Config 2024: How to build for, and with, Gen Z (Jiaona Zhang, CPO, Linktree)

Summary

This video script challenges misconceptions about Gen Z and explores how to build products that resonate with this digitally native generation. The speaker emphasizes building with Gen Z, focusing on immediacy, flexibility, and authenticity in product design. Hiring Gen Z for their intuitive understanding of digital interfaces and empowering them with experienced mentors is crucial. The talk concludes with insights on marketing products authentically, highlighting the importance of co-creation with the community and personal over polished content.

Takeaways

• 📱 **Understanding Gen Z**: Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is the first digitally native generation, with a unique coming-of-age experience defined by hyperconnectivity, hyperstimulation, and hyperpersonalization.
• 🌐 **Technology Experience**: Gen Z's experience with technology is vastly different from previous generations, characterized by multiscreen usage, real-time collaboration, and an expectation of technology that autosaves, auto-updates, and auto-optimizes.
• 🔍 **Trust in Technology**: While Gen Z trusts technology to anticipate their needs, they are less trusting of platforms and tools, aware of the ad revenue motivations and ready to switch to alternatives.
• 🔑 **Building for Gen Z**: To build for Gen Z is to build with Gen Z, focusing on principles such as immediacy, flexibility, and authenticity to create products that are intuitive and appealing to this tech-savvy generation.
• 🏁 **Immediacy**: Gen Z values immediacy, expecting instant feedback and gratification, which can be seen in platforms like TikTok that provide an immersive experience with minimal onboarding.
• 🎨 **Flexibility**: Gen Z seeks interfaces that are adaptable to their needs, like Notion, which offers a blank canvas for users to create and explore without constraints.
• 🌟 **Authenticity**: Gen Z demands authenticity, being aware of hidden structures in platforms and preferring interactions that feel genuine and personal over polished corporate messaging.
• 👥 **Hiring Gen Z**: Hiring Gen Z can provide an intuitive understanding of digital interfaces and subcultures, allowing them to contribute fresh perspectives and ideas to product development.
• 💼 **Empowerment**: Empowering Gen Z employees by pairing them with experienced team members creates a complementary relationship that fosters innovation and learning.
• 🤝 **Community Co-Creation**: Engaging the community for feedback and involving them in the product development process nurtures a sense of pride and turns users into advocates.
• 📢 **Marketing Authenticity**: Authentic marketing resonates more with Gen Z; content that feels personal and organic rather than polished and promotional is more effective in engaging this audience.

Q & A

What is the common thread between the words mentioned at the beginning of the script?

The words mentioned are misconceptions and negative stereotypes often associated with Generation Z as seen in various headlines.

Who is the speaker in the script and what is their purpose?

The speaker is Jay-Z, who aims to challenge the misconceptions about Generation Z and discuss how to build products that cater to this generation's unique experiences and expectations.

What is the time frame for the birth years of Generation Z as mentioned in the script?

Generation Z, according to the script, were born between 1997 and 2012.

How does the speaker describe the world they grew up in compared to Gen Z's?

The speaker describes their world as one where physical actions were required for shopping, using maps, and saving work, contrasting it with Gen Z's experience of hyperconnectivity, hyper stimulation, and hyper personalization.

What are the three key principles the speaker suggests for building a product that is intuitive to Gen Z?

The three key principles are immediacy, flexibility, and authenticity.

What does the speaker mean by 'immediacy' in the context of product design for Gen Z?

Immediacy refers to Gen Z's expectation for immediate feedback and gratification, such as liking a post and seeing results instantly or receiving an order hours after placing it.

Can you explain the concept of 'flexibility' as it applies to product interfaces for Gen Z?

Flexibility means designing interfaces that adapt to the user rather than the user adapting to the interface, allowing for dynamic communication, documentation, and exploration without consequences in a nonlinear way.

Why is 'authenticity' important when building products for Gen Z?

Authenticity is important because Gen Z is aware of the hidden structures and incentive systems of platforms and tools. They value genuine interactions and are less trusting of contrived or overly polished content.

What is the speaker's stance on hiring Gen Z for product development?

The speaker advocates for hiring Gen Z because they have an intuitive understanding of digital interfaces and subcultures, which can lead to the creation of more intuitive and fresh products.

