UX Design For Streaming Services

𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲: How Netflix's profile transfer feature drives retention? 🔵 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 - 🔹 If a Netflix user who has been sharing someone else's account wants to create their own subscription.. 🔹 It allows you to seamlessly move personalized profiles to a new or existing account, retaining all their viewing history, recommendations, My List, game saves, settings, and more. 🔵 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲: 🔹 They receive a notification in their shared profile about the Profile Transfer option 🔹 Once initiated, the feature copies over their entire profile data. 🔹 The user then: → Creates a new Netflix account with their own email → Chooses their preferred subscription plan → Sets up payment → Their profile gets transferred to this new account automatically → The original profile remains on the main account (it's a copy, not a move), so the account owner doesn't lose any data. 👉 But here's where it gets fascinating from a product strategy perspective because this feature elegantly solves a critical business challenge by converting shared account users into individual subscribers. 🔄 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 1. 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼-𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: ◾ Instead of forcing users to start fresh, Profile Transfer preserves their digital footprint. ◾ This psychological anchor makes the decision to get their own account feel like a natural progression rather than a forced change. 2. 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: ◾ Instead of punishing password sharing, Netflix flips the script. ◾ Users gain independence and control, while account owners maintain their setup. ◾ It's positioned brilliantly: an upgrade, not a penalty. 3. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗮𝘁: ◾ By allowing users to transfer years of watching data, Netflix leverages one of its strongest assets - personalization. ◾ Starting fresh on a competitor would mean losing those finely-tuned recommendations that make Netflix feel irreplaceable. 4. 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: ◾ The sunk cost of curated lists and viewing history creates a powerful psychological barrier to abandonment. ◾ Profile Transfer makes users realize the value they've built within Netflix's ecosystem, making them less likely to abandon it. P.S. Have you used this feature before? Curious to know your experience!

📺 Retention Zone Ep. 66 with Frank van Oirschot 🎙️ (Ex Machina Group Livery Video) about a critical challenge facing streaming platforms today: how to transform engagement into lasting retention. Frank brings decades of experience developing engagement technologies since the mid-90s and offers fascinating data-backed insights on what actually works: 💡 When fans engaged with second-screen applications for shows like "The Voice," they became measurably more loyal subscribers 💡 A single missed notification in a game show led to not only immediate drop-off but reduced likelihood of viewers returning for future episodes 💡 Sports content engagement is happening everywhere EXCEPT on rights holders' platforms - a massive missed opportunity One statistic that particularly stood out: Gen Z viewers are juggling SEVEN different activities simultaneously while consuming content. This isn't just a challenge - it's an opportunity for platforms that understand how to harness attention in this fragmented landscape. Frank offers innovative solutions through: 1️⃣ Alternative content versions with specialized commentary 2️⃣ AI-powered personalization using video language models 3️⃣ Less controlling approaches that enable creator-driven engagement The most exciting opportunity? How these engagement touchpoints generate rich data that, when processed through AI, transforms retention strategy from reactive to predictive. This isn't just about keeping subscribers - it's about creating deeper, more valuable relationships with your audience. ➡️ Read the full article below. Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng Hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis: A guy with a scarf Gilles Domartini Benedicte Guichard Alexis Gaï Kirstin White Hjalmar Koedijker Alex Regan Joachim Bergman Kamila Palka Simo Enzo Bermond Kübra Güven #MediaRetention #StreamingStrategy #EngagementMetrics #AIinMedia #Retention #Churn

