Keeping the Attention of Young App Users

July 6, 2016

By Leah Heilbrunn

Millennial Editor
AGL Media Group

July 6, 2016 — It’s hard not to notice the enormous market for technology aimed towards youth. Kids aged 5 to 20, also known as “Generation Z,” are big users of wireless. These users especially love smartphones and computers — and all of the apps and entertainment that come with them. This generation has always had this technology available to them. They’ve never lacked access to information or entertainment and, as a result, easy access is vital to keeping their attention.

The average member of Generation Z is estimated to have an attention span of roughly 8 seconds. That means that marketers and web creators have 8 seconds to get the attention of these users and encourage them to click on their content. Here are a few things you can do with your app to get — and keep — the attention of this younger, faster demographic, and to streamline your app for every other user as well:

1. Ensure that your name and graphics are modern, straightforward and to-the-point. Young users don’t want to be pandered to with bright colors and cutesy names. And, even if you come up with a mish-mashed name that sounds really cool, a user will scroll right past it if she can’t gather the purpose of your app based on its name and icon. Read: If another app does something similar to yours, but offers a sleeker name and icon, that app will be downloaded and you’ll been “scrolled.”

2. Create apps that require as little navigation as possible. More buttons equal more trouble and more time. Everything a user needs should be on the opening page (i.e., no sidebars, no dropdowns, no click-to-reveal). All of these layouts seem cumbersome and time consuming. Navigations to key parts of the app are handy at the bottom of the screen, in good thumb-reaching distance. If the app is slow to navigate, a young user will move on to something quicker.

3. Connect to social media for profile creation and login. Let’s be honest: Nobody likes filling out forms to create online profiles. It takes time away from getting into the app, and requiring users to fill in boxes might send them scrolling away. Connecting with social media will gather necessary profile information and also lead to more app integration (and share-ability!). Connecting to Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram is an easy step that can get users into your app faster.

You might be saying to yourself, I market (towers, antennas, amplifiers, cabling, etc.) to people in the middle ages or higher. How does this impact me? First these communications trends reach beyond Generation Z today and tomorrow they will be in the workforce affecting buying decisions.