What can there be said about Netflix? It's practically the one thing that everyone in their 20s has in common. Everyone either has Netflix or they are stealing someone else's just to see what the fuss is all about. Nobody saw this giant becoming bigger than Blockbuster the de-facto King of multimedia. It still hogs most of the bandwidth of the internet, and other than it's one of the most popular ways guys try to lure girls and other guys on Tinder to do something for the evening.
The fascinating thing about Netflix is that no two experiences of Netflix used to be exactly identical as it is now. Gone are the days of prominent movies being offered for DVD rental. The age of mobile devices and set-top boxes have completely dominated the user interface of Netflix across every platform it's deployed on. The question is whether it is actually effective.
For the content consumption category:
1. Is everything I need to get to what I want to consume there without scrolling? Is discovery relevant and available?
Yes, by courtesy of the search bar. Generally if I'm watching a TV show or a multi-series, Netflix delivers me the content I want to find.
2. Is it visually appealing?
Yes. Netflix has the set-top box feel of an X-finity or a U-Verse user interface such that I feel like I'm actually watching TV even if I'm riding a train or wasting time on the couch.
3. Am I left with the experience of being entertained?
Yes. Throughout the end to end experience of finding something to watch all the way to watching it, ignoring responsibilities and then following it up with the next episode of what I'm watching, I don't feel like anything is out of place. Procrastinating with Netflix feels right.
On the ternary scale (0 being unreadable, 1 being unmemorable, and 2 being memorable), I give Netflix.com a big fat 2. In retrospect, I should have created a competition to evaluate which of the experiences the most are addicting based on a company that exists on the web. More than anything, Netflix also falls into the category of Apple and Amazon for the sole reason of the experience. It's like getting into a groove or familiar welcoming pattern to just binge Breaking Bad or a children's TV series that I missed growing up. It's no wonder that streaming sites have all copied it since then. Procrastinating just never felt so good.
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