I’ve been learning product design over the last few years and have some take aways I now use as a norm in my daily role as an Architect and Experience designer.
To me, design patterns are those that have clear primary actions, navigation and content structure. It is a solutions that can be reused to address a commonly occurring problem in the UI.
Clear Primary Actions: those buttons that stand out with colour so users know what to do and these buttons have varying priority.
Navigation: There is this over riding expectation when a user visits a website I have noticed that it should be easily navigated. Buttons organised, links in the right place to help the user browse the website with ease.
Content Structure: The meta structure of a website needs to be meaningfully structured for the user be it a mobile app or a web page.
In Architecture we use pattern libraries like references and inspiration imagery to address recurring design problems. Similarly while designing experiences its something to keep in mind while trying to solve design problems to build digital experiences.
On such product that I use very often is Netflix. As an exercise for myself I thought I would explore design patterns and task flows within Netflix. I use this application 5–7 times a week, and I have to wonder now what exactly makes me use this more often than other streaming applications. Let’s break this down in the categories I mentioned earlier.
Clear Primary Actions:
What are these primary actions? Netflix is branded in a signature red colour and its important CTA’s are also stand out for this reason. They give prominence to this primary action button and clearly show what that button does when it is clicked by the user. What I like about this is the equal importance to CTA buttons like Get Started and Sign In which caters to both users who are existing subscribers as will as new customers who want to sign up for the streaming service- unlike other applications where a dark pattern tricks the user into signing up.
Its also noteworthy that there is a hierarchy in line weights for the secondary actions where it is not a make or break situations if the user chooses not to go through the secondary action like preferred language etc.
Navigation:
The reason I choose to use Netflix more often over other streaming applications is for its simple and clear navigation. They use what the user deems common and essentially what the user knows already as a flow or pattern. The carousal horizontal navigation eliminates the need for the user to press next and scroll through. Even its Buttons on the top navigation are bold and highlighted when the page is active to help users like me best achieve perceived affordance of clickability.
Card Pattern Display:
I’ve come across this pattern multiple times in my projects and other applications that I use where the card is a container for a show note or information along with an image attached to it. The challenge actually is this cards flexibility to design. There are many ways to visualise it and make it resemble a real world tangible information card. By grouping cards that showcase different movies and shows, it effectively stimulates users like me with few words in its title label. The carousal pattern used to assemble the cards is also greatly helpful. Another feature that makes this experience special is the ‘hover over card’ for information feature- its responsive design helps make the UI clear and clean.
Task Flow I follow when I use the application:
Go to Netflix Application → Netflix HomePage → Sign In → Select my profile under “who is watching” → My personalised homepage → Clicks the “Tv Shows” on the Navigation menu bar on top → TV show page shows up → Notices show named “Manifest” → Hover over it to se product brief and name with short trailer → Click to go to “Manifest” tv shows page → Click for more information on cast and brief → Read your description → Click play when ready to watch
I think a product like this has managed to make something so complex so intuitively simple for all users now. Its UX and Design Patterns make the application in its entirety a perfect streaming platform.
