Gen Z Won’t Wait 3 Seconds - How UX Needs to Evolve

BANC PR - expert comment: Gen Z Won’t Wait 3 Seconds - How UX Needs to Evolve

Capturing the attention span of an entire generation that lasts just 3 seconds might sound like an impossible task. But if nothing else, Gen Z are tech savvy – it’s more a case of knowing which approaches to UX will hold their concentration the most, and then putting them into action.

So where should designers start?

I’d recommend being open to scroll depth. We’re used to scrolling on sites more and more, so embrace it. Keeping Jakob’s Law in mind (“Users spend most of their time on other sites, so they want your site to work the same), sites like TikTok, Instagram and other popular platforms can provide inspiration. Gen Z have seen how such sites have adapted over time, they’ve grown up using them. Using stylistic choices, like icon types, inspired by Gen Z’s favourite sites can make information seem clearer and more familiar to them.

Unsurprisingly, Gen Z have less patience for complicated processes. They expect information to be at their fingertips. Functionality is therefore essential. With a 3-second attention span, they have no time for slow load times, faulty forms and glitches of any kind. Basically, nothing less than a seamless experience will be tolerated.

This is doubly important since Gen Z prefer interactivity, engaging graphics, movement, animation, videos and visuals to hook them in. Things like homepage hero carousels, videos and chatbots are what they prefer to static text and imagery. So, it’s essential that these busier, more engaging elements all function without issues. If you’re an eCommerce site, then having a popup appear 5 seconds offering a discount or a newsletter sign up is another great way for Gen Z users to engage.

Personalising the UX is another effective way to engage users too. Take time to study UX in more depth, familiarising yourself with user-centred design, persona creation, user journeys and user testing. Persona creation is especially vital, and shouldn’t be skipped over. It’s what will keep pushing UX forward and deliver more effective conversions. And with the digital experience more important to younger generations than previous ones, crafting specific landing pages and directing users to areas of the site which are most meaningful to them creates a distinct, powerful digital experience that keeps Gen Z users coming back for more.

Carrying out user research will also unearth the need for a mobile-first site design or not. But if you’re a business trying to serve the younger generation, then it’s well worth investing in a strong mobile experience, especially as app usage becomes increasingly normalised – and that goes for business ideas as diverse as car parking, photo editing and fitness tracking. An app not only helps with short attention span because it takes out the external interference created by lots of tabs, but it can also be personalised based on the data collected during each user’s experience when using it.