How does the speaker suggest empowering Gen Z employees in the workplace?

The speaker suggests pairing Gen Z employees with more experienced team members to create a highly complementary relationship, allowing for the combination of experience and fresh perspective.

What is the final piece of advice the speaker gives for marketing products to Gen Z?

The speaker advises to co-create with the community for rapid feedback, and when bringing the product to market, to prioritize personal and authentic content over polished and contrived messaging.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Gen Z's Digital Native Experience

The speaker, Jenzy, introduces the topic of misconceptions about Gen Z and aims to challenge these stereotypes. She defines Gen Z as those born between 1997 and 2012, focusing on the American experience. The discussion highlights the differences in the technological landscape between the early 2000s and the 2010s, emphasizing the hyper-connectivity, stimulation, and personalization that define Gen Z's world. Jenzy provides a personal anecdote about the technological evolution from the early days of the internet to the current era of multi-screen universes and instant gratification.

05:01

🛠️ Building Intuitive Products for Gen Z

Jenzy discusses the importance of building products that are intuitive for Gen Z while still accessible to less digitally native populations. She outlines three key principles for product development: immediacy, flexibility, and authenticity. The speaker explains that Gen Z expects immediate feedback and results, as evidenced by social media interactions and e-commerce experiences. She uses TikTok as an example of a product that embodies immediacy, allowing users to experience value quickly and with minimal distraction.

10:03

🔍 The Desire for Flexibility and Authenticity in Gen Z

Continuing the discussion on product development, Jenzy emphasizes Gen Z's preference for flexibility, using Notion as an example of an interface that adapts to user needs rather than the other way around. She also touches on the importance of authenticity, noting that Gen Z is wary of platforms and tools that are driven by hidden incentives. The speaker suggests that products should allow for exploration and expression without overwhelming users, and that they should foster intimate interactions that feel genuine.

15:03

💼 Hiring and Empowering Gen Z in the Workplace

Jenzy argues for the value of hiring Gen Z in the workplace, challenging the notion that it's too costly or risky. She believes that Gen Z's intuitive understanding of digital culture can bring fresh perspectives to product development. The speaker shares an anecdote from Discord about a feature called 'wild cards' that was proposed by a Gen Z designer, illustrating how their ideas can resonate with the target audience. Jenzy also stresses the importance of pairing young talent with experienced team members to create a complementary dynamic.

20:04

📢 Marketing to Gen Z with Authenticity

The speaker discusses strategies for marketing products to Gen Z in an authentic way. She suggests co-creating with the community through social channels for rapid feedback and emphasizes the importance of personal, unpolished content over polished marketing messages. Jenzy uses Instagram reels from the luggage company Away as examples to illustrate the stark difference in engagement between content that feels authentic and content that is overly produced.

🔑 Key Takeaways for Building Great Products

In conclusion, Jenzy summarizes the key takeaways for building products that appeal to Gen Z, which include getting to the point quickly, thinking in terms of canvases rather than corridors, creating space for intimate interactions, investing in emerging talent, co-creating with the community for rapid feedback, and prioritizing personal content over polished marketing. She also reflects on the broader applicability of these insights, suggesting that they are not just for Gen Z but for building great products in general.

Keywords

💡Gen Z

Gen Z refers to the demographic cohort born between 1997 and 2012, known for being the first generation to grow up with digital technology as a normal part of their daily lives. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the unique experiences and expectations of Gen Z, such as their comfort with hyper-connectivity and hyper-personalization, which are central to understanding how to build products for this generation.

💡Hyper-connectivity

Hyper-connectivity describes a state where people are constantly connected to the internet and digital media, often through multiple devices. The video discusses how Gen Z is coming of age in a world defined by this concept, expecting instant access to information and services, which influences their interaction with technology and products.

💡Authenticity

Authenticity in the context of the video refers to the genuine and uncontrived nature of products, services, and marketing that resonates with Gen Z. The speaker argues that Gen Z values realness and transparency, as opposed to polished or overly produced content, and this is evident in their preference for platforms that allow for intimate and personal interactions.

