UX Design for Different User Generations

0 to 80 years…UX for 5 ages

Age is influential; Gen X, Gen Y, Xennials, Millenials, Centennials.

We see different generations of people having different dependencies on digital platforms, having certain expectations, needs, and demands. In the rapidly expanding technological world of today, when smartphone, tablets, PCs, wearables have become an inseparable part of the human life, it is quintessential that the users are served with the best of the user experience.

Diverse age groups have diverse demands. Diversity is one of the things that make the web great and henceforth, emphasis must be laid on recognizing and appreciating the difference that age can make in creating a digital platform.

Designing UX according to the different age groups can seemingly be an onus but the consequential development and use of the platform changes the behavior of conventional development.

1. Psychology
2. Accessibility
3. Usability

These three factors primarily change the process of UX Design.

THE GENERAL RULING FACTORS

The utmost important is making the User Interface friendly and by that making the experience user-friendly. The factors of influence and decision:

Fonts: the bigger, the better

Colour and Contrast balance for optimal visibility

Spare the banality: Be Language easy

Easy gestures and clicks to solve cognitive difficulties

UI Map/ User Journey Flow: point A to point B

THE TECH AGE GROUPS

1. Toddlers — 0 to 8 years

Young children want to be entertained. The ultimate goal is to keep them busy. There’s no necessary direct goal in mind. Therefore, UXD for toddlers gives us the liberty to engage them through exploration and interaction. Their journey painted colorful, playful, gesticulated is more of delightful user experience.

UXD for TODDLERS

1. Keep the UI decluttered: minimal elements and easy UI maps
2. Implement iconography to relate and resonate to familiar experiences
3. Vivid and exciting colors, palettes, themes
4. Avoid integrated advertisements even at the far-flung corners
5. Consider using animation, sound, videos, illustrations
6. Relate your screen to the characters they know (TV/movies/comics)
7. Include one-minute educational and/or attractive games
8. Reinforce their actions through emotions
9. Provide feedback on their interactions and see them coming again!

2. Tweens or Teens— 9 to 19 years

Teenagers rely on technology to keep up. Technology is the most prevalent with teenagers than with young children. Their introduction to the world out of their friends, family, and acquaintances start from here now. Interaction with toddlers was significant while young adults like interactivity only when it serves a purpose and supports their current task.

UXD for TEENS

1. Making a website/ app more teenager-friendly
2. Adopt a more methodical approach and seek discovering information
3. Avoid jargon
4. Avoid unnecessary placement of an advertisement. Paste only when beneficial
5. Use technology to achieve set goals of the teens in their ‘social mind’
6. Keeping the UI clean (a factor common to all ages)
7. Favor graphical content over textual content; teens resent reading too much
8. Do NOT use animation and sound excessively or to convey singular things
9. Ensure the content be pragmatic, relatable, simplistic that it appears young and fresh

3. The Young Adults — 20 to 35 years

These are the digital natives; the people that surrounded technology when the mass critical developments took over. The now Millenials were or are involved in usability testing, psychological analysis, ergonomics. These are the people that change the wind of business.

UXD for the YOUNG ADULTS

1. Define goals, directions and instructions explicitly
2. Rely more on search than discovery; make things handy
3. Usability and accessibility are critical, but that doesn’t mean the website can’t be clever!
4. Tailor a straightforward and accessible User Interface (UI) Map
5. Prefer text over visuals
6. Lay lesser emphasis on research and study; get to the answers quickly
7. Get to the toes to have your users interact with the screens. (Anyhow!)

4. Older Adults — 35 to 55 years

Elderly users tend to be the ignored ones but they are the people who understand the value of user engagement and experience with a brand, product or a customer.

1. Making websites highly visible and highly memorable
2. The text should be large and easy to read and the links easy to click
3. Employ very little or minimal animation or movement that might be distracting
4. Keep the UI Map straightforward, easy to understand
5. During longer tasks, give clear feedback on progress and reminders of goals
6. Avoid splitting tasks across multiple screens if they require memory of previous actions.
7. Don’t be afraid of long-form text and deep content. Keep experimenting!

5. The Seniors — 56 to 80 years and beyond

The newbies in town — the seniors are here to learn and cultivate the habit of smartphones and tablets as their regime. This age group of users above 60 years seems the simplest but are the most difficult nut to crack. There are numerous User Experience Design aspects to be taken care of while designing a ‘senior-friendly’ digital platform.

1. Avoid font sizes smaller than 16 pixels
2. Provide visual and hearing aid
3. Let people adjust text size themselves
4. Avoid blue for important interface elements
5. Provide subtitles when video or audio content is fundamental to the user experience
6. Don’t rely on SMS to convey important information
7. Don’t overemphasize security and privacy controls when trusted people are involved
8. Do not ask for too many permissions
9. Don’t make absurd and excessive assumptions about their prior knowledge

These make THE CUT for me while designing UX for different user generations. I hope this helps you too! Cheers!

Happy UXing!