Netflix's 1st-ever UX Intern
Foundational projects to help members trust, discover, and connect with Netflix games
Overview
Support multiple projects across Netflix Games
In Summer 2023, not only was I able to shape the internship program as their inaugural Product Design intern, I brought my fresh perspective, curiosity, and enthusiasm to pivotal 0-1 conversations and features, wireframing, prototypes, and interaction designs.
Project 1 · Awareness
How do we inform users that games exist?
Create a positive perception of Netflix games and inform users where to find them
In initial A/B tests, my design was proven to successfully lift metrics, generating:
$XX million in revenue. $XXX million ARR.
Dog fooding results
I believe the reason my designs were successful and green across all A/B tests was because I took the extra initiative to do a cognitive walk-through of my explorations with internal employees to iteratively refine. I showed each variant to different participants for 15 seconds and then inquired:
Final Design
Design for learning goals and its operational variables
I've gained so much visibility into what drives their recommendation system — and it is all about exploration and experimentation. I've gained so many learnings on how to design with (and for!) data. My three months at Netflix had me diving deep into terms like test cells, isolating variables, and inputs & outputs.
Project 2 · Community
What could social features look like?
Playing with friends is core to the gaming experience, but during Summer 2023 the Netflix mobile games did not have any social features. Users could not add a friend, play with a friend, or interact with other users. Collaborating with another designer, we researched how existing services design social features. We analyzed a broad range of platforms — from content apps with social features (Spotify, Duolingo) to gamer-heavy ones (Steam and PlayStation). Examples of my design recommendations and insights are below, and these slides were used in cross-functional conversations to lay the foundations for future social features.
What did I learn? Approach with sensitivity, trust, and safety in mind
From this internship, I've gained a layer of thinking systematically to tackle adding new features or creating innovation at a legacy company with millions of users. I learned to identify that things seemingly small (ex. playing with friends) can be much more complex than they appear.
Project 3 · Discovery
What could lots of games on TV look and feel like?
Netflix is expanding their library of games to TV, and as designers our role is to make ideas tangible and paint a north star for our collaborators. To help visualize what more games on TV would look like, I collaborated with a designer, UX researcher, and Design Technologist to design future concepts and visual components that touched every aspect of the games strategy.
What did I learn? Talk to everyone to navigate ambiguity
With so many moving parts and unknowns at Netflix, I learned how to pivot quickly with a new lens based on changing alignments, and to build a supportive network to learn from by reaching out and talking to teams I don't work directly with.
Thank You
I want to take a moment to extend my gratitude to my stunning colleagues and the entire XD team for making my summer as an intern truly cinematic:
- Yohko Kelly, for wonderfully managing me — providing invaluable mentorship on my projects and sharing strategies for success at Netflix.
- Blake Gentry, my stunning mentor who created a warm and welcoming environment, where I felt comfortable asking questions – however silly they may be!
- Jessie Hopkins, another one of my stunning mentors who taught me to approach problems systematically and introduced me to the content design process.
- Christine Choi, who is so kind and was a wonderful partner on our competitive audit.
- Mathurah Ravigulan, a speedy design technologist who brought amazing ideas to our prototypes.
- Heather, who has an infectious positivity. Thanks for enhancing my visual design skills.
- Alex, Navin, Tracey, Ryan, and the entire ECE team, their feedback was instrumental to my growth and understanding of product knowledge.
