Comments on: UIEtips Article: Taking the Netflix Experience to a New Level — An Interview with Sean Kane http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/ UIE\'s latest insights on the world of design Fri, 9 Jan 2009 02:57:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Craig http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-101767 Craig Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:02:13 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-101767 "...Netflix's award-winning web user interface, which was rated #1 in customer satisfaction by independent researchers five consecutive times." Do you have a citation for this? I would like to reference this at the company I work for and they will ask me who the independent researchers are. Like Amazon, Netflix is another example of an extremely successful company that understands how to turn user research into gold by "letting data prove everything." Hats off to them, and let us leverage their successes to help us make the business case for user research and user centered design at the companies we work for. “…Netflix’s award-winning web user interface, which was rated #1 in customer satisfaction by independent researchers five consecutive times.”

Do you have a citation for this? I would like to reference this at the company I work for and they will ask me who the independent researchers are.

Like Amazon, Netflix is another example of an extremely successful company that understands how to turn user research into gold by “letting data prove everything.” Hats off to them, and let us leverage their successes to help us make the business case for user research and user centered design at the companies we work for.

]]> By: JDK http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-99720 JDK Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:56:37 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-99720 Great topic for an article. I've assembled two UE teams, one at a start-up and the other within a large corporation. A factor the article doesn't address is team size. Staffing three positions is obviously different than fifteen, the former putting a higher premium on generalists. (I prefer generalists regardless of the team size. My experience is that "super bright people" end up working in multiple areas over time.) Start-ups introduce issues of their own. I've hired bright and talented people who couldn't handle the thrash and uncertainty of building a team/product/company. Big mistake. I now evaluate personality and work style before touching on specific skills and experience. Creating designs from scratch is liberating... but also scary. You need people who value creative freedom over predictability. Great topic for an article. I’ve assembled two UE teams, one at a start-up and the other within a large corporation. A factor the article doesn’t address is team size. Staffing three positions is obviously different than fifteen, the former putting a higher premium on generalists. (I prefer generalists regardless of the team size. My experience is that “super bright people” end up working in multiple areas over time.) Start-ups introduce issues of their own. I’ve hired bright and talented people who couldn’t handle the thrash and uncertainty of building a team/product/company. Big mistake. I now evaluate personality and work style before touching on specific skills and experience. Creating designs from scratch is liberating… but also scary. You need people who value creative freedom over predictability.

]]> By: Christian Watson http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-99708 Christian Watson Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:42:41 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-99708 I love Netflix's site and the experience of using it. However, I've often wondered about some of the choices they've made with regard to their primary navigation - so much so that I (somewhat arrogantly) took a stab at redesigning it: http://www.smileycat.com/miaow/archives/000860.php Do any of my suggestions hit home, or am I way off base? As far as hiring the right people is concerned, networking is the way to go. Find out who the great people are to work with and then hire them. I love Netflix’s site and the experience of using it. However, I’ve often wondered about some of the choices they’ve made with regard to their primary navigation - so much so that I (somewhat arrogantly) took a stab at redesigning it: http://www.smileycat.com/miaow/archives/000860.php

Do any of my suggestions hit home, or am I way off base?

As far as hiring the right people is concerned, networking is the way to go. Find out who the great people are to work with and then hire them.

]]> By: Paul Willard http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-99697 Paul Willard Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:19:13 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/12/17/uietips-article-taking-the-netflix-experience-to-a-new-level-an-interview-with-sean-kane/#comment-99697 I have built three very successful user experience teams and am back at a startup on my own again now. I agree with Sean absolutely that it is most important to get really smart people in the door above and beyond specific skillsets or experience with particular functionality. Every application of our talents will involve iterative design and learning from our mistakes, an smart people do this inately. I also agree that networking is a great way to find good people to talk to. Finally, I have used a case study in the past to more objectively compare applicants, and it has worked out pretty well. Applicants that did better on my carefully administered case study have also performed better. I have built three very successful user experience teams and am back at a startup on my own again now. I agree with Sean absolutely that it is most important to get really smart people in the door above and beyond specific skillsets or experience with particular functionality. Every application of our talents will involve iterative design and learning from our mistakes, an smart people do this inately. I also agree that networking is a great way to find good people to talk to. Finally, I have used a case study in the past to more objectively compare applicants, and it has worked out pretty well. Applicants that did better on my carefully administered case study have also performed better.

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