🚀 How we prepare before starting experiments with onboarding: ✅ 1. Identify all significant user cohorts:    - Understand their needs, context, fears/barriers, expectations, secondary tasks, habits, and past experiences. 💡 All subsequent steps should be based on the needs of these cohorts and the product value in the context of those needs. ✅ 2. Define clear onboarding goals:    - Motivate users to achieve specific outcomes, such as enabling push notifications, creating an account, starting a trial, or completing an activating action. ✅ 3. Outline the strategic onboarding blocks required to achieve these goals:    - Assign a clear function or purpose to each block. ✅ 4. Detail the screens within each block:    - Define the function or goal of every screen. ✅ 5. Break down the elements of each screen:    - Specify the purpose of every element, such as images/videos, labels, buttons, progress bars, etc. You can experiment at different levels: ✅ 1. Refine information about user cohorts:    - Formulate specific questions to clarify each aspect: needs, context, fears/barriers, expectations, secondary tasks, habits, and past experiences. Use open-ended questions where applicable to gain deeper insights.    - Identify which cohorts convert immediately and which need additional nurturing (e.g., emails, push notifications).    - Test whether certain cohorts respond better to tailored messaging or personalized approaches. ✅ 2. Experiment with strategic blocks:    Examples:    - Remove the "Previous Experience" block.    - Add a "What Motivates You" block.    - Rearrange blocks, such as asking about past experience first, then goals. ✅ 3. Experiment with block implementation:    Examples:    - Add or remove an introductory screen explaining the block’s purpose.    - Add or remove a closing screen showing intermediate value. ✅ 4. Experiment with screen content:    Examples:    - Add a subtitle explaining the reason for a question.    - Split a complex screen into several simpler ones.    - Include a video reinforcing the screen’s message. 🥸 After every experiment (even an unsuccessful one), document:  - Insights  - Next steps P.S. Don’t forget to design your experiments properly! 🎯

❌ A common mistake in live sports and entertainment: thinking the answer is more content. ✅ The real opportunity? Interactive content. Gamification is proving that deeper engagement doesn’t come from flooding fans with videos or posts - it’s about creating experiences they can participate in. I’ve seen first hand how interactive features like predictors, fantasy games, and real-time fan polls can transform passive audiences into active participants. Why this matters: - During live sports events, people using non-betting gamified applications checked the leaderboard up to 10 times throughout the event (Dizplai case study data) - Interactive content creates data rich opportunities for sponsors and rights holders to better understand and serve their audiences. - It’s not just about views anymore - it’s about actions and relationships. The shift is clear: fans don’t just want to watch; they want to play, predict, and shape the event as it happens. If your content strategy isn’t interactive, you’re leaving engagement (and revenue) on the table. We’ve recently published a report on the opportunity, including some fantastic case studies across the world of sports and brand entertainment. Link in the comments for the full report: P.S. If you’re curious about how we’re turning live audiences into communities through gamified experiences, DM me. Let’s talk.

Interviewer: "Welcome. Imagine you’re tasked with increasing user engagement on our video streaming platform. How would you approach this problem?" Interviewee: "Thanks for the question. First, I’d clarify the scope: are we focusing on overall engagement, or is there a specific segment or feature that’s underperforming? Also, could you specify the primary audience we’re targeting?" Interviewer: "Good questions. Let’s focus on increasing engagement among our new users in the 18-25 demographic. We want to boost their daily active usage." Interviewee: "Understood. With that in mind, my first step is to define what ‘engagement’ means in this context. For example, I’d consider metrics like daily active users, average session duration, and the frequency of content interactions like likes, shares, and comments." Interviewer: "Great. Once you have the metrics, what’s next in your process?" Interviewee: "I’d move into qualitative and quantitative research. This would involve user surveys or interviews with new users to understand their initial experience and identify friction points. I’d also analyze existing usage data to see where drop-offs occur in the user journey." Interviewer: "That makes sense. Can you describe how you would ideate and select a potential solution to increase engagement?" Interviewee: "Certainly. Based on the insights, I’d brainstorm multiple solutions—such as personalized onboarding experiences, gamification elements like badges or challenges, and AI-driven content recommendations to make discovery easier. I would then evaluate these ideas by assessing their impact on engagement metrics, implementation feasibility, and alignment with our broader product strategy." Interviewer: "Interesting. Let’s say you decide to focus on an improved personalized onboarding experience. How would you go about building that?" Interviewee: "I’d start by mapping out the user journey for new users, identifying key touchpoints where personalization could drive engagement. The plan would include: Design: Creating interactive tutorials and welcome prompts based on user interests. Development: Collaborating with engineering to integrate data-driven recommendations into the onboarding flow. Testing: Running A/B tests to validate improvements in session duration and content interaction. Iteration: Gathering feedback continuously and adjusting the experience to ensure it meets our KPIs." Interviewer: "Excellent breakdown. How would you measure the success of this onboarding improvement over time?" Interviewee: "I’d track changes in our defined KPIs—like a higher conversion from sign-up to active usage, increased session length, and improved user satisfaction scores. Additionally, qualitative feedback from surveys would help gauge if new users find the process helpful and engaging." Note: Try to build such frameworks in ur mind while giving interviews

