A look behind the curtain: how Netflix redesigned and rebuilt its television experience

Netflix launched a new user interface (UI) for smart TVs and connected devices in 2009. It tried to give users a flat and clean way to navigate through the company’s catalog. But the UI also treated each and every title the same, presenting endless rows of box cover art. That’s why in early 2012, Netflix began an ambitious redesign process that involved seven A/B tests, a new image format and a complete rewrite of Netflix’s TV rendering engine.