Prime Video lately elevated its subscription by $2.99 for an ad-free expertise, but its in-video navigation has been a giant situation since its inception. Despite charging ever-increasing costs, many of those platforms nonetheless let customers cope with their clunky interfaces. So why are streaming platforms forcing prospects to pay extra whereas providing a median consumer expertise?Platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Max, and so on., have changed conventional cable subscriptions as a go-to supply of leisure. According to a latest research, Americans spend 20 hours every week on these platforms and pay a median of $46 monthly for these companies. The motive is the wide range of content material that’s consistently refreshed on the platform weekly, typically even day by day. However, of their pursuit of content material acquisition, these streaming giants appear to be neglecting one essential level—consumer expertise.According to a latest survey performed by Forbes Home, Amazon Prime Video has the second-highest variety of subscribers in 2024 (200 million). However, solely 14 % of the respondents felt it was straightforward to navigate by its UI.The woes of a clunky UI(Image credit score: Jay Bonggolto / Android Central)For many customers, fast-forwarding and rewinding or navigating Prime Video’s clunky UI may be bothersome. The interface kind of lags once you attempt to scrub inside the video, making it troublesome for customers to gauge the place they really left off. A Reddit thread showcases the issues customers face right now on Amazon Prime Video. One consumer even goes as far as to say that the platform has the worst consumer interface. “Some of the original Amazon content is worth watching, but that’s all they have going for them. It’s truly hilarious that Amazon is one of the biggest corporations in the world. They spent $1 Billion on their ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV show, and yet they can’t even get something as basic as a functional user interface right,” a consumer added.Another consumer feedback that “much like Amazon’s product search nowadays, their Prime Video search is hot garbage. And now they’re adding ads; they might as well just give up altogether now.”Richard Lachman, the director of digital media within the RTA School of Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, says folks typically don’t discover options in frequent when switching platforms, which may result in a irritating expertise. “Some features aren’t easily available, some are buggy, and some aren’t available on all platforms,” he added.Amazon Prime isn’t the one platform that has been criticized for its UI. Hulu and Max (previously HBO Max) additionally had customers complaining about navigation inconsistency and general glitchy UI.Mia Eltiste, a consumer expertise (UX) researcher based mostly in Austin, Texas, critiques streaming platforms and their interfaces on TikTok. In certainly one of her movies, she factors out that Hulu’s navigation bar retains disappearing when returning to the house display screen. “Do not put your navigation on the top bar; put it on the side,” Eltiste states.
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As customers scroll down vertically, the bar retains disappearing, however when it’s on the aspect, it’s simpler to entry. She provides that the platform ought to make sure the navigation bar is offered on all pages—not simply the house display screen.Moreover, whereas everybody feels that Netflix has nailed its UI, many really feel the search bar nonetheless wants work, and watching the top credit of a sequence or film appears unimaginable as a result of the UI jumps to the subsequent episode or film you may watch. Android Central’s Jerry Hildenbrand agrees with the sentiment and says that he finds it irritating to seek for issues to observe. “Netflix looks nice and is easy to use, but it doesn’t show me enough content. Nobody wants to use the search from their phone, so it’s important to show me what ya got.”Striking a stability between content material acquisition and UI(Image credit score: Amazon)Lachman says the enterprise technique for a number of of those platforms isn’t centered on consumer expertise as a differentiator however on content material acquisition. It will get to the purpose the place some companies are rushed to launch, “spending the bulk of their budget on content without mature tech/UX teams and a priority on understanding and responding to user experiences.”He feels that consumer complaints about UX will not be a motive folks select to unsubscribe to streaming companies, however that is set to alter as customers begin taking UI into consideration when deciding to go away or subscribe to a service. “If there are fewer players, all with high-quality content, then the UX teams may gain some priority in decision-making and budgets.”According to Ampere Analysis, world streaming companies are set to extend their complete content material spending by 7 % in 2024 to $46 billion. Netflix will spend $17 billion this 12 months buying content material, whereas Amazon’s complete video and music expense in 2023 was $18.9 billion.Back in 2022, Amazon Prime Video redesigned its house web page, giving it a contemporary facelift. The present UI encompasses a simplified navigation menu, a brand new Live TV web page, and redesigned carousels for higher content material discovery. However, this redesign centered on highlighting their broad number of content material and never on the fundamentals of how the app features.How can platforms do higher?(Image credit score: Joe Maring / Android Central)According to Eltiste, any platform that desires to enhance its consumer expertise ought to give attention to being purposeful, dependable, and usable. Still, many corporations don’t even give it some thought being a pleasurable expertise on their platform.Lachman says that a greater method to strategy UI is to give attention to utilization and content material consumption. Companies also needs to take note of consumer frustrations and monitor social media complaints concerning the UX and product options. In 2023, Max made some modifications to its consumer expertise amid the merger between HBO Max and Discovery Plus into one platform. Following complaints about its glitchy interface, TechSwitch reported that Max was set to realize an up to date consumer interface with numerous enhancements to ship a seamless transition for present HBO Max subscribers throughout most platforms.Lachman notes that corporations must prioritize UX in finances, hiring, and technique. “Make sure user experience champions are the key members of decision-making and empower them to dedicate resources to improving the interface.”As the streaming panorama consistently modifications, focusing solely on content material acquisition may not be sufficient to draw or retain subscribers. Platforms additionally must prioritize consumer suggestions, which might assist them retain their subscribers in the long term.