🎁 Disney+ and Hulu Just Raised the Bar on Subscriber Engagement: With churn pressure growing and subscriber attention harder to hold, Disney is making a strategic move: perks as a retention and engagement lever. The newly launched “Always-On” Perks program offers Disney+ and Hulu subscribers rotating benefits—think discounts with DoorDash, adidas, and Duolingo; sweepstakes for Lollapalooza and Comic-Con; and early access to Disney exclusives. ✅ Real-world value beyond content ✅ Cross-platform bundling incentives ✅ Rotating perks that drive repeat platform visits This isn’t just a loyalty program—it’s a rethinking of how to embed a subscription brand into a subscriber’s everyday life. 👀 Smart move? We think so. Our full breakdown explores how this approach could signal the next wave of retention strategy for high-volume streamers and beyond. 📌 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eGbjhTcs #SubscriptionStrategy #Streaming #Retention #DisneyPlus #Hulu #SubscriberEngagement #RecurringRevenue #SubscriptionEconomy #SubscriptionInsider

We thought our new signups knew exactly what they were doing. We were dead wrong. Last month, we ran an experiment at Supademo that completely reworked our assumptions on user intent and product education. The setup: We decided to segment new signups into two buckets: → Educated + "Ready to create" (clear immediate need) → "Still exploring" (tire kickers at varying familiarity levels) Instead of throwing everyone into the same onboarding flow, we added a simple routing step: users either went straight to Supademo creation OR got sent to our example gallery / embedded tutorial. The results: - 50% wanted to record right away and were well-educated on the product - 30% of users (2k+) decided to start with a tutorial (which garnered 70% engagement, 50% completion - which is extremely high) - 20% increase in users creating >5 Supademos across the cohort - 10% boost in free-to-paid conversion across the cohort This is a reminder that even for a simple/intuitive product like ours, most users weren't as educated about our product as we assumed. They're likely diving in and electing to learn by doing VS reaching marketing copy on the website. Key takeaways: - Onboarding shouldn't JUST be segmented by role/use case. It's just as important to filter by intent. - Onboarding isn't a "set it and forget it" process. It's an evolving practice that requires constant iteration, not our assumptions about what users already know. Sometimes the best growth hacks are simply meeting users where they actually are, not where we think they should be. PS - I was able to build this end-to-end workflow and ship to prod using Claude Code. If you're not shifting to maker-mode regardless of your role, you're falling behind.

