Great post. Agree on the HBO Now experience. I read this in another article about framing problems. If your approach is outcome-driven (“Helping customers unwind and relax) vs. feature-driven (“Add more engaging content”), you are thinking of the problem holistically, and your solutions will be limitless.

I do disagree though on your analysis of Netflix starting to falter on their removal of user ratings. Yes, Airbnb, eBay, Yelp wouldn’t be useful without user ratings, however, one big problem they have is relevance of those ratings. For example, me as a germaphobe, my cleanliness preferences for an Airbnb listing might be completely different from yours. I have to spend hours reading and sifting through reviews to find that one person who is like me, and how they’ve rated it. I prefer Netflix’s approach, sure they aren’t 100% right all the time, but its at least based on my browsing history, my feedback, my engagement with the video, all in all, its mostly me. They’ve also added Trending, and Popular categories to help me discover more.

Overall do agree, in the context of Netflix, HBOs, its a combination of content and experience. It’s not one or the other.