For this project we are working alone after almost three weeks in a group. It’s time to see if we can manage to implement some of our lessons without anyone’s help.
I’ve decided to work on Netflix, and I already have an idea in my head about the new feature I want to add to the application: adding a shopping feature, in-app, but before that I need to test the waters and understand a little bit about what the users expect.
You all know Netflix, initially it was a DVD rental company that delivered them to your home, now it’s what you binge watch on weekends in your pyjamas. Whatever the context, friends, family, romance, watching Netflix is rarely a bad idea, unless it serves to procrastinate. I am not judging you.
On closer inspection I realised that this kind of feature was non-existent in Netflix’s competitors, the closest thing being Amazon Prime Video’s Xray feature but which “only” gave information about the actors and the programme in play. As other sites for researching actors’ outfits are often nebulous, poorly maintained or badly designed, this was an opportunity for me to be creative and come up with something new.
The purpose of this assignment is not really to dwell on the UX, which we have been working on a lot in the last few days, but rather on the UI. So I sketched an affinity map after interviewing 5 people on Zoom.
I realised that many of them collected pop culture related items. From figurines to mugs to posters, users fully embrace the geek in all of them and even want to claim it. The problem is that Netflix does not offer merchandising related to its original programmes.
I then sketched a proto persona, Chloé, who wants to dress like the actresses of Netflix series, decorate her home with pop culture references, and dislikes intrusive advertising.
Once I had a better understanding of the issues and needs of the users, I started to sketch out some ideas for my low fidelity prototypes. The goal was to really integrate a feature that doesn’t feel like advertising, and that leaves it up to the user to use or not.
Once I had more or less an idea in my head of how to integrate the feature, I took it a step further by creating medium fidelity prototypes. I was then able to test them with users and get their valuable feedback. I’m always surprised at how much more necessary it is to get outside eyes, I thought that my obsessiveness would be enough to ensure that I didn’t forget anything, and yet there were several occasions when I did miss some navigation basics.
As I tested, I was able to create a feature that fit into the existing application and wasn’t too invasive (I think, and I hope) and create high fidelity prototypes.
Next step ?
Integrate the feature into the stream, like Amazon Prime Video’s Xray function. I’ve been practicing a bit already and plan to dethrone Jeff Bezos’ version!
Key learnings
If you’re in bootcamp at Iron Hack, or planning to go in, this part might seem very hard, and that’s a pretty good sign because it means you’re facing up some things you don’t understand right away, and you’ll probably have to struggle a bit to overcome your weaknesses. I know that not everything was perfect in this exercise, I may have rushed a few things in UX as I already had the solution in mind, but I learned so much about Figma that I came out very satisfied (and absolutely exhausted). It was probably one of the best lessons I’ve learned so far, my nights were very short but I feel more like I played an addictive game than I really worked, something that has never happened to me in 6 years of working!