💡Immediacy

Immediacy is the concept of instant gratification and quick response times, which Gen Z has come to expect due to the real-time nature of digital technology. The video uses TikTok as an example of a product that embodies immediacy by providing immediate content without requiring a complex sign-up process.

💡Flexibility

Flexibility in the video is associated with the ability of products to adapt to the user's needs and preferences, rather than the user adapting to the product. It is highlighted as a key principle in designing for Gen Z, with Notion being cited as an example of a product that offers a blank canvas for users to shape according to their needs.

💡Autosave

Autosave is a feature in digital products that automatically saves work without user intervention, which is a concept Gen Z has grown up with and now expects. The video points out that Gen Z trusts in technology to have their backs, including the ability to autosave, auto-update, and auto-optimize.

💡Notion

Notion is a productivity tool that offers a flexible canvas for organizing notes, tasks, wikis, and databases. The video uses Notion to illustrate the principle of flexibility, showing how it allows users to create and interact with content in a way that is dynamic and non-linear.

💡Narrative

The term 'narrative' in the video refers to the storyline or message conveyed through the content, particularly in the context of marketing. Authentic narratives that feel personal and genuine, rather than polished or contrived, are more effective in resonating with Gen Z, as seen in the example of Instagram reels from the company Away.

💡UGC (User-Generated Content)

UGC stands for user-generated content, which is content created by users rather than the brand. The video emphasizes the importance of creating content that is indistinguishable from UGC to appeal to Gen Z's preference for authenticity and personal connection over polished marketing messages.

💡Co-creation

Co-creation is the process of involving the community or users in the development or improvement of a product. The video speaker advocates for leveraging social channels for rapid feedback and making users feel part of the product development process, which aligns with Gen Z's desire for participation and influence.

💡Link Tree

Link Tree is a platform that allows users to create a landing page with multiple links to their social media profiles or other online content. In the video, Link Tree is mentioned as an example of a product heavily used by Gen Z and a place where the speaker, as the CPO, has been thinking about how to evolve the product for a digitally native generation.

Highlights

The speaker challenges common misconceptions about Gen Z and emphasizes the importance of building with Gen Z for a more accurate understanding of their generation.

Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is the first digitally native generation with unique experiences that differ significantly from previous generations.

The speaker discusses the technological differences between the early 2000s and Gen Z's upbringing, highlighting the hyper connectivity and personalization of their environment.

Gen Z's trust in technology is contrasted with their distrust of platforms and tools, which they know are optimized for ad revenue and other motives.

Three principles for building products that resonate with Gen Z are introduced: immediacy, flexibility, and authenticity.

The importance of immediacy is illustrated through examples like TikTok's quick onboarding and content delivery.

Flexibility in product design is emphasized, with Notion as an example of an interface that adapts to the user's needs.

Authenticity is key for Gen Z, who are skeptical of contrived marketing and value genuine interactions and content.

Hiring Gen Z can provide an intuitive understanding of digital natives and fresh perspectives on product development.

The speaker shares personal experiences of working with a Gen Z colleague, highlighting the benefits of intergenerational collaboration.

Building products for Gen Z should focus on creating spaces for intimate interactions and allowing users to express their identity fluidly.

Co-creating with the community and leveraging social channels for rapid feedback is crucial for product development and marketing.

The speaker argues that personal and authentic content is more effective in marketing than polished and contrived messaging.

Insights from Gen Z can be applied to building great products for all users, not just the younger generation.

The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding and incorporating Gen Z's unique perspective in product development and marketing strategies.

Transcripts

[Music]

