Designing for Gen Alpha

The world Gen Alpha is growing up in is different. Different from the cohort right before them—Gen Z—and different from the generations before. Each generation is different because each has a defining set of experience in their young lives that sets a frame to how they understand the world they are living in. This is creating generational preferences that Gen Alphas will carry into adulthood. This is why science centres and museums need to understand Gen Alpha, and design to their preferences, starting now, and into their future. DKC Analytics, a market research firm recently ran a survey of one thousand US parents with Gen Alpha kids. The survey results were startling: 42% of all household spending is influenced by the Gen Alphas. That’s spending decisions on what kind of groceries to buy, where to travel on holiday, and what to do with the family’s free time—go to a movie or go to a science centre. How can this be? Gen Alphas have unprecedented access to information, and start forming opinions earlier than kids did in past generations. 86% of parents surveyed said their Gen Alpha children are good at understanding the basics of money management. And 70% say their children are better at making consumer decisions than they were at the same age . Gen Alpha’s Savviness A key theme to the DKC report is that of Gen Alpha savviness. Financial savviness, visual savviness, experiential savviness. Being savvy already means a lot for the design of museums and science centres. And it dovetails with the savviness I have been witnessing in my household the past decade. My daughters have loved museums from a young age. Starting early at KidsSpark Ontario Science Centre, Ripleys’ Aquarium and on to all types. Art Museums, History Museums, they’ve seen a lot. Over their lives I’ve noticed that how they experience museums, is different. Different from when I was their age. It’s more discerning. Why? They’re privileged to have access to all the things. I did too when I was young, but back then there simply not as many things! I grew up watching reruns of Wile E Cayote after school. The storyline is a coyote that fails repeatedly chasing a roadrunner. Repeatedly, it was the same plot every episode. In contrast, by the time our Gen Alphas were watching animation, they had the entire Studio Ghibli catalog at their fingertips on an ipad. And if they wanted to travel from Japan to Ireland, they could watch Tom Moore’s 2014 Song of the Sea. Which if I told was the story of a 10 year old boy Ben who discovers that his mute sister Saoirse—whom he blames for the apparent death of his mother—is actually a selkie from the Sea, who has to free fairies creatures from the Celtic goddess Macha, you’d agree that there’s a lot more going on than what I grew up on. And they brought that nuanced sense of story beat, plot line and pacing to their museum experiences. When I was young, I was thrilled for that one and only trip I took to Disney World at 13. I could see nothing wrong with my theme park experience, because it was the only one I had! My daughters, they enjoyed Disney, but have much more nuanced understanding of when a guest experience is finely tuned, and when it has some friction points. You may call it impatience, I cal it discernment. Your Gen Alpha guests notice too. A Selective Generation Consider what Gen Alpha savviness means as a business problem. Gen Alpha is a Selective generation. The research supports it, they are attuned to what they want and are accustomed to deciding, Since Gen Alpha’s are Selective, we as operators and designers have to do more to meet rising expectations. Rich media experiences, quality interior environments, seamless user interface – those aren’t enhancements, that’s just what’s expected. And that increases the investment. Which can in turn can drive ticket price for commercial attractions or level of financial support for the non-profit world. And a higher ticket price means Gen Alphas, again, have a choice to make (which they like), as where to spend their time and money. And this sequence of choice – costs – price, choice – costs – price is a self-perpetuating cycle. Meaning ultimately increased competition – for time, for money, for experiences. Which is great for all of us, really. Keeps us innovating. Call to Action What’s the call to action for us in the room, thinking about Gen Alphas. I leave you with my top three. Make it beautiful One big takeaway for me is the visual sophistication of Gen Alpha—they are growing up in a world that is not their parent’s (our) visual world. DKC’ research supports this finding, what we as designers could deliver ten, fifteen years ago no longer meets Gen Alpha expectations. Make it beautiful, to compete. Make it tactile Without judgement, research suggests that Gen Alphas get plenty of screen time already. More so maybe than even they want. Touchscreens 10 to 15 years ago were a novelty. Now touchscreens are always there in your pocket. To differentiate your experience, think full-body kinesthetic more so than touch screens, tuned to the nuances of age and interests. Make it social Ten years ago, posting on social media was an experience. We called it an Instagrammable experience. The act of posting is no longer an experience itself, it just is. Instead, think about how to meet the Gen Alpha need for more compelling ‘only now, only here, in the moment’ activities, deeper than selfies, and yet composed to be posted on a social media as an extension.