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I think the problem is that the "easy" parts of netflix such as the UI or the recommendation engine seem like they were hacked together over the weekend. Of cou

I think the problem is that the "easy" parts of netflix such as the UI or the recommendation engine seem like they were hacked together over the weekend. Of course deploying and maintaining something of the scale of netflix is incredibly hard. But if they can afford thousands of engineers who optimize the performance why can't they hire a few UI/UX engineers to fix the godawful interface which is slightly different on every device? I think this is where this sentiment stems from.

Shaanie 4y ago
I'm surprised you think Netflix's UI and UX is that poor. Which streaming service do you think does a better job?
- hugey010 4y ago
  None of them, since they basically all copied Netflix! The grid view limits users to slowly looking over limited categories of content. Any list based tree structure would be better in my opinion.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    I think you are overestimating your knowledge of design and UI. Mainstream software has been rigorously researched, tested, and proven to work. If we left UI design up to HN users we would end up with some plain text directory listing with vim keybindings.
    - ckw 4y ago
      At some point around 2006 I could sort all Netflix titles by user rating and even better, what Netflix expected I would rate a given title. This expected rating became incredibly accurate after I’d rated 50-100 titles according to the extant five star system. It was so good that I found myself watching many titles that I otherwise wouldn’t have considered, because the system was invariably right. I could also safely avoid titles I was very interested in when the system surmised I would be disappointed. And I could very easily inspect, sort, and edit my watch list. Today I rarely use Netflix, and I wouldn’t pay for it. Periodically I open the app and add to my list those titles that are immediately visible which I know I want to watch, like comedy specials of comedians I’m familiar with, but I don’t inspect further, because if I haven’t already heard about a title from some external sources I trust, it’s not worth my time to check. That list just grows and grows, though titles are often removed as they become unavailable, but I never prune the list, because when I remove one title, I’m taken all the way back to the beginning of the list. Trying is just a wast of time. It is baffling to me that anyone could interact with Netflix’s current UI and conclude that it was anything but a raging dumpster fire.
- zasdffaa 4y ago
  Why do you say "UI and UX"; how are they different in your view? Jargon BS is invading people's heads and it has to stop.
- brabel 4y ago
  Not OP, but I think the Swedish TV streaming service has a simpler, while nicer UX (hope you can at least see this from your country, if not play the content): https://www.svtplay.se/ https://www.svtplay.se/ Admitedly, it follows the same pattern as Netflix, but I like how it's more responsive and feels way simpler/lighter.
  - paxys 4y ago
    You just linked to an exact copy of Netflix.
paxys 4y ago
Technically speaking I think Netflix's UX blows every other streaming app out of the water. It loads instantly, scrolling is smooth, search is instant. Buttons are where you'd expect and do what you expect. They have well-performing and up-to-date apps for every conceivable device and appliance. They support all the latest audio and video codecs. This is all in stark contrast to services like HBO Max and Disney+ which still stutter and crash multiple times a day. Amazon for some reason treats every season of a TV show and HD/SD versions of movies as independent items in their library. I still haven't been able to download a HBO Max video for offline viewing on iOS without the app crashing on me at 99%. The problems you mention with Netflix are real, but they have more to do with the business side of things. Netflix recommendations seem crap because they don't have a lot of third party content to recommend in the first place. Their front page layout is optimized to maximize repetition and make their library seem larger. They steer viewers to their own shows because that's what the business team wants. None of these are problems you can fix by reassigning engineers.
- rurp 4y ago
  > Buttons are where you'd expect and do what you expect. Wait, what? Netflix is the absolute worst at this. Every time I log in the interface is different! Netflix could not care less about users having a consistent seamless experience. But as far as performance goes, I totally agree with you. The performance is impressively good and noticeably better than the other streaming apps I use. The UX is just so bad in so many ways (UI churn, autoplay, useless ratings, useless categories, recaps that can be watched exactly once, and so on...) it mostly ruins the app for me. The actual video quality is great though.
  - 0x457 4y ago
    Interface is the same, order of rows is different. Yes, it sucks. However, other streaming apps are much worse: - by the time HBO Max finish loading, I've already lost interest - Amazon Prime constantly gives me errors, and it's often hard to find what you paid for and what you have to pay for - Paramount+ often restart episode from beginning instead of resuming. - Many leave shit in your queue with a few seconds left for you to "Continue Watching". I still have shows in Paramount+ that I've finished months ago in the queue, and there is no way to delete them without watching end credits. - HBO Max only allows you FF in small fixed intervals - Plex...used to be okay, now it's pushing its streaming services and works very bad offline - Apple TV has awful offline experience compared to netflix in terms of UX Nah, I will take netflix constantly changing rows over shit others do.
stackbutterflow 4y ago
That's what puzzles me about Uber. I believe that behind the scenes it does pretty complex things as explained many times on HN, but it's the worst app I've ever used. UI and UX wise it's so bad that if you told me it was a bootcamp graduation project I'd have no problem believing you.
NavinF 4y ago
> godawful interface which is slightly different on every device Which devices are you referring to? I’ve only used the PC and mobile interfaces both of which are quite pleasant.
bradstewart 4y ago
I honestly find Netflix's the easiest to navigate, by far. Hulu did that big redesign, and it's extremely pretty to look at, but even after a few years of trying to use it, I still struggle to do anything other than "resume episode". Finding the previous episode, list episodes, etc is always an exercise in randomly clicking, swiping, long pressing, waiting for loading bars, etc. One thing Netflix really got right as well: the "Watch It Again" section. So many times I want to rewatch the episode I just "finished" (because either my wife finished a show when I leave the room, the kids fell off the table, I fell asleep or wasn't paying attention, etc), and every other platform makes this extremely difficult to find. Back to Hulu--the only way I know how is the search feature, which is a PITA with a remote.