there it is all

right going to wait one

sec doesn't seem to be working clicker

all

right vocal

stubborn

entitled

cynical

unfocused

lazy

resistant

unpolished if you're wondering what the

Common Thread is between these words

these are all pulled from headlines

about gen Z things that people associate

with this generation

hi I'm

Jay-Z not

jenzy and today I want to challenge

these associations because I think

they're

misconceptions I'm going to talk to you

about how to build for Gen Z and in

particular I'm going to emphasize that

to build for Gen Z means to

build with

jenz but before we dive

in who even is Gen

Z Jen Z were born between 1997 and 2012

and while of course there are

differences between cultures and

geographies for Simplicity I'm going to

focus on the experiences of America's

first digitally native

generation and I'm being honest while

this topic is super interesting it's

also a little bit

intimidating why because Jen Z's Coming

of Age experience is so different than

mine if I think back to the early 2000s

the world I grew up in was one where you

physically had to go to the mall to buy

something and if you didn't know how to

get there you would go on map quest and

print out your directions and then you

would kind of look at it while you're

driving and hope you don't

crash the world I grew up in is one

where you would click a button to save

what you're working on and so the number

of times that I've lost a chunk of the

English paper or the college essay that

I was working on brings back bad

memories the world that I grew up in is

one where you didn't think twice before

you would upload hundreds of photos to

Facebook broadcasting your entire life

to the

world and you know in order to do that

you actually had to use a camera which

by the way was a different device than

your

phone and connect your camera to your

computer using a

cable I even distinctly remember the

first time that I quote unquote went

online back then the internet felt

exciting like the rules had yet had yet

to be written but it also felt clunky

and a little bit

unreliable and so then if you fast

forward to the

2010s Jen Z really start to enter the

chat at this point and their experience

with technology is radically different

from the iPhone to

Instagram from remote work to getting

anything and everything delivered to

your door in the form of packages to Tik

Tock and the infinite scroll gen Z are

coming to age in a world that is Define

by hyper connectivity hyper stimulation

and Hyper

personalization they're living in a

multiscreen

Universe where you can FaceTime with a

friend in a different country while

browsing Instagram and then making an

order on Amazon that'll come the next

day they're collaborating in real time

and they trust that everything will not

only

autosave and auto update but also Auto

optimize

too and they can access virtually any

information scrolling between feeds that

you know have grocery Halls to Chihuahua

means to you know streams of conflict in

a country that you've never been to

before to the engagement photos of

people that you've never even

met you can see just a microcosm of what

that looks like in the clips behind me

which I actually asked my jenzy coworker

at link tree Maddie to record a minute

Scroll of what it looks like to scroll

her

phone and what I've learned from

watching Maddie use her phone because

jenzie has grown up in a world of

autosave where the concept of breaking

something is essentially

foreign they expect for technology to

have their backs and to endlessly adapt

their

needs and while they trust in technology

to anticipate their

needs they are much less trusting of the

platforms and the tools they

use they know that platforms are

optimizing for ad Revenue they know that

if one product isn't working they're

going to go ahead and find countless

other options

instead and that's completely different

how from how I or maybe many of you in

the audience grew up it was kind of map

quest robust and if you were really

lucky you had that Garmin device that

you would put on your carard dash I

don't know if anyone remembers that and

you know the only way to get on the

internet was actually sitting through

that

dollup since joining as link tree CPO

last year this lack of trust is

something that I've been thinking a lot

about in occupying some of the most Val

valuable digital real estate on the

internet link Tre is used heavily by gen

Z but at the same time it's used by

people smbs and organizations that are

clearly not

genen and so the questions that I keep

coming back to

are how do you evolve an existing

product to ensure that it feels

intuitive to this digitally native

generation then how do you actually hire

the right people to set your team up for

success and finally how do you then

bring your product to Market in a way

that doesn't feel

contrived let's start with how do you

build a product that's intuitive to gen

Z and yet is still usable and

understandable to a less digitally

native you know other population those

who a little bit less digitally

literate I believe it all comes down to

these three

principles immediacy flexibility and

authenticity let's talk about the first

one remember how the beginning of the

talk I mentioned entitled and

lazy what genen Z are really looking for

is

immediacy this is because they are used

to wrapp feedback all the time from

someone liking their post seconds after

it goes up to getting the thing that you

ordered literally hours from when you

ordered it jenzie are not used to

waiting Tik Tok as a product does

immediacy really well when you first

download the app the only thing that

they ask for is your birthday before

landing you in your for you page

they break up the signup flow only

prompting you to enable

notifications and for your contact after

you've experienced real

value and this immersive full screen

