Young adults and senior citizens as application users

Markswebb conducted a recent study on age-related behavior patterns of users in digital services based on their app usage experiences.

The primary target audience for most mobile applications consists of users aged 20 to 55 years old. However, both younger and older individuals are beginning to form their digital habits: younger users are adopting new services like banks, e-commerce apps, and government services; older users are starting to use digital services for the first time.

We categorized users into three age groups:

• 16–19 years old — will transition into the economically active audience soon or in the near future.
• 32–37 years old — the most active and economically active users.
• 60–64 years old — some of them actively use not only social networks and messengers but also mobile banking and make purchases.

The selected applications were chosen to provide diversity in implementation. Services were chosen that address the most common tasks relevant to all ages, such as eGrocery, marketplaces, banks, classifieds, and mobile operators. Services that prioritize content over form, such as games, streaming, and news, were excluded.

The results will provide banks, fintech companies, retail, and telecom operators with insights into which solutions to use to create a quality digital experience for all ages or to focus their services on the loyalty of specific user categories. We explored the 10 most frequent scenarios:

Our goal was to identify common user behavior patterns independent of specific services and to highlight universal design principles considering age-related characteristics. Therefore, we selected scenarios that are frequently encountered in various types of applications, from banks to food delivery apps, and formulated hypotheses for each.

• App navigation — 9 .
• Searching within extensive lists — 2.
• Selecting and comparing multiple products — 2.
• Product familiarization — 3.
• Form filling and working with maps — 6.
• Interaction with notifications — 1.
• Loyalty program management — 3.
• Problem-solving and contacting support — 2.
• Voice control — 2.
• Interacting with gaming mechanics and interactive elements (swipe, drag-and-drop) — 3.

Hypotheses and insights

We propose examining the relationship between UX and age using one user journey as an example: the process of product selection and acquisition. This could involve purchasing a smartphone, choosing a credit card within a bank app, or selecting a SIM card with a mobile operator app.

This is a universal framework that can be customized for any industry, user segmentation, and business objective. When visualized step by step, it forms a Customer Journey Map (CJM) as shown in the illustration on the right.

Ideally, navigation should be seamless for users. Users of all ages experience negative emotions and confusion when the interface doesn’t guide them through the process and forces them to think and spend time searching for the required function.

Hypothesis: Illustrations significantly enhance understanding and expedite search for individuals of all ages. However, this isn’t the case.

In any catalog, users of all ages successfully locate the product category. Yet, there are differences in search efficiency. Younger users found the category faster in catalogs with medium-sized cards, and took longer with a text-based list. Middle-aged users were quickest with catalogs containing medium-sized cards and took longer with a text-based list.

Older respondents navigated all catalog types at a similar speed. For them, the format doesn’t significantly impact search efficiency.

Conclusion: Younger users prefer catalogs with illustrations, while older users prefer lists.

Hypothesis: Older users have a lower level of digitization and are unfamiliar with interface elements, hence they need textual designations for elements.

Younger users are quicker at identifying icons with labels. Middle-aged users are faster at identifying icons with labels. Older users swiftly identify plain text and icons with labels.

Conclusion: Textual filters expedite their search across all age groups.

Hypothesis: Users consider it fundamentally important to view information graphically, and an abundance of text is off-putting.

Younger and middle-aged users prefer images with minimal text, but also opt for options with text organized in expandable sections or divided into paragraphs with headings. Older users prefer condition displays in the form of tables and text divided into paragraphs with headings.

Conclusion: Users respond positively to textual information, even if it’s extensive. Emphasizing key themes in the text and visually distinguishing text blocks is crucial.

Hypothesis: Unlike young users, older users don’t skim fields with low visual weight.

From a time perspective, a similar trend is observed in all groups: users recognized input fields more slowly in two out of three instances.

Conclusion: Field design influenced search speed in all age groups: inconspicuous fields took longer to identify. A universal solution for all is to prominently highlight important fields.

Conclusions

The user experience differs most significantly between young and older generations. Middle-aged users are more adaptable, embodying characteristics of both generations. For older generations, the color of interface elements is critically important.

Younger users primarily focus on symbol and text meanings when interacting with interfaces, while older users prioritize the color of elements. Color carries greater weight for the elderly, particularly when it competes with the meaning of other elements. This can lead to critical UX issues that hinder goal achievement for the older group. Attitudes towards issues vary based on age.

The younger generation is more radical: 65% of respondents reported deleting mobile apps when facing difficulties. Older users less frequently take such action, with only 39% uninstalling apps due to encountered challenges. When issues arise in an app, young users are more likely to exit and switch to another channel — seeking answers or help online.

The older generation is more tolerant of extended loading times and app freezes. Unattractive interfaces and lack of personalization evoke negative emotions in the younger generation.

Younger users greatly value interface attractiveness and personalization in apps, such as the ability to choose light or dark themes and customize app interface colors.

This aspect is so critical that external unattractiveness and lack of personalization are considered issues by users. For middle-aged and older users, attractiveness and personalization aren’t important; functionality takes precedence.

This closely aligns with older users’ tendency to install apps primarily out of necessity to quickly and efficiently accomplish tasks, rather than exploring new offerings out of curiosity — which is a more popular reason for app installation among the younger group.

To find out more about the study results or order the report, contact us by e-mail at hello@markswebb.ru

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