Imagine swimming underwater from one end of the pool to the other. As you surface for a breath, a predetermined timer forces you back underwater, regardless of your readiness. The prospect of this enforced dive adds discomfort. Despite being unprepared, you plunge again, choking on water. Can you feel the struggle for breath? Later, you discover a simple 'No' could have stopped the timer, leaving you helpless for not knowing this sooner.
Okay, the above scenario might be an extreme case, but that's how I felt after finishing watching a movie on Netflix. The screen you see in the above screenshot must be very familiar. Whenever you finish watching something on Netflix, as soon as the credits start, you are pushed to this screen. And now, you are set on a timer of 10 seconds. In these 10 seconds, the first 2 seconds are spent digesting the fact that you are suddenly pushed to a new screen. The next thing you look for is a way to get back to the credits. However, the two dominating buttons on the screen are Play S1: E1 and Trailer in 8. As the timer keeps ticking, you become desperate to stop it and have a moment to understand and figure out a way to go back.
Then, you decide to click on the not-so-button-like element on the screen, which is the Top Gun: Maverick box, and finally, you are back to the credits scene. Hence, you relax, enjoy, and process the beautiful movie you watched while listening to the songs played in the background.
My conclusion is that even though the Top Gun: Maverick box is bigger in size than anything else on the screen, what catches the attention are the buttons Play S1: E1 and Trailer in 8. The reason being that these two look like traditional buttons, and our instinct focuses directly on them, regardless of the sizing.
After finishing a movie, users usually do not want to be thrown directly into the next movie or video. A user might either want to go back home or stay for a while and watch the credits. However, Netflix kind of pushes the user to quickly start watching something else, which might be based on the likes of some niche target audience.
This kind of UX does work for when a user is watching a series because, in such cases, the most obvious decision is to watch the next episode. So that was my PhewX moment I experienced today and those were my brief reflections that I deemed worthwhile to document. Thank you reading your inputs and views are always awaited.
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