Designing app Ui for Gen Z? Take note of these rules and you’d be glad you did. Generation Z is glued to the iPad screen and playing video games, while Generation X check emails while leaving his workplace.
Yes, this is the speck of the difference between Gen Z and Gen X, and it is important that app developers know about this. While mobile apps are useful products for everyone in the family, including the little toddler, Generation Z seems to consume the highest mobile time now.
What is Gen Z and how to design an app for Generation Z? This is what we will explain through the length of this blog post.
Who Belongs to Generation Z?
There are widespread confusions on demarcations of different generations. Before the start of the new millennium, the coinages like Generation Y and Generation X surfaced widely in public discussions and discourses.
As for the cut-off date for Generation Z, we mainly refer to the millennials born in and around 2005. So, they can be referred to as early teens, right? Now we must be aware of the typical tastes, psychological makeups, and inclinations of people belonging to Generation Z.
First of all, an overwhelming 96% of Generation Z has a smartphone. Most of them spend at least an hour on apps or mobile web. Half of Generation Z are heavy internet users and spend ten or more hours on the internet or mobile app.
How can such heavy users of digital platforms be ignored by the app developers or the app world as a whole? No, they cannot be.
This is why mobile app development companies always focus on design principles and development methods to adhere to the tastes and requirements of Generation Z. Here are some user interface (UI) design tips for Gen Z users.
4 Rules For Designing App UI For Gen Z
1. Ease, simplicity, and effortlessness
Ease, simplicity, and effortlessness are all connected principles for design and development. The core of these attributes is minimalism. Minimalist app design with a simple menu and navigation options, ease of access to any feature, and effortless user experience can win the heart of users in the flash of a second.
Since Generation Z users overwhelmed by loads of digital content in every nook and corner are always over-stressed, they have a very lower attention span of waiting for anything more than 2-3 seconds.
This is where simplicity and ease of access pay off. If your app is targeting the teen millennials, give attention to ease of use and simplicity in design before anything else.
2. Thumb-Friendly design
Have you ever seen how teenagers mostly handle their handheld single-handedly for messaging, browsing, and even gaming? Yes, they prefer to browse the phone screen while doing something with the other hand.
This is why any app UI design that allows them to scroll and browse with just their thumb gains more traction among young users. While designing the app UI, give extreme importance to the thumb zone and make sure most of the on-screen contents can be scrolled and navigated with just thumb movement on the screen.
You also should ensure designing the clickable areas and CTA buttons to allow easy thumb taps by single-handed users. Gen Z users are smarter than others when navigating through an app, and any app preventing them from single-handed scrolling, browsing, and navigating will ultimately be dumped.
3. Rigorous Testing
Generation Z typically has altogether different expectations from the digital interfaces. The same user flow that may seem to be fairly linear and user-oriented may actually be felt as really frustrating and time-consuming for the Gen Z users.
Well, this is where the importance of UI testing is realized. The app UI creation should allow simultaneous testing throughout the design process. From wireframing to mock-ups to app prototyping, every design phase output should be evaluated to ensure addressing Gen Z sentiments and requirements.
Make sure you open scopes of frequent iterations and feedback for superior app UI design. Remember that Gen Z users are the most impatient and merciless, and they cannot withstand a moment’s delay in-app performance. This is why rigorous user testing should be a priority for apps targeting these users.
4. Always aim for the present.
Unlike the users of other generations, the users belonging to Generation Z are fickle in character. These users often download an app and use it for a few minutes before deleting it. They have a “Use and Throw” approach towards the apps as they are aware that there are thousands of similar apps for every different use case or purpose.
This is why, for the app UI design, you need to keep this shorter attention span and short-lived approach of the users in mind. It would help if you always aimed for instant gratification and quick engagement when designing Gen Z users’ apps.
For Gen Z users, everything deserves a limited attention span. Your app UI design should address only this limited attention span of the users.
Conclusion
App UI design targeting users’ specific tastes and preferences are no longer just a choice, but it has already become necessary.
Since the app market is tremendously competitive and app users already make more than half the world’s population, every business needs to jump on the mobile app bandwagon.
When it comes to Gen Z, you cannot just go on with your so-called design best practices and principles for app design of other niches.
Originally posted on December 30, 2021 @ 8:06 pm
