How To Build Products Millennials Love

Written by viktoria | Published 2020/05/26
Tech Story Tags: business | millennials | how-to-design-for-millennials | marketing | product-building | app-features-for-millennials | millennial-friendly-apps | gen-y

TLDR Millennials are the generation that understands the value of social networks and mobile apps. They value individuality, both in the concept of the institution and in relation to themselves, as to guests. Millennials love Netflix, food-delivery applications, and washing services. They are more prone to “purchase” impressions rather than material products. VR/AR technologies will define our future, so it probably will be appealing to younger generations too. We hope our list of Millennials’ preferences and values will come in handy.via the TL;DR App

Millennials are the generation that understands the value of social networks and mobile apps. In this article, I've gathered distinctive features of this generation that predefine their expectations of modern apps.
To the delight of marketers, the millennials are very well studied: they leave the brightest digital footprint and their values ​​are expressed quite clearly, allowing brands to successfully analyse their behavior and, thus, win their attention. Below, we list some of the tricks that will help you find an approach to them. 

Capture Individuality

Millennials value individuality, both in the concept of the institution and in relation to themselves, as to guests. Their increased self-conceit forces brands to resort to more sophisticated ways of gaining their loyalty. 
They are pleased when they are not forgotten even after they left your establishment and are annoyed by an outdated approach to product marketing. For example, a poor site interface, slow or inefficient customer support, the lack of brand pages on social networks, and the lack of many means of communication with sellers.

Find a Balance Between Technology and Real Life

On the one hand, millennials are ready to buy goods by subscription. They love Netflix, food-delivery applications, and washing services. However, researchers state that they are more prone to “purchase” impressions rather than material products. So, you might wonder: if this generation prefers to order nearly everything with home delivery, how do you lure them into your store? 
The answer is simple - turn their trip to your store into a virtual experience. This can be done by simply adding such popular technologies as VR/AR to your app toolkit. Many experts state that VR/AR technologies will define our future, so it probably will be appealing to younger generations too.

Strive for Simplicity

Now there are so many different apps and platforms that it is quite difficult for companies to attract attention. Stay as simple as possible. Your app has to speak for itself. Focus on its quality and let the design be simple. The minimalist design makes everything mysterious, and curiosity helps boost engagement. Simplicity increases the involvement of millennials in the context of technology. The most successful platforms take their ego away and concentrate on openness and the ability to connect with users.

Offer Help in New Life Circumstances

It is important to grow and develop along with the millennials and give them tools that can be useful in new trials, for example, parental experience. Brands need to understand what is relevant to their target audience. Special attention should be paid to the moments when the millennials move into a new phase of life and need help. Offer them an affordable and useful app that will facilitate their tasks - and they will repay you with devotion.

Environmental Friendliness

One of the most pronounced values ​​of the millennials is a serious orientation to social responsibility and the environmental friendliness.
Representatives of this generation are even ready to overpay for green products. So, make sure that your company follows all the guidelines of green business. 

5 Ways to Make Your App Millennial-Friendly

So what features should your app possess to lure Millennials? Below, there is a list of the most important things to consider during mobile app development to make an app attractive for this fascinating generation. We hope our list of Millennials’ preferences and values will come in handy. 
Attend to their Unique Needs 
Millennials are receptive to social transformation, influencing events, happenings, and feelings. This generation produces novel ideas, hypotheses, and projections. If you are creating an application for youth, it must meet the longing to be listened to and supported.
One of the most desired needs of today’s young people is to stay anonymous. You can realize this option in your app and give everyone a chance to communicate freely with no personal data leakage.
Add the Opportunity to Save
The popularity of demand-driven economies has grown, increasing the number of work places and possibilities of making income. There are thousands of shopping malls that can break your bank account. But, who would want that? 
Millennials often lack money, so they are always open to savings by finding profitable offers and engaging in loyalty programs. If there is something in your application that you are selling, consider submitting opportunities to obtain a discount, take advantage of hottest proposals, bonuses, etc. You can also develop a tool that provides info on the cheapest shopping malls, travel tours, etc.  
Give them a Goal to Achieve
Millennials are struggling to discover a more profound life purpose and its realization. They presumably can determine the sense in a specific intent that demands action. And this is the perfect job for a mobile app. Anyone will enjoy your app if it assists in achieving a specific mission or overcoming certain difficulties. For instance, it can encourage charity, environmental awareness, social problems, reporting, etc.
No matter how you encourage youth to achieve aims, they will definitely want to showcase their accomplishments with the app community. So, if you want to develop a super-successful app, be sure to provide such a chance to them. In addition, rewards in the form of digital trophies can inspire discussion about your app on social networks. This can serve for two purposes at once: good marketing and attraction of new users.
Help them Express Themselves
Millennials, just like the rest of people in the world, strive to display the very best of them. In the era when we are regularly communicating on social networks, our looks, individuality, and identities mean a lot. Millennials tend to worry about other people’s opinions, and this triggers them to download apps that allow expression and improvement. 
For example, include the ability to remove photography defects, add filters, set specific avatars or customize app colors.  
Entertain
Millennials are the most enthusiastic users of technology. So, it is not shocking that applications posed to entertain and distract (games, music clouds, etc) are the most prevalent amongst youth. 
However, games and music streaming apps are not the exclusive means to please this generation. Any application that contains app gamification features will definitely be more popular than a simple practical tool. Even at first glance, less attractive applications, such as banking applications, can become more interesting with elements of gamification.

Final Word

Millennials are ready to pay more for vibrant experiences and interesting technology solutions can help increase the engagement of this generation. Creating your mobile app, be sure to entertain, give users ways to express themselves and share their experiences, simplify the use, and provide excellent customer support. Millennials are sure to pay off with long-term loyalty.

Written by viktoria | Passionate about influencing business audience. Fond of AI, IoT, Machine Learning and Blockchain.
Published by HackerNoon on 2020/05/26