Twitter’s redesign – why they missed the point

Twitter have redesigned their Home page.

That’s the bit before you login, to clarify. Most of us probably wouldn’t even have thought they had one.
It used to just have a big picture and a form helping you to sign up for the service. Now it has beautiful
design with curated categories that allow you to dive straight into the Twitter experience without signing up!

The update is currently only available to users in America but we have been told to expect a global rollout
in the near future. We have looked at the new design and will offer opinions whether they have got or missed the
point.

Why have they done this?

This comes in response to the huge bounce rate of 125,000,000 users a month that
visit the homepage and then leave without logging in or signing up, the only 2 purposes of the home page!. When
you consider that at the last count, Twitter had 288,000,000 active users, that is the equivalent to almost half
their current active users leaving the site each MONTH!

Why is this large bounce rate so important to twitter?

Their key revenue stream is based around having large numbers of active users and with so many people leaving they
are losing a huge active market. This was never more clearly highlighted than at their November Analyst Event
where they laid out their corporate mission, central to this was “Reach
the largest daily audience in the world”. That demonstrates Twitter making a statement
to both shareholders and advertisers that they are enroute to becoming the key online destination for all
Internet users, however they need to stem the leak before this becomes a reality

The thinking behind the new homepage

One big audience that twitter is losing is those that don’t understand it. If you register do you have to tweet? Avid
users like us understand that the answer is no, however is this message clearly conveyed on the home page?

Clearly the answer is no.

Twitter needed to pave the way for non logged in users to sample the delights (and procrastinations) that
actively using the service can bring. It also (and this is key) needed to highlight that you don’t have to Tweet
to be on Twitter, it can just as easily used to passively observe a user’s set of interests, like and hobbies.
Don’t forget they get one page to get the message of the various ways to use the system otherwise they have lost
another potential customer and of course another eyeball to sell to advertisers.

What do we think of the new homepage?

The new Home page was announced through a post on
their blog on Wednesday. It is certainly a step in the right direction, though I still have some
reservations on the new concept.

“You don’t have to tweet to use Twitter”

The new design is modern and sleek, grouping together topics, categories and communities into
easy-to-digest segments. Instantly allowing non logged in users to gain an insight into the
benefits (and procrastinations) of being a fully logged in user.

It also makes that one, very important statement we mentioned above: you don’t have
to tweet to use Twitter.

This is a quick and simple start to Twitter for those who who never had the time to build
up users to follow, it breaks down walls and is more in touch with the idea of quick and easy
that is now synonymous with Social Media. Twitter has often been criticised for a ‘too much
noise’ problem, this is because, unlike Facebook, your timeline is still very much in real time.
Now, this is a decent attempt at solving this issue, whilst maintaining their integrity.

This is all great stuff from the Micro Blogging giant. The design is clean and, with 18
main categories and up to 58 in the more granular options in the sidebar, users can easily find
the areas that interest them the most.

In theory, there should be something for everybody here. Key categories range from Cute
Animals (of course), to News Outlets, NBA Personalities, Celebrity Chefs, Reporters, Political
Parties and beyond. It is broad, relevant and accessible.

Trouble at bay

However, when you take a step back from all this praise, and start to wonder how the uninitiated
might seek to engage meaningfully with each of the categories, problems start to appear. One of
the beauties of Twitter is that it is, to a huge degree, used by individuals. However, when you
group together individuals into categories you can get seemingly disjointed and incoherent
conversations. The current categories are based around personalities and people; Celebrity Chefs
rather than Food & Chefs, Country Music Stars, rather than Country Music, NBA Players not
NBA Teams. Wouldn’t we, as onlookers, prefer a mixture of the above?

For example, which of the following categories would make for a more interesting group of
conversations to the casual observer; Food & Drink, Or Celebrity Chefs & Personalities?
To decide this we need to know what the approximate content of the two groups would be. Option
one is likely to be the latest restaurant openings, recipes, hints & tips and other food
related goodies, all mixed in with a few celebrity chefs tweeting about their general life. In
contrast, option 2 tells us that Guy Fieri is going to the Mighty Ducks Musical and that Mario
Batali is friends with Gwyneth Paltrow (did I mention this is only in the US currently?).

