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A testament to the user experience: movie theaters vs streaming
I hate people. I realize that makes me a “horrible” person, but let’s be honest you hate them too.
A new movie comes out that you’ve been waiting on, you’ve dodged and ducked spoilers like a contestant on Ninja Warrior so you get your tickets as soon as you can, find your seat, cozy up and arrange your snacks, drinks, and silenced phone… you are ready for this. Very soon though you realize you forgot a very important thing… other people.
All of your senses are overcome by rudeness. The smell of stale popcorn fills the air, surrounded by the loud munching of people who never learned to eat with their mouths closed. You hear the muddled noise of teenagers giggling and making smart ass comments at the screen (dropping your kids off at the movies since they’re now too old for the traditional babysitter). Let’s not forget the people who for whatever reason can’t help but bathe themselves in the light of their cellphone DURING. THE. MOVIE. (Sidenote — if a social media marketer can get through a movie without checking their phone, anyone can).
But this is more than a rant. This is proof that user experience matters. You can check Rotten Tomatoes for reviews, you can buy your tickets before you arrive by jumping onto Fandango. More and more theaters have reclining seats, dinner and wine that you can bring into the theater and yet we still see a decline. Why? It’s easy to blame streaming as a set umbrella excuse but it’s so much more than that. It all comes down to user experience.
The User Experience Matters
Streaming creates a controlled environment. You’re usually at home or at a friend’s. You know the people you’re with. You feel comfortable. Streaming a movie or show at home is a shared experience. You can pause and react to things that happen, decided whether or not you want to keep watching another movie or episode… you aren’t locked into a two or three-hour experience. This can be short or take as long as you want.
At the movies, you have control over very few things: Your theater, movie choice, drinks/food, and hopefully your seat. That’s really it. It can be hard to enjoy the experience when one unusually…
