code, but have to get up from the computer to find it, and when they come back, they go do something else with their browser and then return to Netflix only to find the replotted page missing the redemption entry box. What then? Could this be an issue, or is it minor? Only Netflix knows. [Trick]: If you really really want to search and you're determined to find a way to search, then you can click on one of the three "hottest movies" DVD covers and find yourself taken to the detail page for that DVD. And guess what? There's a nice search box ("Find movies, actors, & genres") right under the Netflix logo at in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Actually, you can click on almost any of the links from this home page ("Frequently Asked Questions", "Browse the Store", "Customer Service", "Your Account" ... they all go to pages that provide Search capability). [Recommendation]: Let's assume for a moment that Netflix has done its homework and learned that most users visiting the site for the first time are not in a "I know what I want" frame of mind. Let's assume their testing has told them that what they really want to do is browse. Fine. Shouldn't the affordance to "Browse" be more prominent on the page? This page presumes that the user has already made up his or her mind and wants to register and become a customer. It's not that way in real life. In real life, you go into the rental store, walk through the aisles, find things you want to rent, bring them to the counter, and pay to rent. Oh, and you sign up too. But signing up is a pain, an afterthought, a necessary evil. It's not the goal. Why should it be any different on Netflix's homepage? Think of it this way. When you walk into Blockbuster, Blockbuster is glad you're there, and you can go anywhere you want in the store. Blockbuster knows that when you decide to rent something, you'll need to sign up first if you're a new customer. But they don't make it difficult for you to find what you want before you've signed up. You really ought to consider adding a prominently-visible search capability as well as making the browse capability more visible. [Good]: The "NETFLIX is the best way to rent DVDs" section of the page is good in that it helps explain, both verbally and iconically, the Netflix Elevator Speech to the consumer: "come here to find titles to rent, rent 'em, Netflix mails 'em to you, you mail 'em back... whenever." c. Cookies-on, User-Logged-In Home Page And now we come to the main event. The real homepage. You're logged in, Netflix knows who you are, the race is on. Some observations about the real home page: [Good]: Clean, uncluttered page layout. Good use of whitespace. The genres and navigation links are prominent and understandable and well-positioned in the left-hand column. [Great]: The home page is highly personalized once you're logged in. Why, it's almost like a "my netflix" :) The very top of the page shows how many movies are in the queue, and how many movies you've rated. I'm going to talk a lot more about rating in Part 2 of the Netflix review, so stay tuned. I notice it doesn't say how many movies you have out (or "in the mail"). It'd be nice to have that too. [So-so]: While the page is clean, there's something very sterile in the presentation. Could it be that it's too clean? Too perfect? It's a very strict, right-angle, rectangles-rule design, from the red box around the logo to the harsh rectangle shapes for the Rent buttons. To this user at least, the presentation feels cold, and I'm not quite sure why. Contrast Netflix's design style with a site like eBay's, the reigning king of sloppy, inconsistent (though they're getting better, slowly but surely), homebrew, curvy, swap-meet aesthetic (and I mean that as a compliment). eBay has charm. Netflix has no charm. Now, you may say, "what has charm got to do with anything?" Or, "why should Netflix convey charm?" And you might be on to something. Should Netflix's presentation convey more charm? I guess another way of describing the cold feel of Netflix's home page is that it doesn't feel "natural". There's no warmth of human contact, there's no sense of lots of other people are here too. More on this later, in Part Two. [Good]: The search capability is prominent, right by the logo, and consistently stays there across the site. [Weird]: What the heck is a "Featured Null"? Saw this on the homepage today. Either Netflix is way more geeky than I, or the word "null" is a script error on Netflix's servers. Surely there isn't a genre called "null"? :-) Some things we'll explore in Part Two: The Login and Registration sequences Search More on the overall design style of Netflix Ratings, ratings, ratings everywhere! The Rent Button The Social Side of E-Commerce: Could it help Netflix? Is it easier to find DVDs in Netflix than walking through the aisles of a video store? I Already Own That DVD, or, Why Netflix Needs to Know More About Its Users Did my first batch of DVDs rented from Netflix arrive? Find out in Part Two! Part Two will appear on nettle within a few days. Check for it on the homepage, as well as right here at the bottom of this page. As always, we'd love to hear from you. Comments? Questions? Rants? Raves? Email webmaster @ nettle.com. Part Two is now available. The Netflix story continues there...