Technology and Generations

It should be obvious that different generations feel differently regarding certain design elements and social media. But how often do we take this into consideration in our designs? If we are good, thoughtful designers, hopefully our designs reflect the target market in which we are designing for. First lets discuss the distinctions between generations: Baby boomers (born between 1943 and 1961), Generations X’ers (born between 1961 and 1981) and Millennials (born between 1982 and 2002). First of all, a common opinion among all three generations, is that small fronts and web pages do not mix. It”s easy to assume that baby boomers aren’t fans of small typefaces, however, more surprisingly, small fonts are undesirable regardless of age. In terms of functionality, baby boomers don”t like flash animation or graphics that scroll or move across the page. While Generation X’ers don”t mind them and Millennials find the page somewhat boring without them. Research has also shown that in terms of social media, Generation Xers prefer twitter, Millennials prefer facebook and while Baby boomers are inclined to try both, they aren’t absorbed by neither facebook nor twitter. Lastly, if the project contains images of people, Millennials are most likely to become preoccupied with the appearance or age of the people in the picture. Thus, if trying to appeal to the millennial generation, pictures of young, attractive people will most likely lure and keep them on a website longer. Being part of the Millennial generation, I find these facts quite interesting. If you have more facts on this issue, let us know!

Written by: Karly Poole