Twitter has a new feature, similar to the Facebook recommend feature, where they recommend people you might want to follow. An acquaintance summed it up as, and I paraphrase from memory: “recommending people I’ve already chosen not to follow”.
Out of curiosity I’ve been checking through their recommendations just to see if I’ve missed anyone, and kind of to see who they think I am, based on who they think I should follow. I’d guess 98% of the time I’ve been hitting hide, rather than follow. One of those times I meant to hit hide, I accidentally hit follow. I was in a groove, hitting “hide” without moving my mouse because as you click, the person disappears, moving the next person into that place. My browser had a little burp and didn’t quite move it up all the way, and I hit “Follow” instead. Now I’m embarrassed and don’t want to un-follow the person I had no intention of following to begin with.
*queue social media guilt*
There was a very basic usability problem in the twitter interface, they put the two actions directly attached. They’ve done some good by making the hide link text, and the follow link a button, but they are still so close that people have got to be clicking the wrong button often.
The problem:
A better solution:
Why not separate them enough that they wouldn’t accidentally be clicked? It seems like a minor issue, but this is the kind of interaction detail that is necessary to create a smooth flowing experience, without making the user think or precisely aim.
