Wave Issue 0505 2/4/05 Article 4-01

***Nielsen Norman Group Study Finds that Teenagers Are a Group
Unto their Own, Even When it Comes to Web Use

SAN FRANCISCO
Jan. 31, 2005

Whatever you do, don't call them kids and don't assume they can
out-surf adults on the Web. As in the real world, teenagers have
a unique set of developmental and behavioral proclivities that
influence their use of the Web and should not be ignored,
according to a new study released today by Nielsen Norman Group
(NNG). In the first study to observe teenagers using a wide
range of websites, usability expert Jakob Nielsen and user
experience specialist Hoa Loranger found that contrary to
stereotypes, teenagers are not nearly as skilled as adults at
navigating the Web, and don't really care for glitzy graphics.
NNG's report, "Teenagers on the Web: Usability Guidelines for
Creating Compelling Websites for Teens," describes how teenagers
use the Web, and what organizations that want to reach them can
do to avoid boring them right off their websites.

There are approximately 20 million teenagers in the United
States who spend an average of $100 per week (TRU). With an
estimated 22 million American teenagers expected to be online in
2008, up from 18 million in 2004 (Jupiter Research), the Web
will continue to grow as a key vehicle for influencing the teen
market.

NNG's "Teenagers on the Web" is based on usability studies with
38 users between the ages of 13 and 17. Researchers tested 23
websites, asking the teenagers to visit the sites, perform
specific tasks and think out loud. Among the findings:

-- Teens are not the technowizards many assume. In fact,
they achieve a success rate of 55% compared to 66% for
adults; Success rate indicates the proportion of times
users are capable of completing a representative task;

-- Teens' poor performance is caused by multiple factors:
insufficient reading skills, immature research
strategies and an unwillingness to tough it out when
websites are difficult;

-- Use of the word "Kid" is a teen-repellant. Websites that
try to serve both children and teens in a single area
titled something like "Kids" will lose the teens;

-- Being boring is the kiss of death in terms of keeping
teens on websites. Teens want to "do" things as opposed
to simply sit and read;

-- Teens are drawn to sites that have social and
interactive activities where they can communicate with
others, make new friends and achieve a sense of
connecting and belonging;

-- Teens pay more attention than adults to the way a site
looks, but they don't like the heavy, glitzy, blinking
graphics that designers think they like; they prefer
clean, modest, but still cool designs.

Nielsen Norman Group's 128-page report, "Teenagers on the Web:
Usability Guidelines for Creating Compelling Websites for
Teens," offers 60 detailed design guidelines along with the
supporting research to explain how to design websites that
appeal to teenagers. The report is available to download for
$129 from the Nielsen Norman Group website at

www.nngroup.com/reports/teens