zlacker

>>qainsi+(OP)
As a bystander, could someone tell me how many of these video platforms get basic usability wrong? Do the programmers not eat their own dog food?

If I watch show X to the end, a little prompt will display saying, "Start Next Episode", I then close the viewer. Next day when I click resume series, it will bring me back to the episode that is 99% complete so that I can watch the credits roll. Why is the algorithm to detect end of show so poor? They have already identified I could advance to the next episode.

Even better is when I want to re-watch a previously seen episode, and it will return me to the end of the show where I last stopped. I think it is HBO(?) who lacks a "Restart from Beginning" option, forcing you to manually rewind.

Or that some platforms do not maintain a, "Continue Watching" video bar in the same consistent location, forcing you to bounce around to locate your show. This one at least seems like an obvious dark pattern to remind you there is other content, so I can at least attribute some thoughtful design to that annoyance.

>>0cf861+Sb
I assume these design decisions are all driven by teams juicing business metrics, at the expense of usability. Need to increase the “number of streams initiated” KPI? Trick people into resuming videos they already watched 99% of. The alternative, that teams simply don’t care or know how to design good user experiences, is too depressing.

Another example: both Netflix and Amazon make finding your saved watchlist difficult probably because they want you to watch random other content instead of watching your finite watchlist (and then unsubscribing when you finish everything on your watchlist).