Netflix’s Bandersnatch is an attempt at a new kind of Viewer Experience (VX) which attempts at gamifying and refreshing the decades' old cinema watching experience. The reason we want to write this article are:

While it’s a good start, Netflix's Bandersnatch has received mixed reviews from social media and games industry. Like all initial ideas, Netflix's Bandersnatch comes with it’s pros and cons and the potential for improvement.

Few thoughts on how Netflix can leverage learning from interactive fiction games.

Misses by Bandersnatch's Interactive fiction format:

1) No emotional investment from the viewer upfront:

As the show starts, there is no personal attachment established with the protagonist.

Imagine you are out shopping and a random stranger walk up to you and asks YOU to make random decisions on their behalf. How comfortable would you be to do so, especially if you know nothing about the person or the nature of decisions to be made? In games, it's a very standard typical model to establish a bond of trust between the protagonist and the player.

An example from a typical RPG game (below). It is standard for players to pick and become familiar with their avatars by knowing their origins backstory strengths and weaknesses which help them make more informed choices for the character and then utilize the strengths to their advantage when the time comes.

Another example is from a popular top grossing interactive fiction game “Episodes” (below). You can see how, at the beginning of each episode which is like a short TV opera, the main protagonist asks the player to type in their name as well as customize the protagonist to their own liking, by customizing their appearance - hence building the bond which helps make decisions on their (characters') behalf.

While going through all this trouble of making viewers get personally invested might sound trivial, it is in fact very crucial! In social psychology, it is an accepted social norm that as human beings, we do not meddle in other people's affairs unless we are familiar with them or own them an allegiance. Or unless so required.

Question: How can Netflix get users to emotionally invest upfront?

We get it if Netflix is to go around and ask people to choose their own characters and customize their appearances it would be a technical and cinematic nightmare as then we would be creating additional friction upfront by introducing more taps and decision making for viewers.

But there is still a simple-r way to foster a soft bond. YES!

How? Netflix knows most of us! It knows who is watching what kind of shows. How? Users have to select an account when watching any show on Netflix, and this is something Netflix can leverage by personally addressing you - the viewer - and introducing you to the protagonist.

Here are some examples on how to do address the viewer by first name & user icon:

Does this seem far-fetched to you? Notice how Facebook, Twitter and Instagram greet you every time you visit their site or app:

Facebook post creation field:

Twitter post creation field:

2) The higher purpose: Goal setting behind user’s rationale for decision making

The show starts by abruptly telling the viewer in third person "You will be asked to make a decision at various points during the course of the show for it to continue.." and then the story begins.

NOTE: Many people I spoke to actually thought the animation above was part of the show and not asking the viewer to interact with it! It took them a while before they figured out the animation is asking them

You may ask what’s wrong with that? From an interaction design POV, did it give me the instruction on how to interact?

Yes it did! But like the instruction manual of my washing machine or a tutorial instruction for scrolling 'below-the-fold' when browsing apps/sites with off-screen content.

But that’s not completely the case here either.

Is there a higher purpose? Is there something, anything, he/she (the viewer) is helping the protagonist accomplish or avoid?

Question: How can Netflix set goals for the user decision making upfront?

Interactive fiction genre or any game that relies heavily on player choices and strong narrative creates what we call an URGENCY. A situation, a purpose, right at the start of the adventure which the player is helping the protagonist to accomplish by giving him some rationality behind the choices he should/would probably make.

Even in a simple game example (below), the user is drawn into the story to help the protagonist out in some way by reaching out directly to the player with help or plea.

Or indirectly by giving player a second person narrative as in this popular “Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery” game from Jam City (below). We can see that even though the game came after the novel and the movies are based on a very well known franchise, it accomplishes the first 2 points I mentioned:

It could be as simple as saying “He needs help finishing and publishing his game” or “Publish a game with good reviews and kick start his career”. All the twists and turns that the plot hides can still be slowly revealed as the viewer maneuvers deeper into the story.

An example screen below:

3) Differentiating rewards for Active vs Passive choices

You might wonder: What reward? Is watching the show not rewarding enough? YES & NO.

Yes

The purpose of choice is to steer the story as per your liking. In one aspect it’s like turning the pages of a book manually, with the speed you choose. Thereby the act of actively making a choice has a purpose - it makes the movie progress.

No

If the show automatically makes a decision in absence of user making a choice (passive) and makes the show move on, then it seems like there is no additional reward for the viewer to make an actual Active choice. What I mean is it doesn't matter if the viewer makes a selection because the show will go on irrespectively.

Example from Harry Potter game below on how making a choice results in instant gratification:

 reward routine loop. For Netflix's Bandersnatch currently looks like:

Example:

So every distinct action has a meaningful and satisfactory counteraction.

Question: How can Netflix differentiate Active vs Passive choice rewards?

Now again, like games, there is no immediate prospect of Netflix offering a virtual currency as a reward for active user choice (maybe a future prospect). So what can it offer the user now as reward for active involvement?

Virtual currencies and rewards fall under extrinsic motivation/reward model as players get something tangible in the virtual world that can be traded, bartered etc. in exchange for their active involvement. But as Netflix has none of these, it can offer the user an intrinsic motivation/reward.

How do we feel when we get likes on Facebook, Instagram or retweets on twitter? Do we feel good? Yes. This is the simplest form of intrinsic reward.

Done cleverly, Extrinsic rewards work as well as Intrinsic rewards

The example below shows one way of differentiating Active and Passive choice rewards

Of course, we don't want to show the numbers up front to avoid influencing viewers choice hence they will be revealed only after the viewer clicks an option. Of course, there could be many more rewards devised in the long run, but since Netflix already has this data on us, surely it can be implemented with minimal friction.

4) Perhaps a simpler plot, branching stories, and a Happy ending?

Last but not the least the most critiqued aspect of the show on social media, tabloids and viewers: The story failed to deliver as it was too niche, nerdy and had dark endings that did not have mass appeal. Why does that matter?

The endings sprout from viewers own decision making, so in the end, the viewer shares the responsibility for the outcome - good or bad. 

This is not to say there can not be any dark plots or twisted endings. Of course, there can be, video games have it all the time! But not when a platform like Netflix is revealing the concept and experience for the first time because it leaves a bitter aftertaste and mixed feelings; precisely the reason for all the backlash. I would have just as happily settled for a prince & princess finding true love or finding an alternatively meaningful happy ending.

Sounds cliche, but overall, I, or my wife, or viewers around the globe would have felt good about their participation at least the first time around!

Conclusion:

Despite all the critique though

Games with their deep legacy and prolonged history of game design, human psychology, cognitive hooks go to extremes when it comes to making interactive entertainment immersive and likable. The industry has rules that have been worked on, refined and validated over years but these rules can be surely softened and adapted for interactive cinema. I am not saying that interactive cinema necessarily needs to follow the same rules as games to be successful, maybe it's a whole new entertainment format and it can come up with its own rules over time, but we will potentially be seeing more of Viewer Experience (VX) coming up as a new field which deals with this over UX.

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