
Twitter has
made a name for itself, at its most basic level, as a platform that gives
everyone who uses it a voice. But as it has grown, that unique selling point
has set Twitter up for as many challenges — harassment, confusing way to manage
conversations — as it has opportunities — the best place to see in real time
how the public reacts to something, be it a TV show, a political uprising, or a
hurricane.
Now, to fix
some of the challenges, the company is going to eat its own dogfood (birdfood?)
when it comes to having a voice.
In the
coming weeks, it’s going to launch a new beta program, where a select group of
users will get access to features, by way of a standalone app, to use and talk
about new features with others. Twitter, in turn, will use data that it picks
up from that usage and chatter to decide how and if to turn those tests into
full-blown product features for the rest of its user base.
We sat down
with Sara Haider, Twitter’s director of product management, to take a closer
look at the new app and what features Twitter will be testing in it (and what
it won’t), now and in the future.
The company
today already runs an Experiments Program for testing, as well as other tests,
for example to curb abusive behavior, to figure out how to help the service run
more smoothly. This new beta program will operate differently.
While there
will only be around a couple thousand participants, those accepted will not be
under NDA (unlike the Experiments Program). That means they can publicly
discuss and tweet about the new features, allowing the wider Twitter community
to comment and ask questions.
And unlike
traditional betas, where users test nearly completed features before a public
launch, the feedback from the beta could radically change the direction of
what’s being built. Or, in some cases, what’s not.
“Unlike a
traditional beta that is the last step before launch, we’re bringing people in
super early,” Haider said.
The first
version of the beta will focus on a new design for the way conversation threads
work on Twitter. This includes a different color scheme, and visual cues to
highlight important replies.
“It’s kind
of a new take on our thinking about product development,” explains Haider. “One
of the reasons why this is so critical for this particular feature is because
we know we’re making changes that are pretty significant.”
She says
changes of this scale shouldn’t just be dropped on users one day.
“We need you
to be part of this process, so that we know we’re building the right
experience,” Haider says.
Once
accepted into the beta program, users will download a separate beta app –
something that Twitter isn’t sure will always be the case. It’s unclear if that
process will create too much friction, the company says, so it will see how
testers respond.
Here are
some of the more interesting features we talked and saw getting tested in the
beta we were shown:
Color-coded
replies
During the
first beta, participants will try out new conversation features which offer
color-coded replies to differentiate between responses from the original poster
of the tweet, those from people you follow, and those from people you don’t
follow.
In a
development build of the beta app, Haider showed us what this looked like, with
the caveat that the color scheme being used has been intentionally made to be
overly saturated – it will be dialed down when the features launch to testers.
When you
click into a conversation thread, the beta app will also offer visual cues to
help you better find the parts of the thread that are of interest to you.
One way it’s
doing so is by highlighting the replies in a thread that were written by people
you follow on Twitter. Another change is that the person who posted the
original tweet will also have their own replies in the thread highlighted.
In the build
Haider showed us, replies from people she followed were shown in green, those
from non-followers were blue, and her own replies were blue.
Algorithmically
sorted responses
One of the
big themes in Twitter’s user experience for power and more casual users is that
they come up with workarounds for certain features that Twitter does not offer.
Take reading
through long threads that may have some interesting detail that you would like
to come back to later, or that branches off at some point that you’d like to
follow after reading through everything else. Haider says she marks replies
she’s seen with a heart to keep her place. Other people use Twitter’s “Tweets
& Replies” section to find out when the original poster had replied within
the thread, since it’s hard to find those replies when just scrolling down.
Now, the
same kind of algorithmic sorting that Twitter has applied to your main timeline
might start to make its way to your replies. These may also now be shown in a
ranked order, so the important ones — like those from your Twitter friends —
are moved to the top.
A later test
may involve a version of Twitter’s Highlights, summaries of what it deems
important, coming to longer threads, Haider said.
The
time-based view is not going to completely leave, however. “The buzz, that
feeling and that vibe [of live activity] that is something that we never want
to lose,” CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said last week on stage at CES. “Not
everyone will be in the moment at the exact same time, but when you are, it’s
an electrifying feeling…. Anything we can do to make a feeling of something
much larger than yourself [we should].”
Removing
hearts + other engagement icons
Another
experiment Twitter is looking at is what it should do with its engagement
buttons to streamline the look of replies for users. The build that we saw did
not have any hearts to favorite/like Tweets, nor any icons for retweets or
replies, when the Tweets came in the form of replies to another Tweet.
