Summary: Age groups differ in how they use websites, the internet, and computers. Our findings from studying teenagers are contrasted with our other user research with children and adults: user experience designers should target their designs based on target audience behavior patterns.
Teens are (over)confident in their web abilities, but they perform worse than adults. Lower reading levels, impatience, and undeveloped research skills reduce teens’ task success and require simple, relatable sites.
Video Author
Alita Joyce is a User Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. She is a mixed-methods researcher with a specialization in cognitive psychology and behavioral observation. Alita has published research on a diverse range of topics, such as interface design patterns, young technology users, social media, emerging technologies, and strategic design initiatives.
