Netflix is often lauded as one of the best data-driven companies on earth. It is an organization that has invested in large-scale analysis of user behaviour including ambitious data visualizations. It is even claimed that House of Cards, possibly one of its most successful original series to this date, was “inspired” by exactly this sort of user data.
A few months ago, the company started to analyze a very interesting phenomenon which they decided to call Netflix Cheating:
Netflix had conducted a survey through SurveyMonkey from December 20th to the 31st, 2016 which gathered 30,267 responses. The sample was balanced in terms of age and gender, and represented an adult population that watches TV shows with their partners in 29 different countries through the platform.
Most probably, Netflix had the largest survey ever conducted on the subject, and this represented an undeniable opportunity to tell a compelling story with a clear deadline: Valentine’s Day (February 14th).
Data-driven storytelling
The original aim of the survey was to prove that users enjoy using Netflix all around the world, and that the patterns of consumption actually vary depending on the country. But this didn’t become too obvious by simply watching the data plotted on a planisphere.
Through the combination of ‘safer and tested techniques of data visualization’ with more unusual approaches such as storytelling, we were able to achieve the goal of telling the story behind the data while also expanding the most interesting aspects that were present inside the survey’s answers.
Once we sorted out the way in which we were to tell this story, we realized that we could promote additional users to participate in the survey. We then developed a synthesized version (using only 5 questions) of the original survey that would inform the user their “cheater type”.
Additionally, since many of the original 26 questions marked very clear segments, we mapped them with iconic characters from Netflix’s original series, such as:
Bringing the website to life
The website that had to be available in 7 languages, including local variations, and had to work both in desktop and mobile devices.
Additionally, another challenge was the need to soften the use of the word “cheating”, to avoid users from taking it too seriously as no one likes claiming to be a cheater (at least in the most conventional use of the word).
To set the right mood for the project we worked collaboratively with illustrators that could deliver just the right style that the project required, always following Netflix’s clear brand guidelines. We took circularity as a design principle and implemented it on transitions, animations and almost every other detail of the website.
With the intro of the website displaying a rotating sphere we wanted to convey the idea that “Netflix cheating” is happening on a continuous basis and in different manners all around the world.
Just one month after launch, the project had received a great number of responses while encouraging additional users to post their “cheating profile” on Twitter and Facebook, and Netflix even launched a video to drive even more visits to the website.
Overall, the experience couldn’t have been better. And just as we can hardly wait for the next season of House of Cards, Narcos, and Stranger Things, we are impatient to embark on our next adventure with Netflix.
BTW, you can check out the project here!