Shaanie 4y ago

I'm surprised you think Netflix's UI and UX is that poor. Which streaming service do you think does a better job?

hugey010 4y ago
None of them, since they basically all copied Netflix! The grid view limits users to slowly looking over limited categories of content. Any list based tree structure would be better in my opinion.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  I think you are overestimating your knowledge of design and UI. Mainstream software has been rigorously researched, tested, and proven to work. If we left UI design up to HN users we would end up with some plain text directory listing with vim keybindings.
  - ckw 4y ago
    At some point around 2006 I could sort all Netflix titles by user rating and even better, what Netflix expected I would rate a given title. This expected rating became incredibly accurate after I’d rated 50-100 titles according to the extant five star system. It was so good that I found myself watching many titles that I otherwise wouldn’t have considered, because the system was invariably right. I could also safely avoid titles I was very interested in when the system surmised I would be disappointed. And I could very easily inspect, sort, and edit my watch list. Today I rarely use Netflix, and I wouldn’t pay for it. Periodically I open the app and add to my list those titles that are immediately visible which I know I want to watch, like comedy specials of comedians I’m familiar with, but I don’t inspect further, because if I haven’t already heard about a title from some external sources I trust, it’s not worth my time to check. That list just grows and grows, though titles are often removed as they become unavailable, but I never prune the list, because when I remove one title, I’m taken all the way back to the beginning of the list. Trying is just a wast of time. It is baffling to me that anyone could interact with Netflix’s current UI and conclude that it was anything but a raging dumpster fire.
zasdffaa 4y ago
Why do you say "UI and UX"; how are they different in your view? Jargon BS is invading people's heads and it has to stop.
brabel 4y ago
Not OP, but I think the Swedish TV streaming service has a simpler, while nicer UX (hope you can at least see this from your country, if not play the content): https://www.svtplay.se/ https://www.svtplay.se/ Admitedly, it follows the same pattern as Netflix, but I like how it's more responsive and feels way simpler/lighter.
- paxys 4y ago
  You just linked to an exact copy of Netflix.

paxys 4y ago

Technically speaking I think Netflix's UX blows every other streaming app out of the water. It loads instantly, scrolling is smooth, search is instant. Buttons are where you'd expect and do what you expect. They have well-performing and up-to-date apps for every conceivable device and appliance. They support all the latest audio and video codecs. This is all in stark contrast to services like HBO Max and Disney+ which still stutter and crash multiple times a day. Amazon for some reason treats every season of a TV show and HD/SD versions of movies as independent items in their library. I still haven't been able to download a HBO Max video for offline viewing on iOS without the app crashing on me at 99%. The problems you mention with Netflix are real, but they have more to do with the business side of things. Netflix recommendations seem crap because they don't have a lot of third party content to recommend in the first place. Their front page layout is optimized to maximize repetition and make their library seem larger. They steer viewers to their own shows because that's what the business team wants. None of these are problems you can fix by reassigning engineers.

rurp 4y ago
> Buttons are where you'd expect and do what you expect. Wait, what? Netflix is the absolute worst at this. Every time I log in the interface is different! Netflix could not care less about users having a consistent seamless experience. But as far as performance goes, I totally agree with you. The performance is impressively good and noticeably better than the other streaming apps I use. The UX is just so bad in so many ways (UI churn, autoplay, useless ratings, useless categories, recaps that can be watched exactly once, and so on...) it mostly ruins the app for me. The actual video quality is great though.
- 0x457 4y ago
  Interface is the same, order of rows is different. Yes, it sucks. However, other streaming apps are much worse: - by the time HBO Max finish loading, I've already lost interest - Amazon Prime constantly gives me errors, and it's often hard to find what you paid for and what you have to pay for - Paramount+ often restart episode from beginning instead of resuming. - Many leave shit in your queue with a few seconds left for you to "Continue Watching". I still have shows in Paramount+ that I've finished months ago in the queue, and there is no way to delete them without watching end credits. - HBO Max only allows you FF in small fixed intervals - Plex...used to be okay, now it's pushing its streaming services and works very bad offline - Apple TV has awful offline experience compared to netflix in terms of UX Nah, I will take netflix constantly changing rows over shit others do.

stackbutterflow 4y ago

That's what puzzles me about Uber. I believe that behind the scenes it does pretty complex things as explained many times on HN, but it's the worst app I've ever used. UI and UX wise it's so bad that if you told me it was a bootcamp graduation project I'd have no problem believing you.

NavinF 4y ago

> godawful interface which is slightly different on every device Which devices are you referring to? I’ve only used the PC and mobile interfaces both of which are quite pleasant.

bradstewart 4y ago

I honestly find Netflix's the easiest to navigate, by far. Hulu did that big redesign, and it's extremely pretty to look at, but even after a few years of trying to use it, I still struggle to do anything other than "resume episode". Finding the previous episode, list episodes, etc is always an exercise in randomly clicking, swiping, long pressing, waiting for loading bars, etc. One thing Netflix really got right as well: the "Watch It Again" section. So many times I want to rewatch the episode I just "finished" (because either my wife finished a show when I leave the room, the kids fell off the table, I fell asleep or wasn't paying attention, etc), and every other platform makes this extremely difficult to find. Back to Hulu--the only way I know how is the search feature, which is a PITA with a remote.