Twitter’s implementing a new process flow for user reports of tweets which looks to better diagnose the issue at hand in each situation by asking more about why you’re reporting the tweet, as opposed to more binary violation categories.

As you can see in this example, the new process takes users through the reporting process by first asking who the report is for and what the problem is, before moving onto what the violation may be.

As explained by Twitter:

“The new approach lifts the burden from the individual to be the one who has to interpret the violation at hand. Instead it asks them what happened. This method is called symptoms-first, where Twitter first asks the person what's going on.”

The design could make it easier to more accurately report issues in tweets, which could then ensure that appropriate action is taken, as Twitter will be able to better funnel each report into the right assessment categories.

“Once the person reporting a violation describes what happened, Twitter then presents them with the Terms of Service violation they think might have occurred, at which point Twitter asks: Is that right? If not, the person can say so, which will help signal to Twitter that there are still some gaps in the reporting system.”

It’s not a major change, but it could be a significant improvement, with some violations falling by the wayside simply because they’re reported for the wrong reasons. By building a more intuitive reporting system, that could help Twitter understand more about each problem, while it will also help to identify further gaps in its reporting process that could lead to more refinements and improvements over time.

The new reporting flow is being tested with a small group of users in the US right now, and will be expanded to more regions in the new year.