Steven Bowen
It aims to facilitate user with enriched visiting experience; now the users need to go from the main page either to see the profile of Twitter to others, or in case they wish to see a photo or video link. It has been estimated that around 90 million tweets per day is created on the Twitter platform, out of which 25 percent of tweets include the links, good links to the article, photo or video, which were not possible earlier in the old pattern of Twitter platform design.
These days Twitter has become the best way to discover what is new and current in the field which you have interest. A large number of the masses visit Twitter everyday to discover the interesting things happening in the world. Twitter has made many changes in its design with the aim to facilitate the user with an easier, faster, and richer experience. For example: Earlier, Twitter used to accept blogs or text messages up to 140 characters and not more than that, but now this constraint has been finished; it has defined itself as more than just a 140-character platform. Besides several changes committed, Twitter has also done partnership with various media companies such as Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, Flickr, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube, which in turn has made easy to see embedded photos and videos directly on Twitter.
Literally, Twitter rolled out a major redesign that revamps some of its major features to make itself more relevant on several platforms including iOS and Android. The new design will have now more of the same feel as when using an app.The prime intention behind launching the major Twitter redesign is to fundamentally change the way the users access their most important and significant tweets. The Twitter’s re-engineered platform has proved highly advantageous for designers and other visual professionals as they can now use images to push visitors toward content. Let us see the major changes made on the Twitter platform from different perspective.
Web Design
As far concerned to the web designing perspective, the Twitter has updated its platform by adding a variety of new features, including better search functionality, keyboard shortcuts and better tools for social interaction and many more. It has flipped the location of key items on its homepage, moving the timeline to the right and all of the extras to the left.
It is very clear from the above figure that the web design perspective has four distinct features, i.e. Home, Connect, Discover, and Me. Let’s have a look over each one in detail:
Home: This will present a redesigned user dashboard which appears at a first glance offering a more intuitive user experience. It is now with better options to keep track of replies, retweets and embedded media letting people to stay longer on Twitter to follow conversations and see how they evolve.
Connect: As the name suggests, it aims to consolidate all the interactions on Twitter; it is the place where the user can find new follows, mentions, re-tweets, etc. This feature has enabled people now to distinguish between interactions and the @mentions and thus offers an easier way to keep track of who is retweeting you and following up on conversations.
Discover: The “Discover” tab is a revamped portal for hash tags and trending topics letting you to discover and make connections with those who you recommend. Now, it provides you customized information depending upon your interests.
Me: The ‘Me’ feature is Twitter’s completely redesigned user profile having a unique look and feel.
Let us see the below given video to clearly understand the Twitter redesigned platform:
Hello, Shortcut Keys!
Another exciting improvements done with Twitter is the introduction to the keyboard shortcuts. Thanks to all those Twitter developers who have contributed their efforts in building 21 keyboard shortcut so that one can get away from the mouse and can directly interact with their followers with the help of keyboard. Since, the web browser already uses ctrl-letter combinations, Twitter uses single-letter keys. For example: Pressing “n” will pop up a dialogue box where you can write something and send tweets.
Mobile Design
One of the biggest improvements that took place on the Twitter is its relevance on several platforms including iOS and Android greatly affecting mobile users. Now, it looks on smartphone app similar as Twiter.com on a computer; it also works in a similar manner and is is easy to navigate with home, connect, discover and me buttons that are anchored at the bottom of the screen. Besides these, now it is easy for mobile users to follow people without leaving the item they are viewing. Overall, the tablet application has the same feel as on the desktop, with having popup window to view links without navigating away from the timeline.
Launches Brand Pages
Now with the redesigning of Twitter, popular brands will now have a better opportunity to use Twitter with their brand pages having customize look with a large header image to display a logo or a tagline. It will be advantageous to them having a “sticky” tweet staying on top of the page’s timeline appearing as auto-expanded to greet viewers with whatever content is displayed. Also, it will be more easier for brands to separate the @ replies and mentions to drive customer-service oriented conversations. Twitter has launched brand pages with having 21 commercial partners offering intuitive experience to the renowned brands. This feature could prove to be a great asset for the small-time design shop or freelance business, or to the designers who wish to showcase certain work and who are working with a limited advertising budget.
Conclusion
Twitter is the most popular micro-blogging platform which has been used by large masses of population worldwide for interacting with their followers. The redesign of Twitter has added an extra sort of visual interest to its homepage as compared to its past version, that will allow it to compete with some of the other promising applications such as Hoot Suite and Tweet Deck etc.
What’s your opinion regarding the changes made to the Twitter design. How do you feel the post? Share your views with us in the comment section of this post.
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