Freedom of Fast Iterations

A new UIE article looks the design cycles of Netflix and Google: The Freedom of Fast Iterations: How Netflix Designs a Winning Web Site.

This "try and see" attitude is taking hold. The designers at Netflix told us they try out many new features with every site iteration to keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape of the Web, as well as their customers' increasing comfort with the current site. Much of what they do try doesn't survive to the next iteration.

So how often does Netflix update its site? Every 2 weeks.

Every 2 weeks they make significant changes. They understand that some of the changes will work, but most won't.

The article summarizes the benefits and side effects of fast iterations.