If theres a company thats synonymous with seamless customer experience, its Netflix.
It has become the defacto entertainment source for many.
So much so that15 percent of the worlds web trafficgoes to Netflix.
But when your experience is industry-leading, how do you evolve it without disappointing customers?
The answer lies in experimentation, built on proven psychological principles.
And because Netflix is a subscription service, you’re able to quickly discover whats working.
Just observe how many customers cancel their service in response to your experiment and optimize from there.
Its why you feel indebted when someone does you a favor.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
How does Netflix apply the Reciprocity Principle?
In response, Netflix experimented with showing customers available content on the home page.
But their experiment revealed something interesting.
Showing customers too much of the content was distracting.
Many of them browsed but never signed up.
Failed Experiment: Let customers browse Netflixs complete catalog
So Netflix redesigned their experiment.
But they didnt let customers browse the whole thing.
But the Cocktail Party Effect also proves that if we go deeper, relevant content can drive incredible results.
TheirBecause you watched…category is a prime example of this philosophy in action.
Not someone searching for a specific piece of content.
It states that people are happier when they are busier, even if theyre forced to be busy.
Netflix applies Idleness Aversion in an interesting way.
Their experience forces you to watch trailers that auto-play when you dwell on the title.
The bottom line
In the past decade, the Netflix site has undergone an incredible transformation.
The results of those experiments help keep us focused on the most important things to work on.
Its clear that a culture of experimentation is critical for psychological principles to be tested and optimized.
Theres no magic button you’ve got the option to press to make your brandexperiment-driven.
But, if implemented correctly, the potential upside is huge.
