THE PROSPECTIVE STUDENT USER

UX Web Conference

@ashleyhenn @emilyokey

#psuweb13

Ashley Hennigan@ashleyhenn

Assistant Director of Social Media Strategy

Cornell University

Host of Admissions Livehigheredlive.com | #AdmissionsLive

Emily Okey @emilyokey

UX Designer

Carrot Creative | carrot.is/creative

MILLENNIALS

A generation of teens and 20-somethings known for constantly holding up cameras, taking photos of themselves and posting them online

NARCISSISTIC

58%more college student scored higher on a narcissism scale in 2009 than in 1982.

3XThe incidence of narcissistic personality disorder is nearly 3x as high for people in their 20s than the generation now 65 or older.(National Institutes of Health)

OVERCONFIDENT

60%Of millennial’s believe that they will be able to “feel what is right”

ENTITLED

“This generation has the highest likelihood of having unmet expectations with respect to their careers and the lowest levels of satisfaction with their careers at the stage that they’re at.”

40%Believe that they should be promoted every two years, regardless of performance.

- Sean Lyons, Managing the New Workforce

4X As many would pick the assistant job over CEO of a major corporation.

3XAs many middle school girls want to grow up to be a personal assistant to a famous person as want to be a Senator, according to a 2007 survey.

FAME OBSESSED

STUNTED

17 year-olds never grow up if they only hang out with other 17 year-olds.

More people ages 18-29 live with their parents than with a spouse (2012 Clark University Poll of Emerging Adults)

LAZY

In 1992, the nonprofit Families and Work Institute reported that 80% of people under 23 wanted to one day have a job with greater responsibility, 10 years later, only 60% did.

Less civic engagement and lower political participation than any previous group.

#richkidprobs?

IT’S NOT ALL NEW

• A lot of what counts as typical millennial behavior is how rich kids have always behaved.

• The internet has democratized opportunity for many young people, giving them access to information that once belonged mostly to the wealthy.

WE AREMILLENNIALS

WE DON’T NEED YOU

Millennials are the most threatening and exciting generation since the baby boomers brought about social revolution, not because they’re trying to take over the Establishment but because they’re growing up without one.

WE DON’T NEED YOU

Corporations? We’ve got hackers

Newspapers? We’ve got bloggers

Nation-states? We’ve got terrorists

Studios? We’ve got YouTube directors

Entire industries? We’ve got app-makers

KIDS AND THEIR TECHNOLOGY

Interacting all day almost entirely through a screen.

88texts/day

(according to Pew)

“Someone liked my status update!”

70%check their phones every hour

THESE ARE YOUR USERS.

They’ve grown up with technology at the tip of their fingers.

Am I important?Click me!

If you’re not into that, try this one!

What about me?

Maybe you should apply?

Ready to apply yet?

I’m small but really important. Click here. Or this one?

APPLY NOW

Don’t make them hunt.

Use clear calls to action.

Your user should not be left guessing.

Make it quick!

Because they feel entitled, they are more risk averse and more willing to try new things, leading to innovation and more cool stuff.

THEY WANT RELATIONSHIPS

PARENTS

RESPECT

Connect student and parents in the college search process.

Make it social both on and offline.

Of students checked Facebook for prospective college information

57%

38%Categorized their social media findings as influential in their enrollment decision

http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/college-grads/

Dumping information

on Facebook is

not social.

BUT… WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THAT WAY.

Pre-college search - Advocacy

College search - Facts & figures

Campus visits - Understanding fit

Testing - Resources

Applications - Reminders

Decisions - Realizing fit

Post-graduation - Transition

CONTENT TIMELINE

“Web copy: Write too little and the meaning doesn’t come through. Write too much and the block is skipped because it was too thick to scan.” – Ryan Singer

KEEP IT SIMPLE

BE AUTHENTICYour social channels have the ability to offer content that prospective students can relate to.

I’M SELF CENTERED, I WANT MY OWN SITE.

Utilize Facebook Connect on your college website for an experience tailored to that student.

Make that student feel like your site was created just for them.

PARENT STUDENT

Take advantage of location tracking for your benefit. Alert them of events in their area.

Connect them with other alumni in their area with related interests.

DO YOU EVEN KNOW ME?

Customized the homepage.

Allow me to save information that I find useful.

My parents are involved in the process, how do I quickly share information with them?

WHY CAN’T YOU REMEMBER ME?

ASK THE LION

Let them interact with your brand

Give them social swag

Feed the need for approval. It’s literally a drug for them.

Provide outcome information upfront.

Millennials are thinking four steps ahead.

Provide rationale. They need to think things through before making decisions.

HOW TO RELATE

They are nice. They are positive.

DON’T BE SCARED

50-50 Internet feedback in the mid-90s.

90-10 Positive-negative feedback today.

Feed off of their positivity and niceness.

Give them a system, they will embrace it.

AFTER ALL THIS

They are nevertheless optimistic about their own personal chances of success.

MILLENNIALS ARE:

• Earnest and optimistic• They embrace the system• They’re pragmatic idealists,

tinkerers, dreamers, life hackers.

They aren’t looking to be leaders or looking for leaders to tell them what to do. They are looking for peer mentors.

They want to be kept in the know, the inner circle.

FOCUS

They want new experiences, which are more important to them than material goods.

They care more about experiential learning than fancy dorms.

WILL THEY SUCCEED?

That depends on how they react to the challenges ahead and just as important how their elders react to them.

“Whether you think millennials are the new greatest generation of optimistic entrepreneurs or a group of 80 million people about to implode in a dwarf star of tears when their expectations are unmet depends largely on how you view change…. Believe in the children. God knows they do.” – Joel Stein