Netflix's New Look Favors 'Instant Play' Content

Netflix is rolling out a new look that emphasizes content available for streaming.

Michael Spiegelman, Director of Product Management, wrote on the Netflix Blog that the section of Netflix.com housing "Instant Play" content has been tweaked to allow more selections--with larger images--on each page.

When you mouse over a selection's title image, you'll see a Play button appear, as well as Star ratings, basic info about the selection and more.

But not everyone is a fan of the new design.

Writes Engadget, "[I]t still requires an additional click to find out if a movie is in HD or has subtitles, a misdirected click starts playing the wrong movie too easily and selecting 'your queue' still takes us to our discs first instead of Watch Instantly."

Like it or not, Neflix began introducing most Instant Play users to the changes on Wednesday.

Have you noticed the new layout? Share your thoughts about it via our QuickPoll.

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Comments

[bdunc295]

03:06 AM on 06/27/2011

Almost every movie on Netflix you can watch somewhere else on the internet without the cost. What drew me to Netflix was the ease of discovering those lesser-known movies that I wouldn't have heard of otherwise. That functionality is all but lost after the update and I can't think of a good reason to keep paying.

It feels very petty moaning over a UI change, but I'm not getting what I paid for when I first signed up.

FYI
This link gives you the old format for only the main page unfortunately
http://www.netflix.com/WiHome?fcld=true

[frankstallone]

12:53 AM on 06/15/2011

btw, a tip for my fellow sorters. You can sort the old way when browsing the DVD selection. It will just take longer b/c you have to ignore the non-instant movies.

I'm only going to do this for a couple of weeks however to see if Netflix listens to their customers. If they don't I will cancel.

[frankstallone]

12:50 AM on 06/15/2011

Netflix's Vice President of Corporate Communications, Steve Swasey said, “Most of [the comments] have the same theme, which is ‘what was wrong with it before?’ What we’re saying is we’ve tested this extensively, we know the vast, vast majority of people like this. It’s new, it’s easier, it’s cleaner.” He also went on to state that they were "absolutely" keeping the new interface. "We made it and tested it and researched it and tried it out and everywhere we tried it, it had a better reception. Otherwise we wouldn’t have made the change.”

Steve Swasey is a tone deaf je rk.

[SL81]

01:01 AM on 06/14/2011

Terribly frustrating. In catering to the ADD viewer Netflix has managed to alienate everyone who cares what they watch. The best thing Netflix had going for itself, as new competition emerges, was its customers' undying love. But now they've killed that. It's only a matter of time until they are no longer #1. UNLESS they provide options for those of us who are upset.

Netflix, if you can hear me, I'm hurt. This hurts me. At the least bring back my carefully sorted list and ratings, and allow me to watch the movies I will like. Immediacy in viewing is good, but so is immediacy in finding and establishing interest. I can't judge movies by their covers.

[Nisha Mei Li]

12:37 AM on 06/14/2011

Dear Netflix, I appreciate the service you offer and your customer service reps are awesome, but your new website layout is terribly annoying. Most of your customers don't like it, and that should matter to you. After all, they are paying you, and no one wants to pay for a system that functions terribly. That's what bad relationships/health care/the education system/our government is for.
But you are Netflix, and we expect more from you.
No stars for you.
Unless they are stars of disappointment, in which case, you have earned 4/5.

[Mike the adequate]

06:26 AM on 06/13/2011

I am out of work and have streamlined my life. No cable, no home phone, etc. I keep my internet access because it is my one sporadic source of income. The one luxury I allow myself is a Netflix account. I am very upset at this latest development. Recently, I prepaid for several months by using a gift subscription (non-refundable). I wish I hadn't. I never would have expected them to suddenly make their website LESS functional. As a freelance web designer, I am very web savvy, and I find it almost unusable. This is not an issue with look or preference. I actually have difficulty achieving the basic goal of successfully browsing their offerings. Imagine going into a big box store and finding they removed all the shelves and their merchandise was just laid out on the floor. That's Netflix today.

My income is limited, and ten dollars a month is extremely dear to me. As much as it doesn't make intellectual sense, my emotional response to this is very personal. I feel betrayed and ripped off. I feel like I have been part of a long term bait and switch scheme that has taken what little income I have.

I will give them a little time to see the error of their ways. I will put my account on hold and, I guess, use up my prepaid months, but if corrections aren't made, I will not only cancel, I will become a vocal opponent.

[vinny]

08:02 PM on 06/12/2011

netflix is simply trying to mask the fact that they have a crappy instant movie selection.

so they took away some functions and literally made it harder to search.

the company feels dominant enough to crapify their service.

we'll likely drop them soon.

[Hammm]

06:48 PM on 06/12/2011

the new design sucks. i can't sort instant watch movies by date any more. the selection of new programs wasn't that great anyways so i cancelled.

[lonbwoy]

05:23 PM on 06/12/2011

This new look is absolutely terrible, whats with the humongous pictures???, dreadful!!.

[columbusbuck]

02:27 AM on 06/12/2011

Yeah, I hate it.
You got to press in just the right spot (it's not marked either) to go to the movie's home page. Click wrong, and you're watching that movie- like it or not.

[Waterlooboy]

12:45 AM on 06/12/2011

I like to watch German films. With the new format I find it very difficult to find all that are available. They just don't list them all under "german films"

I use another site http://instantwatcher.com/ that specializes in streaming from netflix. Links right to an instant movie. Also tells you films that will be going off streaming soon.

[ClassicLeft]

01:59 PM on 06/16/2011

A good thing that instantwatcher is also adding Hulu movies. Now I hope hulu gets better than Netflix. At least you can find stuff on Hulu.

[fuzzynormal]

08:37 PM on 06/11/2011

Building a new UI is fine, but when you take away functionality, that's just crazy. There's no efficient way to browse movies. Well, there really wasn't much of a system before, but they really made the interface hopeless at this point.

[vinny]

07:59 PM on 06/12/2011

bingo. netflix took away several functions, eg. sorting, and minimized the information available on main search pages.

[Rene B]

08:16 PM on 06/11/2011

I can't stand the new layout.The larger pictures take longer for my computer to show, I can't see the ratings unless I hover over the movie and its too easy to accidently start playing a movie you only wanted more information on. Of all the improvements that could have been made, I can't believe they didn't do anything to improve searching for specifics or at least by ratings.

[columbusbuck]

02:35 AM on 06/12/2011

And I'm still waiting on universal closed captioning ...

[Lindstr7]

04:41 PM on 06/11/2011

I don't think Netflix is going to go back to the old format. I really hate the new format, the auto scrolling feature makes me nauseous and is hard to control.

Is there any other site like netflix for instant download or are we stuck with Netflix?

[ClassicLeft]

06:04 PM on 06/11/2011

Legal sites that I know are:

blockbuster.com (similar to Netflix)
amazon.com
hulu.com
crackle.com
tv.com
fancast.com ( if you have comcast )
showtime.com

[Lindstr7]

07:02 PM on 06/11/2011

cool. Thanks for the info.

[CheriM]

08:15 PM on 06/11/2011

Don't forget Zediva.com - much smaller selection but they are just starting out. You can also use Chrome and install their extension that reverts the site back
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ngacmlmclfopgbnmefcffgbcjiafbfpo?hl=en-US#

[LivelyLexie]

03:34 PM on 06/11/2011

I don't like that the menu is on the right. It doesn't seem intuitive, being that English is read from left to right.