You might have noticed some changes on the LOVEFiLM website today. We now sit in the centre of your screen. The navigation bar at the top has a new look and feel, and the eagle-eyed among you might have noticed the words ‘How it Works’ at the top there too. There’s also an expanding panel telling you what titles you’ve got at home.
I won’t go so far as to call it a ‘redesign’, but it’s certainly a significant tweak. And it’s the first in a series of changes we’re planning for the coming weeks and months, which we hope will improve your LOVEFiLM experience.
So what exactly have we done, and why?
Sitting in the centre of your screen
LOVEFiLM has always been aligned to the left. From today we’re sitting bang slap in the centre. It’s a bit tidier in general, but – more importantly – this new grid has allowed us to tidy up a lot of old code on our site, which in turn will allow us to make the site faster over the next few months.
A new ‘How it works’ section
The arrival of a streaming service has been the biggest change in our business over the last couple of years, accessible on a myriad of different devices. And nearly a quarter of our UK customers manage their postal accounts on a smartphone.
So the website is no longer just a place for adding titles to your rental list, it now has to act as a place to keep everyone informed of all the different ways that you can access LOVEFiLM and how to get the best out of the service.
Hence, a new ‘How it works‘ section, available from the main navigation.
We have details on all devices; as well as some top tips about the service as a whole. So, if you haven’t yet watched a movie on your PS3 or iPad, or ou want to manage your postal account with your iPhone, or you just want to know how to use multiple lists (so you and your children can share your account effectively), this is the first place to look.
And for more detailed queries, we still, of course, have a phenomenal Help and FAQs section.
The new Account panel
From speaking to lots of customers, we know how important it is to be able to see exactly which titles you have at home as quickly and easily as possible; and to make sure that you’re aware of any information that relates to your account.
So we’ve introduced what we call the account panel, just below the navigation. It replaces the simple strip we used to have at the top of the page. If you click on ‘Show’, this strip expands and automatically shows the titles that you have at home, along with details of your package.
This strip will also carry all announcements from us. Either ‘red’ warnings (that your credit card has expired, for example), or some lighter nudges and suggestions about how you might get more out of the service.
We’ve tried to get the balance right with making this useful, but not too intrusive. The simple rule is that it will appear when there is something new to tell you. You can always ‘hide’ the panel, or remove individual messages.
The best bits of our editorial, wherever you are on the site
On each and every page, just next to our logo (where there was previously a banner advertisement), we now have a strip that showcases our best features, reviews, big name interviews, competitions, picks of the month… all powered by our fantastic editorial team.
And there’s more coming…
These changes are just the first phase of a number of changes we’re making across the site. And we’ll keep you up to date as they go live in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, I look forward to your feedback…
Simon Waldman, Group Product Director
Somebody once told me that, in life, “the right thing to do, is always the right thing to do”.