Respectfully, I've been doing this. This video from 13 years ago is proof of it. Here's the story... In 2010, I challenged the conventional music video formula with a simple question: "What if viewers could choose what happens next?" We shot "Attack of the Five Foot Hipster" in Brooklyn using DIY camera rigs made from PVC pipes and iPod Nanos (yes, those devices in the photos). No fancy equipment, just creative problem-solving. When we uploaded the standard version, the reception was brutal: • "Don't quit your day job" • "This is garbage"    One week later, we uploaded the EXACT SAME footage but added interactive elements—a choose-your-own-adventure interface letting viewers control the story. The transformation was immediate: • "This song is a hit!" • "When's the album dropping?" • Views increased 10X • People started BUYING the track they'd trashed days earlier    This wasn't just a cool experiment. YouTube had no interactive features back then, so we had to hack together a solution that made traditional content interactive. That's when I realized: We don't have a content problem. We have an engagement crisis. Passive content has a ceiling. Interactive content has a ladder. Soon after, Fortune 500 companies started calling: "How can we use this technology?" That experiment evolved (over years) into Adventr—now powering interactive experiences for major brands: • Personalized ancestry journeys for 23andMe • Choose-your-path storytelling for NBC • Gamified commercials for Paramount    The lesson wasn't about having fancy equipment (clearly, from our PVC pipe rigs). It was about reimagining the relationship between content and audience. Years before Netflix, HBO, and YouTube invested millions in interactive content, we were pioneering it with creativity and resourcefulness. I've been doing this for 10+ years, and I'm excited that the industry is finally catching up. -DH P.S. Check the comments if you want to see the video (keep in mind this was ~2012!)

OTT’s Next Frontier is Localisation and studios need to be ready. Streaming platforms have changed how we watch. The next wave will change who feels seen. India alone has over 40 languages spoken by more than a million people each. The OTT viewer in Lucknow or Coimbatore is no longer waiting for content to be translated. They are expecting it to speak in their voice, without losing impact. Globally, platforms like Netflix and Disney+ are now commissioning shows in Korean, Spanish, and Hindi with global audiences in mind. Squid Game did not succeed in spite of being Korean. It succeeded because it stayed true to its roots, while still being accessible. This shift is no longer about nice-to-have dubbing. It is core strategy. Studios now have to manage content versions across markets in real time. Subtitles are being auto-generated, voices cloned for dubbing, and scene-specific references tailored to local cultures. Turnaround expectations have shrunk, while quality expectations have risen. At Famous Studios, we are building for this future. Our localisation pipeline uses tech-enabled tools for everything from lip-sync precision to cultural consulting. This is not just post-production. This is story adaptation at scale. It helps platforms speak to people in the language they think in. Studios that only produce will fall behind. Studios that can adapt, integrate, and deliver across borders will lead. Disney+ Hotstar Netflix MxPlayer Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios #India #Entertainment #Media #Digital #Technology #Future

Translation? Localization? Globalization? Sounds the same, right? But no, they’re completely different. And if you’ve been using them interchangeably, it’s time to fix that. 🟫Translation: Translation is the process of converting text from one language to another while preserving its original meaning. It focuses on accuracy and clarity, ensuring the message remains the same. However, translation does not always adapt content to cultural differences, local expressions, or context, it simply conveys the words as they are. To make content truly resonate with a specific audience, localization is often needed. Example: If you translate "break a leg" literally, it makes no sense. A skilled translator knows it and means "good luck." That’s why good translation isn’t just word-for-word; it’s meaning-for-meaning. 🟫Localization: Localization is about adapting a product, service, or content to fit a specific region or culture. It includes translating text, but also modifying things like currency, date formats, humor, visuals, and even tone to make it feel native to the audience. The goal is to create an experience that looks and feels as if it was originally made for that market. Example: Netflix doesn’t just translate subtitles; it changes dubbing, content recommendations, and even thumbnails based on your region. McDonald's menus are different everywhere; McAloo Tikki in India and Teriyaki Burgers in Japan. That’s localization in action. 🟫Globalization: Globalization is the process of designing a product, service, or content so it can be easily adapted for different countries and cultures. It ensures businesses can expand worldwide by making products flexible enough for local adjustments without needing major changes. It’s the foundation that allows smooth localization. Example: Apple doesn’t build a completely different iPhone for every country. Instead, they design a global product and then localize certain elements; keyboards, payment systems, and even region-specific features like dual SIM support in China. 🟫In short: Translation = Converting text while keeping meaning. Localization = Adapting everything to make it feel native. Globalization = Designing products for easy adaptation worldwide. Expanding globally isn’t just about translation; it’s about making people feel at home with your brand!