Hulu is fully redesigning its user interface and adjusting its home screen to a more familiar, horizontal navigation pattern.
The changes are focused on discovery and personalization. Hulu said the redesign is due in part to feedback it’s received from users. The updates will be available to some viewers on Roku and Apple TV devices beginning today and will roll out more broadly over the next few months.
“With our growing audience, we’re constantly thinking about creating the best possible experience for our viewers, by getting them to the content they want to watch quickly while also helping them discover their next favorite movie or series to binge. We listened to feedback from our viewers and heard they loved how easy it was to continue watching the shows and movies they love, but not as easy to discover new content,” wrote Jim Denney, vice president of product management, and Jason Wong, director of product management, in a blog post.
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Hulu said viewers can now navigate through collections vertically and explore within a collection by moving horizontally, a navigation pattern that matches Disney+ and ESPN+, which the company said will make it easier for viewers who subscribe to the Disney bundle. Hulu also said it’s moving categories of content like TV, Movies and Sports to the master navigation, which it said will hopefully give viewers “a clear pathway to find what they’re looking for.”
Hulu is also adjusting tile sizes within the UI so new shows or movies will show up larger in size while “Keep Watching” tiles may be smaller so viewers can see more of their titles at a glance.
Hulu said its also making updates on the backend to improve recommendations. The company said its content curation team will now work more closely with its recommendation system, which will also focus on fine-tuning curated collections for better personalization.
“With this change, a viewer who may be a fan of medical dramas will see those titles first in a curated drama collection. In that same collection, a fan of romantic dramas may see those prioritized instead,” the company wrote.
Hulu ended the most recent quarter with 32.1 million total subscribers (28.8 million SVOD only and 3.3 million live TV + SVOD).