Netflix: Group Watch Feature
A social viewing feature added to Netflix designed to help users feel more connected despite physical distance. It enables friends and family to watch together seamlessly with synchronized playback, built-in reactions, and simple invite controls.
Role: End-to-end UX/UI Designer.
Duration: 2 months.
Tools: Figma, Miro.
Problem
As remote lifestyles became more common, users felt frustrated that watching Netflix together while apart was complicated and out of sync. Third-party tools were unreliable, and the emotional connection of reacting in real time was often lost. There was a clear gap: people wanted a seamless way to feel like they were in the same room, even when they weren’t.
Who am I Designing for?
To ground the design in real behavior, I conducted 5 user interviews with people across different lifestyles and streaming habits. They ranged from casual solo viewers to highly social watchers who already used third-party tools like Teleparty and Discord screen share.
Listening Before Solving
I aimed to understand how people experience watching content remotely with others, what emotional and technical frustrations arise when using third-party tools, and what features would make a shared viewing experience feel genuinely connected.
The goal was to uncover insights that would guide the design of a native Netflix feature that eliminates friction, preserves real-time emotional reactions, and helps people feel close, no matter the distance.
Connection over technology.
They want to feel emotionally present with the people they care about. Shared laughter, reactions and side comments are what make the experience meaningful, not the technical sync itself.
Host control creates a better experience.
Users preferred the host to control playback. Shared controls led to accidental interruptions that broke immersion and caused frustration.
Privacy is non-negotiable.
Users want full control over who joins their session and how their information is used.
Simplicity determines adoption
Complicated setup, required paid accounts and unreliable sync were the top reasons users would abandon a feature entirely.
I recruited 5 participants who regularly stream content and have experience watching remotely with others. The goal was to learn about their habits, frustrations, and emotional motivations around social viewing and to understand what would make a built in group watch experience feel natural and worth using.
Challenges
Users relied on third-party tools like Teleparty and Discord screen share
Sync issues and lag constantly broke the experience
complicated setup made spontaneous watch parties nearly impossible
Emotional Motivations
Watching together was about feeling close to people they cared about
Users wanted to recreate the feeling of being in the same room
The emotional gap was just as frustrating as the technical one
What Users Wanted
Smooth sync and lightweight reactions
Simple invite system
Host-controlled playback
Chat over voice or video calls
Privacy Concerns
Users wanted full control over who joins their session
Nobody wanted their camera or data accessed without consent
After conducting my interviews, I organized all findings into an affinity map to identify patterns and group common themes. This helped me move from raw interview data to clear, actionable insights, clustering responses around key areas like motivations, frustrations, privacy concerns, and desired features. Seeing the patterns visually made it clear which needs were most consistent across participants and which would be most critical to address in the design.
From these insights, I developed a user persona that captured the core characteristics, goals, and pain points of my primary user — someone who values genuine connection while watching remotely but is frustrated by the friction and unreliability of existing tools.
This is Jordan, he represents the type of user who values staying connected with friends and family through shared streaming experiences but is frustrated by the friction, sync issues, and lack of built-in social features on existing platforms.
Using the insights from my research and personas, I developed problem statements to clearly define the core challenges users were facing. These statements helped me frame the design opportunity and ensure every decision I made was rooted in a real user need.
User Flow
After defining the core features and understanding user needs, I created a user flow to map how users would navigate the group watch experience—from starting or joining a watch session to inviting friends and discovering content together.
The goal of this flow was to ensure a seamless and engaging shared viewing experience that felt natural and easy to follow. It helped identify key interaction points, such as joining a session, as well as potential friction areas before moving into wireframing and refining the interface.
The goal was to make the group watch experience feel simple, seamless, and social without overwhelming the user.
Watching with others should feel natural, so I prioritized clarity: each step guides users from starting or joining a session to inviting friends and reacting in real time, without adding friction.
I wanted to balance guidance + flexibility: users can easily start a session or join one, and stay focused on the content.
This flow reflects how users naturally experience shared viewing: discover → join/start → invite → watch together
After defining the user and task flows, I moved into creating low-fidelity wireframes to visualize the structure of the group watch experience.
At this stage, my focus was on functionality, hierarchy, and usability—not aesthetics. I sketched and developed simple wireframes to explore different layouts for key features such as starting or joining a watch session, inviting friends, and interacting through reactions during playback.
Mid Fidelity
After testing initial ideas through low-fidelity sketches, I moved into mid-fidelity wireframes to refine the structure, layout, and interactions of the group watch experience.
At this stage, I focused on improving clarity and usability across key flows, such as starting or joining a session, inviting friends, and reacting during playback. The mid-fidelity designs allowed me to better define hierarchy, spacing, and interaction patterns while still iterating quickly before moving into high-fidelity designs.
High Fidelity
The Schedule Session screen serves as a key step in setting up the GroupWatch experience — allowing users to plan when they want to watch together. It provides a simple and structured way to select the date, time, and time zone, ensuring everyone can coordinate easily. This helps users feel prepared and in control of their shared viewing experience before inviting others and starting the session
The Invite Friends screen is where the group watch experience begins. It gives the host a simple, shareable link to send to friends — making it easy to start a session without complicated setup or third-party tools. The goal was to make the invite process feel as effortless as possible so nothing gets in the way of watching together.
The GroupWatch Waiting Room is where participants gather before the session begins. Users can see who has joined, add more friends, and start the session when everyone is ready. This screen was designed to build anticipation and give the host full control over when the experience starts — making the group feel connected even before hitting play.
The Settings screen gives users full control over their GroupWatch experience. From adjusting audio and subtitles to toggling chat, reactions, and shared playback controls, every setting was designed to let users personalize how they interact — ensuring the experience feels comfortable and non-intrusive for everyone in the session.
Usability Test Results
I conducted usability testing with five participants to evaluate the prototype. The goal was to observe how easily users could complete key tasks such as creating a session, inviting friends, reacting during playback, and managing group settings.
Findings
Most users were able to complete all tasks successfully and found the experience easy to use
The scheduling flow (date, time, time zone) felt clear and familiar to users.
Inviting friends was straightforward and matched how users normally share links.
Some users had difficulty noticing the GroupWatch feature right away, especially on mobile.
A few users felt unsure about who had control (host) during the session.
Conclusion
Overall, the GroupWatch experience was intuitive and easy to use, with users completing tasks without major issues. The flow felt natural and aligned with user expectations, especially when scheduling sessions and inviting friends.
Small improvements—such as making the GroupWatch feature more visible and clarifying host controls—can further strengthen user confidence and make the experience even clearer.
Iterations
Before
Before
After
Before
After
After
I refined the waiting room layout to highlight participants more clearly, improving visibility and making the experience feel more collaborative before starting the session.
During testing, users weren't sure who exactly was controlling the playback. I iterated by replacing the generic 'Host' label with the host's actual name so participants always know specifically who is in control of the session, making the experience feel more transparent and trustworthy.
During testing, users had difficulty locating the GroupWatch button since it was buried among other actions at the bottom of the screen. I iterated by moving it to a more prominent position at the top right corner of the title page, making it instantly visible and easier to access when users want to start a session.