Intuitive Design Tailored to Viewers
Enhanced Personalized Recommendations
Diverse Content Including Live Videos and Games
Netflix is completely overhauling the user interface (UI) of its TV app for the first time in about 12 years.
On the morning of June 13, at a briefing held at Netflix's office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Eunice Kim, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Netflix, explained the direction of the TV app UI revamp, stating, "As the ways people enjoy Netflix diversify, we want the TV experience to evolve as well." The briefing was attended by CPO Kim and Kang Lee, Director of the Korea Product Division.
Yunice Kim, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Netflix, is speaking at a briefing held on the morning of the 13th at the office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Netflix
This update focuses on three main areas: providing a flexible experience that can offer a wide variety of entertainment content; creating an interface that responds to members' needs more intuitively and sensitively; and designing to better highlight key moments. The redesigned TV app is being gradually rolled out in countries around the world, including South Korea.
Through this revamp, the TV app UI is being improved to be more intuitive. First, information necessary for making viewing decisions, such as awards won by the content, is now prominently displayed. For example, awards like "Emmy Award Winner" are shown as separate badges on the content introduction screen. The locations of shortcuts to "Search" and "My List" have also been changed to make it easier to search for titles.
The user experience on the TV app has also become more convenient. The recommendations on the home screen have been improved to respond better to members' real-time preferences and needs. New motion technology has been introduced so that animations when navigating menus or selecting content feel smoother and faster.
In addition to series (dramas) or movies, which are typically watched on TV, content such as live events and games can now also be easily enjoyed on TV. Live events being broadcast in real time on Netflix are highlighted on the TV app's main screen to emphasize that they are live, and when new characters or challenges are added to games, updates are immediately displayed on the home screen.
This revamp especially reflects the viewing patterns of Korean audiences. CPO Kim said, "We paid a lot of attention to the viewing patterns of Korean members during this revamp," adding, "Korean members tend to prefer organizing content by genre, so we made it easier to display content grouped by genre within Search."
Netflix has undertaken this comprehensive TV app overhaul because a significant proportion of viewers watch content via TV. As of 2018, about 70% of Netflix members worldwide were watching Netflix content on TV.
Netflix also plans to introduce vertically oriented videos optimized for mobile, similar to short-form content. The idea is to edit key scenes from content into short vertical clips, helping users choose what to watch. Users can bookmark content to watch later after viewing these short videos.
Some features have been added, inspired by how Korean viewers use Netflix. A representative example is the "dialogue-only subtitles" feature, which displays only the dialogue without background music or other sound information. While Netflix's subtitles for the hearing impaired include all audio information such as background music and sound effects, this feature displays only the characters' dialogue. The dialogue-only subtitles feature was first introduced in South Korea among all countries worldwide.
Director Lee said, "While working on entertainment content in Korea, we realized there is also significant demand for this feature overseas," adding, "In the United States, about half of users watch with subtitles on, so starting in April this year, Netflix began gradually applying this feature to all languages in which subtitles are provided."
A new feature also allows users to save and share their favorite scenes from their favorite titles. CPO Kim emphasized, "Interestingly, five out of the top ten most shared scenes came from Squid Game."
CPO Kim highlighted, "More than 80% of Netflix members worldwide are watching Korean content," adding, "This is thanks to the great stories in Korean content and the product (such as the mobile app) making it easy for these stories to reach viewers in languages they are comfortable with."
Director Lee stated, "We will continue to work hard so that more Korean content can be discovered by viewers around the world, and that a diverse range of content can be shown more conveniently and easily on the screens of Korean viewers."
Eunice Kim, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Netflix (left), and Kang Lee, Director of the Korea Product Division, are speaking at a briefing held at the office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 13th. Provided by Netflix
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