Apparently, teenagers have a short attention span...
Who'd have guessed it? According to Jakob Nielsen's article, teenagers failed to successfully complete transactions on a website because they have a "dramatically lower patience level." I am not sure he needed to conduct a study in two countries to reach that conclusion - a couple of hours in classroom with a bunch of 16 year olds would have told you that!
However, some of Nielsen's other observations were more insightful. The issue of them having 'less sophisticated research strategies' is an interesting point. I admit I would assume that teenagers are very adept at using Google and eBay to find information about getting the best price for something.
But I also remember how impulsive I could be as a teenager - if I saw something I intended to buy, I would want to buy it there and then. It would need my parents patient intervention to suggest that some more research could pay dividends.
In fact, I remember learning these skills by watching my dad do research for our first VCR (when I was a teenager, long play and infra-red remote control was quite the revelation). In the end, he found the one he wanted for 50% cheaper than it was advertised everywhere else, and with a better warranty. Mind you, I was the only one in the family who could set the timer :)
But these days, many adults have yet to understand how to use services like eBay and Froogle to track down the best prices. So who will teach our teenagers how to shop the most economically online?
However, some of Nielsen's other observations were more insightful. The issue of them having 'less sophisticated research strategies' is an interesting point. I admit I would assume that teenagers are very adept at using Google and eBay to find information about getting the best price for something.
But I also remember how impulsive I could be as a teenager - if I saw something I intended to buy, I would want to buy it there and then. It would need my parents patient intervention to suggest that some more research could pay dividends.
In fact, I remember learning these skills by watching my dad do research for our first VCR (when I was a teenager, long play and infra-red remote control was quite the revelation). In the end, he found the one he wanted for 50% cheaper than it was advertised everywhere else, and with a better warranty. Mind you, I was the only one in the family who could set the timer :)
But these days, many adults have yet to understand how to use services like eBay and Froogle to track down the best prices. So who will teach our teenagers how to shop the most economically online?
1 Comments:
The "unsophisticated search strategies" angle caught my attention as well. While I think that to a certain degree such skills can be taught, in the end experience is what it takes to really get those skills.
It reminds me a lot of that nebulous term "study habits" that I heard so much throughout high school and my first few years of college. So often I felt like I was told a way to improve my study habits to prepare me for college when I would be--gasp--on my own. But, in the end, it really took me just doing it once I was indeed on my own. Then I learned how best to maximize my time, plan ahead, etc.
So I guess what I'm saying is that it certainly is important to teach youngsters as best we can how to become ace web researchers, but in the end they just need to get screwed on a few purchases and before long they'll figure it out...
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