The icons
and features didn’t completely disappear, but they would only appear when you
tapped on a specific post. The basic idea seems to be: engagement for those who
want it, a more simplified view for those who do not.
The heart
icon has been a subject of speculation for some time now. Last year, the
company told us that it was considering removing it, as part of an overall
effort to improve the quality of conversation. This could be an example of how
Twitter might implement just that.
Twitter may
also test other things like icebreakers (pinned tweets designed to start
conversations), and a status update field (i.e. your availability, location, or
what you are doing, as on IM).
The status
test, in fact, points to a bigger shift we may see in how Twitter as a whole is
used, especially by those who come to the platform around a specific event.
One of the
biggest laments has been that on-boarding on the app — the experience for those
who are coming to Twitter for the first time — continues to be confusing.
Twitter admits as much itself, and so — as with its recent deal with the NBA to
provide a unique Twitter experience around a specific game — it will be making
more tweaks and tests to figure out how to move Twitter on from being fundamentally
focused around the people you follow.
“We have
some work to do to make it easier to discover,” Dorsey said, adding that right
now the platform is “more about people than interests.”
While all
products need to evolve over time, Twitter in particular seems a bit obsessed
with continually changing the basic mechanics of how its app operates.
It seems
that there are at least a couple of reasons for that. One is that, although the
service continues to see some growth in its daily active users, its monthly
active users globally have been either flat, in decline, or growing by a mere
two percent in the last four quarters (and in decline in the last three of the
four quarters in the key market of the US).
That
underscores how the company still has some work to do to keep people engaged.
The other is
that change and responsiveness seem to be the essence of how Twitter wants to
position itself these days. Last week, Dorsey noted that Twitter itself didn’t
invent most of the ways that the platform gets used today. (The “RT” (retweet),
which is now a button in the app; the hashtag; tweetstorms; expanded tweets,
and even the now-ubiquitous @mention are all examples of features that weren’t
created originally by Twitter, but added in based around how the app was used.)
“We want to
continue our power of observation and learning… what people want Twitter to be
and how to use it,” Dorsey said. “It allows us to be valuable and relevant.”
While these
continual changes can sometimes make things more confusing, the beta program
could potentially head off any design mistakes, uncover issues Twitter itself
may have missed, and help Twitter harness that sort of viral development in a
more focused way.
A first look
at Twitter’s new beta app and its bid to remain ‘valuable and relevant’
Twitter has
made a name for itself, at its most basic level, as a platform that gives
everyone who uses it a voice. But as it has grown, that unique selling point
has set Twitter up for as many challenges — harassment, confusing way to manage
conversations — as it has opportunities — the best place to see in real time
how the public reacts to something, be it a TV show, a political uprising, or a
hurricane.
Now, to fix
some of the challenges, the company is going to eat its own dogfood (birdfood?)
when it comes to having a voice.
In the
coming weeks, it’s going to launch a new beta program, where a select group of
users will get access to features, by way of a standalone app, to use and talk
about new features with others. Twitter, in turn, will use data that it picks
up from that usage and chatter to decide how and if to turn those tests into
full-blown product features for the rest of its user base.
We sat down
with Sara Haider, Twitter’s director of product management, to take a closer
look at the new app and what features Twitter will be testing in it (and what
it won’t), now and in the future.
The company
today already runs an Experiments Program for testing, as well as other tests,
for example to curb abusive behavior, to figure out how to help the service run
more smoothly. This new beta program will operate differently.
While there
will only be around a couple thousand participants, those accepted will not be
under NDA (unlike the Experiments Program). That means they can publicly
discuss and tweet about the new features, allowing the wider Twitter community
to comment and ask questions.
And unlike
traditional betas, where users test nearly completed features before a public
launch, the feedback from the beta could radically change the direction of
what’s being built. Or, in some cases, what’s not.
“Unlike a
traditional beta that is the last step before launch, we’re bringing people in
super early,” Haider said.
The first
version of the beta will focus on a new design for the way conversation threads
work on Twitter. This includes a different color scheme, and visual cues to
highlight important replies.
“It’s kind
of a new take on our thinking about product development,” explains Haider. “One
of the reasons why this is so critical for this particular feature is because
we know we’re making changes that are pretty significant.”
She says
changes of this scale shouldn’t just be dropped on users one day.
“We need you
to be part of this process, so that we know we’re building the right
experience,” Haider says.
Once
accepted into the beta program, users will download a separate beta app –
something that Twitter isn’t sure will always be the case. It’s unclear if that
process will create too much friction, the company says, so it will see how
testers respond.
