Designing Digital Products for Millennials: The Two Most Important Rules to Follow
Other than music, there is arguably no greater indicator of age than how a person interacts with the technology that surrounds them. Modern technology has changed nearly every aspect of our lives today, from the way we communicate and do business to how we socialize. And, no generation epitomizes the digital age quite like millennials.
Having grown up in the digital age, millennials innately understand when to swipe, where to find the power button, and how to navigate an odd-looking portal. They’re used to grandma calling for an impromptu iPad tutorial, and have high standards for the digital products they engage with frequently. So how do you design a successful product for these tech connoisseurs?
Our team of UX experts share their top two rules for doing just that:
Time is of the essence
Younger generations are used to accessing information extremely quickly and will not hesitate to close out of an application if the wait time is even a moment longer than necessary. In order to create a product that will be adopted and used, it has to be fast.
Takeaway: UX and UI designers need to have a solid grasp of the coding that will be driving the product, and then design around it to maximize speed.
Keep it simple
UX and UI design serves many purposes, one of which is making a platform or application look attractive to the user. Research has shown that millennials prefer clean, simple designs that streamline content and provide only the most relevant information up front. For a lot of designers, this is easier said than done. As we’ve discussed before, it can be tempting to fit as many features as possible into a minimally viable product –you should avoid this inclination in any circumstance, but especially when the product is being marketed to millennials.
Takeaway: Unless the feature absolutely needs to be there, do not include it.
If you’re interested in learning more about bridging the generational divides as you design your product, check out our product development and customer experience pages to see how 10Pearls approaches UX and CX.
