Netflix Wrapped
A personal case study about a yearly review feature for Netflix.
⚠️ Disclaimer: I am not a designer at Netflix nor am I affiliated with Netflix.
Overview
I designed a feature for Netflix with the main goal to provide users with a sense of connection and involvement to the overall company. After stumbling upon this Tiktok by Niko Draca, I decided to design a story-like feature similar to Spotify Wrapped with analytic widgets to visualize the yearly data and statistics of a user's Netflix experience.
role
As the sole visual and UX/UI designer, I took initiative to research my audience and develop a story-like feature to connect users to the company.
time
one month
team
solo project
tools
invision
figma
Ideation
research
contextual analysis, observations based on Tiktok comments and tweets
Spotify's yearly review, Spotify Wrapped, is a feature that has gained social media traction over the past few years. According to the Google Search trends, we can see how the interest spiked for the company during the few days that Spotify Wrapped was released.
keyword: "spotify wrapped"
background
keyword: "spotify"
The yearly review feature expands the user experience by providing a journey of reflection and insights on how you utilized the product throughout the year. It often goes beyond the product as individuals like to connect and share with others on social media about their own yearly review. The data visualization provides a story of the hours you spent with the company, bridging the gap between the company and consumer trust.
Target
audience
From this case study, Spotify's mission in creating Spotify Wrapped is rooted in increasing music sharing and discoverability, increasing engagement within the app, and increasing the number of paid subscribers. This case study will design a similar feature for Netflix with related goals of user engagement. Unlike Spotify's target audience of Gen-Z and Millennials, Netflix subscribers are are of all age groups (family plans). However, the idea of product personalization often appeals to all users regardless of age group, for example, smart voice assistants that make the user feel special through data personalization.
User pain
points
Going through the comments on the original Tiktok video where software developer Niko Draca used data science to find out his yearly review, I identified some pain points to address in the prototype.
1. Since Netflix's subscription plan allows for a number of profiles, the yearly review feature should also be separated by user.
2. The original Tiktok gathered data from Netflix's "Viewing Activity" page; individuals are concerned the data may be inaccurate as it lists every show/ movie only once and does not account for rewatched shows/movies.
3. In order to increase engagement and go beyond the product itself, I would keep the feature as a story-like tapping animation in order for individuals to easily share the data to their social media accounts.
Affinity
mapping
Prototype
Final thoughts
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Over the course of a month, I learned the full UX design process in this project I immediately hopped on to after scrolling through my Tiktok FYP. The main takeaway from "Netflix Wrapped" that I learned during this process is that user research is extremely important and considerably more important to the visual design. Having come from a background in graphic and visual design, at first I struggled against diving into the user interface aspect of what I wanted the feature to look like. I learned that the process emphasize user research in identifying the challenge and user pain points that I want to solve through the design.
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Going through the original Tiktok comments and marketing analyzing, some users believe Netflix would not implement this feature because it may lead to users being self-aware and limiting their screen time on the app.
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This project also taught me to conduct more interviews and surveys and to identify a "design question" for future projects. I also believe that although my very first high-fidelity work has gone far from an idea in my head, this prototype can go further in portraying the data analytics that users would like to see. Also, I would love to continue this project by creating a Chrome extension design for web page. Overall, I am happy with the result with how users may share their own individual data and compare it with others on social media to create a community and connect users with each other.