{"id":62,"date":"2016-01-17T06:32:39","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T06:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/susanrits.wordpress.com\/?p=62"},"modified":"2017-06-19T17:13:25","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T17:13:25","slug":"review-flixter-and-the-ever-important-mom-or-dad-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ritsandcompany.com\/index.php\/2016\/01\/17\/review-flixter-and-the-ever-important-mom-or-dad-test\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Flixter and the Ever-Important Mom (or Dad) Test"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0Flixter’s UX is quickly disaggregating to the complex<\/a>, driving away customers who just want to find out what’s playing at the movies.<\/h4>\n

While spending some time with my Dad in Seattle over the Christmas break, mostly driving around his favorite spots and going to movies, I had one of those experiences that make me glad I\u2019m not the one responsible for selling ad space in a mobile app.<\/p>\n

We were driving around the parking lot in the South Center Mall, trying to decide which theater to attend that rainy afternoon. I did what I do a dozen times a month, and pulled out my Flixter app<\/a> on my iPhone to quickly check the local movie times at both theaters. Because I was driving, I pulled up the app and handed the phone to Dad.<\/p>\n

I thought this would be an easy task for him, to scroll through the list of movies and choose one of the two nearby theaters. I\u2019m a fan of Flixter, I (used to) think it\u2019s pretty well designed. But here\u2019s what happened: right after it neatly located me in South Seattle\u2014instead of my usual Silicon Valley\u2014and pulled up the correct two closest theaters to our present location, it threw a full-screen ad in front of everything.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a screen shot:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

I call these ad-walls<\/strong>. They\u2019re a useability wall that the user has to scramble over or around in order to get back to their task. This ad-wall is particularly onerous because it completely covers the screen. The big button in the middle is designed to trick the user into send himself out of the app to a browser, or the iTunes store, and completely out of the workflow he was in. Something sure to infuriate absent-minded tappers.<\/p>\n

This is, I assume, all part of Flixter\u2019s new monetization campaign. I find it annoying. But as a veteran user, I can easily find the little X button at the top of the ad and click it rapidly away. Though each time it generates in me a small buzz of hostility for the advertiser who, it seems, is standing in my way. (I\u2019ve never understood why an advertiser would want to irritate potential customers like this. But then I never understood those screaming advertisements on TV, either.)<\/p>\n

For Dad, however, as someone who had never used Flixter before, and so wasn\u2019t savvy enough to realize an ad had just popped up and covered the user interface, this was more than a little inconvenience. It was a complete and total block. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Tricked into tapping the big blue button, Flixter neatly closed up and Safari opened, the advertiser\u2019s page loaded a movie, which immediately began playing. <\/em><\/strong>This is a bit like a clerk stepping in front of you as you enter a store, directing you off to a hallway and forcing you to watch a television commercial.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It all happened so fast, Dad never saw it coming. To him, this ad was<\/em> the Flixter app, with nothing resembling movie lists, theaters lists, or any way to get out of the maze. He immediately tossed the phone back at me and said \u201cI can\u2019t use this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is a fail.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No. That doesn\u2019t nearly cover it. More like this:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

Flixter\u2019s product managers failed to give any thought to the user\u2019s Needs, Motives and Goals<\/a>\u2014basic UX 101. Or worse, they did<\/strong><\/em> think of them and decided their own needs were more important.<\/p>\n