Defining Human Agency as a Product Design Principle at Netflix

You're interviewing for a product manager role at Netflix. How would you define human agency? ```hint Break it into conditions Ask what has to be true for a choice to be genuinely someone's own. Then look for the moments in a viewing session where a product can strengthen or weaken each of those conditions. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does the interviewer want a general definition, or one applied to how Netflix shapes what members watch through its home page, recommendations and autoplay? - Whose agency is in scope: the member picking a title, other people on a shared account such as children, or the creators whose titles get surfaced or buried? - Should the definition account for AI-driven personalization, where the service increasingly makes choices on the member's behalf? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A precise, usable definition broken into components, rather than a dictionary paraphrase - The difference between agency and simply offering more options or less friction - How the definition applies to specific Netflix experiences such as recommendations, autoplay, profiles and parental controls - How a team could tell from data or research whether a feature respects or erodes agency - The tension between agency and engagement, and where a product manager would draw the line ### Follow-up Questions - Autoplaying the next episode increases viewing time. Does it reduce agency, and would you change it? - How would you tell from data whether a member chose a title or was steered into it? - How does your definition change for a child's profile?