Twitter released it latest redesign last December 8, Thursday, to engage more users and advertisers to the micro-blogging site. The home page now focuses on the “#” and “@” symbols to help users understand how the website works. Other than the look and feel, Twitter now also provides relevant news and entertainment feeds for a particular user.

Twitter’s New Icons

At the top of Twitter’s home page are three icons: A bird house (Home), “@ Connect” (Conversations), and “# Discover” (Keywords and topics). The Discover icon shows a page of news stream and other content from sites and people that the user is not following. The feed is based on the website’s algorithm of the user’s location, what he/she posts about and other tweets that he/she clicks. In line with these icons is a quill that enables users to compose a 140-character message.

Twitter’s facelift is aimed to keep users stay on the social network longer. In fact, prolonged engagement is potentially attractive to advertisers, too, as Twitter included an enhanced “brand page” for selected companies.

Functionality and User Experience

Twitter has thought through every detail of a user’s experience. With the micro-blogging site’s new look, it’s now easy to see what images, replies and re-tweets are associated with a particular message. Furthermore, a new button at the top right corner of the page enables users to close all open tweets.

Less Intrusive Advertising

Before Twitter launched its new look, Promoted Products appear intrusive with the user experience. But with the new design, everything is clearly labeled and has its place. Who to Follow is now visually separated from Trends, making it easy to understand what the promoted items on top of each page are.

However, Twitter’s new design is perceived by others as difficult to use. New users are having a difficult time identifying who or what to follow, and they quickly leave the website because they don’t know what proper hash tag to use to search for relevant news. However, other users still believe that Twitter’s new design is a newbie-friendly.

Since its launch, Twitter has proved itself an effective tool in influencing and mobilizing the crowd. Its clean and functional home page simply indicates what Twitter is all about: Discovering content and connecting with people.