Netflix.Com Website Review

Overview:netflix.com is the world's largest online movie rental service, providing more than 8 million subscribers access to more than 100,000 DVD titles plus a growing library of more than 10,000 choices that can be watched instantly on their PCs. They offer a range of plans that include both mail service and online viewing.

Aesthetic Appeal: 10/10 - No way around it netflix.com is attractive. It lacks all the aesthetic flaws of even the best websites. The colors are rich and smooth. Everything is symmetrical and presented in the same manner. The films never lack cover art of some kind so you can just pan through pages of movies if you wish. Links are in blue so I know where I can find additional information. Other sites would do well to follow the example netflix.com has set.

Usability/Functionality: 10/10 - Personally I have been using the site since 9/22/05 so it presents me with little difficulty. To the first time user it is a lot of information to take in, but that is simply a credit to the sites massive content. The guide bar at the top provides members everything they need to successfully navigate the site. A sub guide bar appears under the different primary guide bar options. The watch it now feature is not compatible with FireFox and requires you to have an updated Windows Media Player, but this is a small price for watching fast high quality video on your computer.

Content: 8/10 - The content is almost limitless and users will always be finding new things to do. Rating movies is a breeze because users simply click how many starts they think the film is. This is automatically saved and your recommendations will be updated. Watch it now is a great addition to the mail order service, but it lacks sophistication. Films do not have special features, audio options, subtitle options, and basic control features. Members will be dismayed when trying to rewind or fast forward because there is only a guide bar that doesn't respond very well. Without audio and subtitle control some films are unwatchable such as Mother's Day which plays with the directors commentary and nothing else. The lack of special features still makes you order the bonus content through the mail order service. This is bare bones video watching. They are making improvements and adding films all the time, but currently this is the best service when compared to amazon.com or blockbuster.com.

The queue is a giant list that you cannot sort. Imagine a spreadsheet where all the columns are locked it would be frustrating to use. Minimize would also improve this simply because this page takes forever to load. So you could set it to only show the top 50 and not everyone. I've spoke to other members who feel the same way. When your page finally does load you have to sort films one at a time where shorting by genera would cut this in half or runtime, year, etc. Your queue can also only go to 500. For a membership based site the lack of customization is a serious drawback because this has not changed much since I became a member. The content is good, but there are massive improvements needed.

Etc: The other online services still do not come close to netflix.com, but netflix.com is starting to feel dated. The friend's part of the service is also not very useful or helpful because you can search for users. You have to email them to see if they want to become friends. Receiving emails from netflix for any amount of time will have any user deleting them all because most of them aren't useful. So if your friend sends you an invite you delete that as well. Once friends you would think one of the film choices would be "recommend to friend," but this not a feature. I am still surprised by the lack of basic features that are now common on other membership sites.

Overall: 9/10 - Netflix.com is one of the best websites I have had the pleasure to review. The site delivers fast services with a simple attractive website. The only major drawback is that netflix hasn't gone nearly as far as it could with customization and special features.