An Open Letter to Entertainment Streaming Media Executives

I’m a paying customer of most video websites and apps - HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.

Show biz executives, explain this to me: 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Your business model is based on individual consumer subscriptions we buy so we can watch your videos.

What is the point in holding videos back from customers who pay you to see said videos and make it clear that we don’t want to wait to see them?

I posit that that your inaction on addressing this makes your customers mad at you. Why do you do this to yourselves? What am I missing?

Here, I’ll do an impersonation of you:

hi i’m HBO I’m a big corporation. I have series that my 💸paying💸 customers want to watch all at once but no I prefer to have the episodes sit unwatched on the server and and I’ll throw one episode to them once a week. Hahaha that’s how it was done in 1950s 🙄🤷🏼‍♀️ hahah why change now hahaha I don’t know let’s discuss it over a long expensive boozey lunch where we don’t do any work ahaha lol what were you saying?

Do you think customers enjoy having to wait for more episodes? Newsflash: In 2020 everyone is their own Veruka Salt wanting things now and getting them now. (Her falling down that goose egg collector was only a minor set back that day.)

Here’s a solution for you, media distribution companies. I’m a UX designer in real life. I can help you out.

Solution: Add a setting that’s a switch or a radio button:

SETTING A - Make entire series available to me upon launch of first episode. I’ll watch the episodes when I want to.

SETTING B - Do not make entire series available to me when it launches. Give me one episode a week. This gives me time to work on expanding my vintage Tupperware collection and time for my friends’ patio renovation reveal parties.

This is one way in which mega corporations are out of touch with digital entertainment delivery.

A more alarming way that really illustrates how out of touch and archaic they are is by not using audience interaction within the storytelling. They need to seek out content that accommodates audience participation within the story. You should expect audience members to both watch and interact with the cast within the context of the fictional story they are watching.

Everyone is already on 2+ screens non-stop every day, guys. You know this. I posit you are afraid to try new things.

That was the topic of my MFA thesis and I’ve been doing UX design since before some of my coworkers were born. I feel like I sort of know what I’m talking about.

Ping me if you want me to fix your streaming media problems for you, OK? I already have a job, but I’m so annoyed by having to wait a week to watch things that I’ll advise you for free.