Arthouse, meet your couch
Consultancy
Product Design
Picl connects arthouse cinemas with audiences, on demand. With a new backend underway, we seized the opportunity to enhance key interactions. We simplified payments, made voucher use more intuitive, and supporting your local cinema is now built seamlessly into the rental process.
Picl brings the arthouse experience home. It’s a network of 36 independent cinemas across the Netherlands, offering a curated on-demand platform for film lovers. Every rental directly supports the cinema you choose, providing an elegant solution for independent theaters without their own VOD service.
Challenge
As Picl grew, the team wanted to make renting films easier, more intuitive, and more effective at helping audiences support their favorite cinemas. The existing front-end setup had limits, and the new backend provided the chance to improve key interactions. The challenge was to boost conversion, simplify flows, streamline payments and voucher handling, and make choosing a cinema a natural part of the rental process, turning all those small pain points into quiet wins for users.
Solution
We approached the redesign by mapping out every step of the rental journey and identifying where users encountered friction. Payment and login flows were simplified, voucher handling was reworked and built seamlessly into the rental flow, and the cinema selection was integrated directly into the path, so supporting a favorite theater feels natural rather than like an extra step. Playback controls were streamlined, giving users direct access to the main functions they need during viewing.
Rather than a major overhaul, we made a series of small, deliberate improvements, each one smoothing a point of friction and together boosting conversions. Every decision was made with scalability in mind, providing a strong foundation for future growth and ongoing optimizations.
Result
With the new backend live and design improvements rolling out, Picl is better positioned to scale its mission: bringing independent films into more homes while giving local art house cinemas a share of every stream. The small, deliberate improvements made throughout the rental journey are already making the experience smoother and more intuitive for users. These quiet wins add up, creating a platform that is easier to use, more engaging, and ready for continued growth. The team continues to refine the experience, with further optimizations on the roadmap, proving that sometimes the smallest edits make the biggest difference.
More work.
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