New Twitter Design: Simplicity is again the key

New Twitter Design is a KISS of fresh air

On Thursday Twitter announced that there will be a radically new design coming that seems to be focused on making Twitter easier to use.  Immediately, I think of the essential principle of KISS, Keep It Simple Superstar. 

Too often software engineers, and even consultants, try to make their solution such a work of art and science that they are the only ones who can understand it.  I've seen this in software, written and oral presentations, just about every communication medium that exists.  I've been accused of being succinct and to the point before, so it appears even clients like more pages and words over deliberate clarity at times.  So it is encouraging to see such icon of software development institute the simplicity principle. 

The new design will be focused on making hashtags and other Twitter basics easier for new users to become acquinted with and use.  The new Twitter will have a special toolbar for the @ and # symbols.  It is labeling the @ symbol with the "connect" moniker and the # symbol with the "discover" moniker.

Focusing on the connect and discover functions, here are some details from Twitter ...

Connect: "Is your way to keep the conversation flowing"

Entering someone's Twitter handle on the Connect pane will enable the user to learn more and connect with that handle instantly.  The connect pane is also the place for a twitter user to view twitter mentions.  Currently these functions are available in three places, so the new design will reduce this two once location.  Good trade in my book.

Discover: "Let's you tap into a stream of useful and entertaining information, customized just for you"

The discover pane will aggregate your interests based on your location, what you follow and current events.  In my mind, the localization is a great feature although the implications of having to have geolocation enabled doesn't make overwhelmingly comfortable.

It will also be possible to enter hashtags into the discover pane and be delivered all the related stories and conversations tagged with that hash.  This feature brings to mind one of my favorite Twitter tools, Tweeted Times. 

Tweet Deck Effect

One thing that seems obvious is that Twitter's acquisition of Tweet Deck is driving some changes which seems to imply that Twitter is interested in learning from the market and ultimately its users.  This is a good sign of things to come for Twitter users and application developers alike. 

More details can be found at the Twitter blog.