Here are
some of the more interesting features we talked and saw getting tested in the
beta we were shown:
Color-coded
replies
During the
first beta, participants will try out new conversation features which offer
color-coded replies to differentiate between responses from the original poster
of the tweet, those from people you follow, and those from people you don’t
follow.
In a
development build of the beta app, Haider showed us what this looked like, with
the caveat that the color scheme being used has been intentionally made to be
overly saturated – it will be dialed down when the features launch to testers.
When you
click into a conversation thread, the beta app will also offer visual cues to
help you better find the parts of the thread that are of interest to you.
One way it’s
doing so is by highlighting the replies in a thread that were written by people
you follow on Twitter. Another change is that the person who posted the
original tweet will also have their own replies in the thread highlighted.
In the build
Haider showed us, replies from people she followed were shown in green, those
from non-followers were blue, and her own replies were blue.
Algorithmically
sorted responses
One of the
big themes in Twitter’s user experience for power and more casual users is that
they come up with workarounds for certain features that Twitter does not offer.
Take reading
through long threads that may have some interesting detail that you would like
to come back to later, or that branches off at some point that you’d like to
follow after reading through everything else. Haider says she marks replies
she’s seen with a heart to keep her place. Other people use Twitter’s “Tweets
& Replies” section to find out when the original poster had replied within
the thread, since it’s hard to find those replies when just scrolling down.
Now, the
same kind of algorithmic sorting that Twitter has applied to your main timeline
might start to make its way to your replies. These may also now be shown in a
ranked order, so the important ones — like those from your Twitter friends —
are moved to the top.
A later test
may involve a version of Twitter’s Highlights, summaries of what it deems
important, coming to longer threads, Haider said.
The
time-based view is not going to completely leave, however. “The buzz, that
feeling and that vibe [of live activity] that is something that we never want
to lose,” CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said last week on stage at CES. “Not
everyone will be in the moment at the exact same time, but when you are, it’s
an electrifying feeling…. Anything we can do to make a feeling of something
much larger than yourself [we should].”
Removing
hearts + other engagement icons
Another
experiment Twitter is looking at is what it should do with its engagement
buttons to streamline the look of replies for users. The build that we saw did
not have any hearts to favorite/like Tweets, nor any icons for retweets or
replies, when the Tweets came in the form of replies to another Tweet.
The icons
and features didn’t completely disappear, but they would only appear when you
tapped on a specific post. The basic idea seems to be: engagement for those who
want it, a more simplified view for those who do not.
The heart
icon has been a subject of speculation for some time now. Last year, the
company told us that it was considering removing it, as part of an overall
effort to improve the quality of conversation. This could be an example of how
Twitter might implement just that.
Twitter may
also test other things like icebreakers (pinned tweets designed to start
conversations), and a status update field (i.e. your availability, location, or
what you are doing, as on IM).
The status
test, in fact, points to a bigger shift we may see in how Twitter as a whole is
used, especially by those who come to the platform around a specific event.
One of the
biggest laments has been that on-boarding on the app — the experience for those
who are coming to Twitter for the first time — continues to be confusing.
Twitter admits as much itself, and so — as with its recent deal with the NBA to
provide a unique Twitter experience around a specific game — it will be making
more tweaks and tests to figure out how to move Twitter on from being fundamentally
focused around the people you follow.
“We have
some work to do to make it easier to discover,” Dorsey said, adding that right
now the platform is “more about people than interests.”
While all
products need to evolve over time, Twitter in particular seems a bit obsessed
with continually changing the basic mechanics of how its app operates.
It seems
that there are at least a couple of reasons for that. One is that, although the
service continues to see some growth in its daily active users, its monthly
active users globally have been either flat, in decline, or growing by a mere
two percent in the last four quarters (and in decline in the last three of the
four quarters in the key market of the US).
That
underscores how the company still has some work to do to keep people engaged.
The other is
that change and responsiveness seem to be the essence of how Twitter wants to
position itself these days. Last week, Dorsey noted that Twitter itself didn’t
invent most of the ways that the platform gets used today. (The “RT” (retweet),
which is now a button in the app; the hashtag; tweetstorms; expanded tweets,
and even the now-ubiquitous @mention are all examples of features that weren’t
created originally by Twitter, but added in based around how the app was used.)
“We want to
continue our power of observation and learning… what people want Twitter to be
and how to use it,” Dorsey said. “It allows us to be valuable and relevant.”
While these
continual changes can sometimes make things more confusing, the beta program
could potentially head off any design mistakes, uncover issues Twitter itself
may have missed, and help Twitter harness that sort of viral development in a
more focused way.
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