Netflix's rise to dominance has been pretty amazing, when you think about it.
Once upon a time, it was a mail-order DVD subscription service. While there are still customers who get those DVDs or Blu-rays in the mail, they're the minority now. Today, Netflix has become the preeminent streaming content provider. Its vast catalog of full seasons of TV favorites, along with its constantly growing list of celebrated original content (House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, Daredevil, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) make it the most successful service in its category — and even a "pay TV" challenger nipping at HBO's heels.
So how come Netflix's website still looks like it belongs to that old DVD-by-mail service? It's arranged like the shelves of a Blockbuster store. Row after row of poster-style images, and you can't scroll through them quickly; you have to rely on that blasted carousel that sloooooowly slides by.
A few weeks from now, that Netflix experience will be no more. Wired reports that a brand new Netflix.com has been designed — based on scientific data and customer feedback, that's specifically made with streaming media in mind. As Wired puts it, the streamlined new user interface "feels more like an app." It looks like this.
No longer will you have to click to another page to see a show's episode list, or read more of what it's about and who stars in it. It's all coming to the front page in a clean, theater-like experience. Clicking on a title's thumbnail image will now open a menu on the front page that displays a splash image, synposis and a tabbed menu bar that offers additional info. A black background gets rid of the Blockbuster vibe, replacing the e-commerce feel with something more appropriate to an entertainment content provider.
The despised carousel is happily going away. Now users will enjoy a faster animation that cues up five titles at a time with the click of an arrow.
The new Netflix website is expected to arrive sometime in June.
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