Netflix: Popular Streaming Service To Get A Makeover

Next month, Netflix subscribers will enjoy a new upgrade from the popular streaming service, which promises a completely new website design. The makeover aims to provide Internet viewers a better way to watch their favorite shows and movies.

Wired reports that after four years, Netflix has finally decided to redesign its site, and it comes with many user-friendly upgrades. The streaming service, although more popular than ever, feels that they can take viewership satisfaction to a higher level with the new designs and features. Just a few of the new features include:

• Eliminating the “back” button after viewing show or movie information
• A new, rectangular icon in place of the old DVD icon on each movie or show
• Ability to browse and find more titles
• A hover function that allows subscribers to see information by placing their mouse over a title
• A more “app-like” feel to the site

According to Netflix’s director of corporate communications and technology, Cliff Edwards, the site redesign is meant to get the streaming service up to speed with what Internet viewers would enjoy by making the browsing experience more enjoyable. When the company first started, it focused more on DVD mail-ins, but in recent years, Netflix streamers have grown substantially.

“It moves away from the outdated brick-and-mortar video store concept to one that’s more immersive, with more information in one place than ever before. It takes advantage of high-quality screens and our predictive algorithms to deliver the right information to the right people, in an easy-to-browse experience.”

Netflix’s lead product designer, Navin Prasad, feels that the current design is too confusing and contrasting, making it seem as if each web page is a different site from each other.

“If you look at the current Netflix site it feels like disparate web pages. You click on one thing, go to another page, then you have to back out. On the new one we really want to display all the information in one line, so it’s all very app-like, like Gmail.”

Netflix has good reason to improve the quality for Internet viewers. According to recent studies, the popular streaming service takes up to 36.5 percent of downstream traffic in North America during peak viewing times in the evening. The company beat out HBO Go and HBO Now streaming services, in which viewers took up 4.1 percent traffic during the Game of Thrones 5th season premiere.

The wait for the new design is almost over. Although a select few have already tested it out, the new Netflix site is slated to open to all subscribers in June.

[Image via scyther5 / Shutterstock.com]