Clearly I cannot speak for the masses (though I’d like to try), but I can hazard a guess
that for most people, the first group is a far more enticing group than the second. It is
important to remember, whilst reading this, that we are talking about users who are not familiar
to Twitter, to its idiosyncrasies and strange etiquettes, but I’ll get away from this area lest
I start ranting about manual retweets and the such.

However, it seems that the second option is the reality. It does not allow for the fact
that these celebrities and personalities have lives beyond being endless advocates for their
personal brand. This means Chefs tweeting about the NBA and NBA stars tweeting about food. To
get back to the original point, how is that meant to encourage potential new users to register?!
As a lover of Twitter this Irks me. Twitter does not have to be overwhelming, but this approach
certainly makes it seem as such.

What’s next for Twitter?

As I have mentioned, there is so much to love here, if the guys and gals over at Twitter can refine
this tool then you have to believe they are well on their way to capturing some of the lost
125,000,000. Beyond this, surely it shouldn’t just be a feature for non members. I want to be
shown some Twitter love and be able to play with the new toy too!

I have always wondered about the ability to automate list creation based on the accounts I
follow. At the moment the lists feature seems like an afterthought, tacked on like a donkey’s
tail at a children’s party. The fact that it has not been designed with the user in mind annoys
me, and it could be so powerful for the general user and marketers alike. An example of this is
my personal account. I follow a whole mixture of users, roughly speaking, these can be assigned
to the following categories: Advertising, Digital, Technology, Design, Rugby, Football, Skiing,
Eating, Musicians and News Correspondents. Wouldn’t it be lovely to split up those without the
hours needed to do it at the moment? Wouldn’t this just cut out the noise and let us
concentrated on our specific interests of the moment. Then, when the moment takes, turn the hose
back on and inundate ourselves in the random beauty of the standard Twitter feed!

With my JBi hat on we are not just talking about a more pleasurable commute, but about
saving hours of client work that we put in when taking over a new Twitter account. Not only that
but, with our own account it would be great to quickly and easily segment our competition (yes
we do follow our peers!), digital marketing resources, creative resources and potential brands?
At the moment this is something backlogged for a (very) rainy day!

This all feels like a bit of a rant at a feature that I have been wanting for a while now,
so I’ll leave it there! As a big Twitter fan, I truly do hope that members will be given
features that non members now have. Of course, we can all log out and use the categories, but
that is not the point. Our loyalty deserves more than that.

A recap

All in all, we love the concept behind the new design. It looks great and certainly is a huge leap in
the right direction in terms of engaging users who are otherwise unsure of how or why they would
start using Twitter. It offers instant gratification, reducing the hassle of finding users to
follow and banding together groups of people and topics in a manner that at first seems sensible
and coherent. It even has even has a section for Cute Animals – how perfect is that?

The ultimate question is whether or not it will solve the problem of the current Home page?
The astronomical bounce rate is killing Twitter and we have to believe that this is going to
drive more users to register and therefore create more advertising revenue for Twitter. However,
couldn’t they have taken this further? Couldn’t they have made it better still?

Unfortunately, we think the categories are too based on people, and as such do not offer
what is suggested they might at first glance. If you are interested in knowing what all your
favourite NBA stars are doing at any given moment, then perhaps this is perfect. However, if you
are like me, this doesn’t quite cut it; why make it NBA Stars & Personalities when the
reporters who write about the topic are of just as much, if not more interest. I certainly
follow more Rugby & Football Journos than I do actual players.

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for the rollout to the UK. It is a big move and one
that takes them in the right direction for their goals. Just be pleased that I didn’t quote
their whole corporate mission, even CFO Anthony Noto can’t say it without fluffing his lines!

“Reach the largest daily audience in the world by connecting everyone to their world
via our information sharing and distribution platform products and be one of the top
revenue generating Internet companies in the world.”

“I struggle to read it every time”