Case study: An archive feature for X(formerly Twitter)

Background

X (formerly Twitter) is a social networking application where users broadcast posts known as ‘Tweets”. These tweets can contain text, videos, photos or links.

Role

I was responsible for user research and user experience design, which involved evaluating user needs and requests, conducting interviews with active app users, gathering feedback, and ultimately designing a solution that addresses those needs.

Objective

The primary goal was straightforward: design a solution that allows users to temporarily archive feed posts. This feature was requested by users, and I saw it as a helpful way to eliminate the need to notify followers with “This tweet has been deleted” notifications and to reduce clutter from specific tweets on timelines, rather than resorting to permanent deletion.

User Research

Interviews

To initiate the process, I engaged with active users of the X (formerly Twitter) app. During this phase, my goals was to grasp their rationale for desiring the archive feature and to gather insights on how this feature could enhance their experience, ensuring the delivery of an optimal user experience.

Three key takeaways from from the interviews:

1. Users struggled with permanently deleting a post because they were indecisive at the time and could potentially desire to re-display the post in a matter of days.
2. Users might have posted a tweet and realized later that it was unimportant, but Twitter goes ahead and announces, ‘This tweet has been deleted, which brings attention to their action unnecessarily.
3. Some users struggled with managing a surge of mentions or notifications stemming from a particular viral tweet, leading to an overwhelming experience. Their preference leaned toward temporarily archiving the post rather than opting for deletion.

Ideation

During this phase, I engaged in a brainstorming session and came up with few ideas geared towards addressing the user’s needs that emerged from my interviews with them. The top three ideas were:

1. Incorporating an archive feature into the existing list of user options.
2. Offering users the ability to archive, unarchive, or permanently delete tweets.
3. Centralizing all these functions within the Archive screen to prevent cluttering the homepage or other pages.

Design & Implementation

Here are a few of the significant improvements I implemented in the current app design, drawing from the feedback and insights gathered during user interviews and various iterations:

1. INCORPORATE THE ARCHIVE FEATURE INTO THE EXISTING USER OPTIONS.

This is an empty state of the archive page. In this section, users can access archived posts, unarchive, and delete them. It includes a search box for tweet keyword search when dealing with a long list of archived posts, enhancing search speed. The gallery option allows viewing image-based tweets. The ellipsis menu provides the choice to unarchive or delete all posts.

2. INCLUDE THE “ARCHIVE OPTION’’ IN THE ELLIPSIS MENU ON A USER’S POST

The Archive option was added to the ellipsis menu, which appears when users post a tweet. Upon clicking the ellipsis to view previous options, they would also have the option to archive a tweet.

3. THE FILLED STATE OF THE ARCHIVE PAGE

This screen showcases all archived tweets. Recognizing that users may have a change of heart, I’ve included the option to either unarchive or delete tweets that have been previously archived. To simplify navigation within the extensive archived lists, Users can also search for specific tweets using a keyword, and the gallery option streamlines the search for image-based tweets. Additionally, at the top-right corner, another ellipsis menu offers the choice to unarchive or delete all tweets.

Other Screens

Takeaways

This project was exceptionally engaging, and I’m delighted to have crafted a real-time solution to meet user needs. In essence, early user interactions, along with a deep understanding of their pain points and requirements, helped streamline the design process, ultimately enhancing the overall user experience.

This project underscored the importance of not solely relying on assumptions about problems and solutions. While I may not have initially grasped the necessity for the archive feature, comprehending users’ motivations illuminated its significance. Our ultimate aim remains delivering the finest experience to our users.

Key Wins In A Nutshell

• Users can now manage their tweets without the need to permanently delete them, reducing the risk of unintentional data loss.
• Users now have a solution to manage overwhelming tweet notifications or content they find unimportant later.
• The archive feature offers a range of options, includaing archiving, unarchiving, and deleting tweets, while maintaining an intuitive and clutter-free interface
• Enhanced user experience

Thanks a lot for reading all the way to the end. Please leave a comment and 👏🏻 if you enjoyed reading. You can view a prototyped version here — Twitter Archive.

You can also reach out here — Esther Johnson if you would like to have a chat about design or business. Cheers🥂