Context
As the #1 product priority at Twitter, we needed to make changes to increase growth and the longevity of Spaces. In the end, I built a recorded Spaces experience that unlocked the ability for users to replay Spaces, even after they have ended.
Why Recording?
In the beginning, Spaces were only accessible live. This meant that if you weren't on Twitter as it was happening, you would miss the Space. This frustrated a lot of users and we identified this as one of the core issues contributing to the decline in usage.
We spoke to users and got valuable feedback around what a potential recording experience should feel like before, during, and after.
Recording Experience
Onboarding modal
The onboarding modal told users they were entering a Space that was being recorded.
Entrypoint
Introduced a new recording card that users could access from their timeline.
The card metadata included the audience count, time information, Space title, and call to action.
Recording UI
A recording badge indicated that the Space was being recorded.
Clipping
As a follow up, we introduced a clipping feature that gave listeners the ability to clip parts of a recorded Space to share to their followers.
Results
After experimentation, we learned that recording not only extended the value of a Space, but it also brought consistent growth to the platform. Recording also unlocked new features for the team including a Spaces tab, clipping, and monetization.
Monthly users at the start of experiment
Monthly users at the end of experiment