Rework Netflix Subscription Plans and Curb Password Sharing Outside the Household

You are a product manager at Netflix. Leadership wants to strengthen the subscription model, and you have been told that the current policy on password sharing, which governs people outside a paying household who watch on that household's account, has failed. First propose how you would improve the subscription model, then suggest ways Netflix could bring password sharing under control. ### Clarifying Questions - In what way is the current sharing policy failing: sharing is still widespread and unpaid, legitimate members such as travelers are getting blocked, cancellations rose after enforcement, or few account owners pay to include someone? - Which outcome matters most for this work: total paying accounts, revenue per account, or retention of existing subscribers? - Is the plan lineup open to change, including prices and the ad-supported tier, and does the work cover every market or only some? - Which signals may Netflix use to tell a household from an outsider (devices, home network, sign-in location), and what privacy limits apply? ### Part 1 — Improve the subscription model Assess how today's plans serve the different people who pay for or watch Netflix, and propose changes to the model. Say which changes you would make first and why. ```hint Payers versus watchers An account has one payer but may have many watchers in several places. Map who watches without paying and why, and look for where the current plans give them no good option. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Segments of paying owners, people watching on someone else's account, and legitimate multi-location households, with what each needs. - Specific plan, packaging or pricing changes, prioritized, each tied to the goal it serves. - How the changes would be measured, with guardrails. ### Part 2 — Control password sharing Given that the current approach is not working, propose ways to control sharing. For each measure, explain how Netflix would detect sharing, what it asks of the account owner and of the person borrowing access, and how you would roll it out. ```hint What the borrower does next When someone loses free access, they can subscribe, get added to the owner's account, find another login or stop watching. Think about which of those paths Netflix should make the easiest. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Why the current policy fails, and how each proposed measure addresses that failure. - How a household is identified, and how travelers, students and families split across two homes are protected from false blocks. - A staged rollout with a way to tell whether enforcement gained or lost paying viewers overall. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - One goal that links the subscription changes in Part 1 to the sharing measures in Part 2. - Measures that offer borrowers a paid path rather than only blocking them. - The balance between recovered revenue and churn, customer backlash, support load and privacy. - Success metrics measured over enough time to capture both early cancellations and later sign-ups. ### Follow-up Questions - In the first test market, cancellations rise for a month while new sign-ups also rise. How do you decide whether enforcement worked? - A student lives away from the family home for most of the year. How should your rules treat them? - A rival streaming service announces it will allow free sharing across homes. Would you change your plan?