Shared content gives the internet life.
The Tweet Sharing Experience
As a lead designer on the growth team, I identified the Tweet-sharing experience as a significant opportunity for the team. By reducing friction in this flow I realized we could increase the number of users returning, and the users returning would have clear interests we could cater to. I started by redesigning the share sheet, which improved retention so much that Twitter eventually dedicated an entire team to this workstream.
Tweet screenshots are everywhere
The meme format of image + commentary is built into Twitter, so you frequently see screenshots on IG.
Another meme format is people reacting to Tweets, reading Tweets, or using a Tweet as a prompt for a video.
Tiktok
People share Tweet screenshots with friends and groupchats. We saw users coming to Twitter from iMessage, Whatsapp, and Messenger.
Messaging Apps
Research: Why don’t people share Tweets?
There was no way to share Tweets to visual platforms like IG, Snapchat, or TikTok.
Tweets don’t render reliably on all chat services.
The friction of sharing on Twitter.
Share Menu ->iOS Share Sheet -> Choose App
The Business Opportunity
During 2020 planning, I shared the case for redesigning the sharing experience with the team. The data scientist on our team was interested in this opportunity, so he did some research. His research showed that retention rates for users who return to Twitter via shared Tweet URL’s is higher than that of push notifications, email, and Google search.
Up to this point, the team had never invested in the sharing experience, so this presented a valuable, under-invested opportunity.
Solutions
I approached this problem space by redesigning multiple points in the user experience
Share Sheet that reduces the friction of sharing
Improved legibility of Tweets rending off-platform
Explorations of how Tweets could be remixed for more creative expression.
Tweet Share Sheet
The share sheet simplifies sharing by bringing in the most popular apps directly into Twitter. Users expressed delight at us cutting out an additional step.
Impact
The share sheet was launched in September 2020 and exceeded our expectations, increasing shares by 350K per day. This was such a huge win for our team that this work was mentioned in Twitter’s letter to the board of directors. And a year later, we had an entire team focused on the sharing experience.
Tweet Preview on Whatsapp
The majority of referral traffic from shared Tweets came from WhatsApp, so I proposed some recommendations to make it easier for users to read and appreciate Tweets.
Larger Media Previews
Larger text
Increased text contrast
Thankfully they were convinced, and they adopted some of the recommendations!
Old Version
New Version
Expressive Tweets on Instagram
What if you could share a Tweet and add visual commentary to it? For a Tweet about San Francisco, a photo of the city you love. For a Tweet with Jungkook singing, why not sing along?
Impact
These exploratory designs for sharing Tweets to Instagram helped get PM’s, engineers, and business partners excited about what we could do with sharing as we continued to explore this workstream.