Twitter RedesignOverview and Implications

September 2010

The New Twitter: What’s HappeningWhy A Redesign?• The majority of current Twitter

traffic is on Twitter.com creating a need to enhance and update the user experience

The Design:• “Mobile Feel”• Background Size

New Functionalities: • Mini Profiles• Content Consumption• In-Stream Content Consumption• Related Content• Retweets• Floating Status Box

POV & Implications• Exclusive Twitter Media Content

Why?

Twitter has claimed that Twitter.com and m.twitter.com account for 92% of all access and communication on the social network.

With 145MM users Tweeting and Retweeting actively on the website, a redesign of the page would only make sense to improve user experience.

Twitter’s redesign will centralize and maintain engagement on Twitter.com, bringing in impressions for advertisers who are purchasing the various Twitter ad products.

The New Twitter: Why a New Twitter.com

The Design

The new Twitter page design has a more “Mobile Feel,” based on the popular Twitter iPad app. The new Twitter.com page design utilizes the full width of the page, providing users with an experience which is very visual and functional.

The Design: A “Mobile Feel”

The popular iPad application allowed Twitter users to consume content and connect with other Twitter users more fluidly with their intuitive touch-screen platform.

The Design: “Twitter iPad App”

A “Mobile Feel”

The new Twitter.com has carried over some of the more intuitive mobile design aspects and increased usability and content consumption of the Twitter user.

The Design: “New Twitter.com”

The Design: Old Design

The old design separated a lot of the user information, however left enough space for creative background images.

The Design: New Design

The new design streamlines the interface, allowing users to consume and interact with profiles more efficiently. However, the new layout leaves little to no room for creative background imagery.

Since the new Twitter.com design emulates a full-screen mobile experience, essentially the whole page is utilized for the functionalities of Twitter.com. As a result the creative backgrounds for Twitter user profiles will have minimal to no exposure.

The Design: Background Image

The Design: Old Background Image

Maximum exposure of

Verizon Background

The Design: New Background Image

Minimal exposure of

Verizon background

New Functionalities

• Mini Profiles• Content Consumption• In-Stream Content Consumption• Related Content• Retweets• Floating Status Box

The New Twitter: New Functionalities

Mini-Profiles allow quick and easy access to Twitter user’s profiles without having to leave the stream. If a user sees a retweet from a friend, by Verizon Wireless, that user can then view the Verizon Wireless profile without leaving their stream. They have access to Verizon’s most recent tweets and the option to follow them, without having to wait for the profile to load.

New Functionalities: Mini Profiles

New Functionalities: Mini Profiles

Before on Twitter.com for a user to see a picture, video or location information in a Tweet, they would have to leave Twitter to view the content. Now users are able to consume content from sites like Flickr, TwitPic and YouTube without leaving their stream.

Users are also able to engage and to create conversations around the content simultaneously. Additionally, content receives impressions and views directly from Twitter.com (i.e. YouTube views on Twitter.com, count to the overall YouTube view number).

New Functionalities: Content Consumption

Official Twitter Content Partners

New Functionalities: In-Stream Content Consumption

Twitter has increased the level of context around tweets, and the relationship of users in its new design by providing users access to more content around a tweet. Twitter users are now able to see who has Retweeted specific tweets, users mentioned in the tweet, relevant hashtags, links and other information pulled in from one tweet.

All this contextual content around Tweets means—if you are running a campaign with a hashtag, link or other shareable content—it will accrue more interactivity and engagement each time a person clicks on a Tweet.

New Functionalities: Related Content

New Functionalities: Related Content

1. Original Content

2. Retweets by other users

3. Users mentioned in this Tweet.

4. Users who replied to the Tweet

5. More tweets around person mentioned in the Tweet, from other users.

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The concept of the Retweet remains the same, however, users now have a clearer indication as to what they are Retweeting to their followers. Retweets are clearly called-out with a green “RT” symbol in the top-left-corner of the Retweeted Tweet—allowing for transparency of where the content came from and what was the Retweet.

New Functionalities: Retweets

New Functionalities: Retweets

New Design

Old Design

New Functionalities: Retweets

1. User Retweets your tweets.

2. The Tweet and the user will be shown under the “Retweets” tab on the main page.

3. Click on the tweet that has been Retweeted and it will expand to the right.

4. The expanded view will show the most recent Retweeter and the total number of Retweets.

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Your Tweets, Retweeted

The Floating Status Box allows users to respond to brand’s tweets right from the brand’s profile. This will help users respond more accurately without having to memorize the tweet they were responding to.

Keeping users on the profile page to Tweet leaves a chance that users will further engage with the brand’s tweets and Twitter content further.

New Functionalities: Floating Status Box

The New Twitter:

Implications

• As a result of the “New Twitter” users are being driven to Twitter.com over 3rd party applications, leading to an increase in ad impressions

• Increased exposure for brands’ Tweets as a result of contextual relevancy around content, hashtags, links and users.

• Opportunity for brands to create exclusive Twitter media content with photos and videos•Brands no longer have to send users off of Twitter to consume media content. •Now all engagement occurs in-stream.

• Users are able to much more easily discover tweets and users, as a result of mini-profiles.

• Brands now have minimal creative real estate for branded backgrounds on Twitter pages.

The New Twitter: Implications