experience Tik Tok through this Tik Tok

has pioneered a way a new way of

engaging with content where the primary

action is not to actively search to find

but to passively swipe to discover

building trust that the algorithm will

actually find what's relevant for

you there are very few distractions and

that the content takes center stage and

that reduces the cognitive load the

distractions so you can really focus on

the thing in front of you and so if

immediacy is the aim what is the

actionable

takeaway with the products you build you

need to get out of the way and get get

to the point your first mile experience

is critical avoid heavily signposted

onboarding flows and instead allow users

to play with your product as quickly as

possible reduce the time to value by

radically streamlining your funnel and

potentially even inverting it

completely and then only ask for

information after users have experienced

real value

diving to my second principle when

people say that gen Z are stubborn or

resistant what they really want is

flexibility interfaces that enable them

to dynamically communicate document and

play to be able to explore without

consequences in a nonlinear

ways notion is a great example of the

shift away from the user adapting to the

interface and towards the interface

adapting to the user where previously

software drew the lines notion is a

blank canvas that enables the user to

paint to use Notions architecture of

configurable configurable building

blocks to build whatever it is they want

from C band boards to

timelines to tables to just free

text they can build whatever it is and

also the UI then flexes to the user

based on what it is they're trying to

do from AI enhancement prompts all the

way to contextual editing

menus so what does this all

mean you need to think canvases not

corridors don't be afraid to build

multiple paths to the same

goal encourage your users to explore

your product and really try things

out and at the same time it's also

important to make sure that the

optionality doesn't over

overwhelm because at the end of the day

the moment of delight still has to

outweigh the moments of

difficulty bringing me to my third

principle rather than cynical or

unpolished gen Z are demanding

authenticity because of the sheer access

to information that they've grown up

with they are acutely aware of the

Hidden structures and incentive systems

that aot lot of the platforms that they

use and tools that they use that they

deploy if you follow jenzy friends or

family on Instagram what you see behind

me is actually not surprising and it

looks really different than mine a lot

of these team profiles are empty a few

hundred

followers maybe some story

highlights and zero feed

posts reflecting the shift from

broadcasting to narrowcasting

where interactions happen through

ephemeral content and private channels

DMS close friend share lists and time

bout content like stories or

notes as you can see behind

me Instagram is just World a new feature

that accelerates this Loop prompting you

to create a group chat When you mention

people in your

stories and so how can you harness the

shift from narrow towards narrowcasting

to strengthen

authenticity you do so by creating space

for intimate

interactions when it comes to the

profile allow your users to express

their identity in a way that feels more

fluid impermanent ever evolving and

unconstrained okay maybe now you're

thinking Jay-Z immediacy

authenticity sorry immediacy flexibility

ility authenticity I get these are the

principles to build your product by but

how do you hire the right people to

actually bring all of this to

life the first thing you to do is to

hire jenz you know that idea yes I heard

that you know that idea that it's costly

to hire young people that only big

companies can afford to invest in

training them

up well I want to take a moment and

challenge this because I think that gen

Z are really the ones who can teach

us by hiring gen Z you can harness their

intuitive understanding of digitally

native

interfaces of of digital subcultures to

build a product that feels intuitive and

fresh not cringe as Maddie would

say I think it's easy to fall into the

Trap of relentlessly seeking to validate

every decision with data but if you do

this you not not only won't be able to

iterate rapidly enough and learn rapidly

enough you're also limiting your ability

to spark

Delight by doing something that's a

little bit

decontextualized or random kind of like

the meme culture that jenz is used

to don't believe me take discord's word

for it or rather my friend dab who is a

product of who's a director of product

design

there so a Discord we're building this

project that we call internally guilds

which are smaller servers that are

publicly discoverable and we were

thinking through how to matchmake people

and one of our designers who's genen Z

thought a lot of things we were trying

were super

cringe so he proposed this new feature

called wild cards which are generally

three blanks free form fields to

describe the vibe of the group and it

really took off people were using words

like cash money chaotic neutral Princess

Diaries to describe the group so people

can decide is that the group they want

join and it really shows how intuitively

jenzie understands the internet and

speaks that language which is so akin to

our product at

Discord I love I love this example

because I think it really clearly shows

how hiring gen Z is not about teaching

them but it's about them teaching

us but ultimately hiring jenzy isn't

enough you need to empower them and

support them and I found that the best

way to do this is to pair them with

someone with more experience and to

create a relationship that is highly

complimentary because experience mixed

with fresh perspective produces outcomes

that neither individual would have been

able to achieve

alone I've actually had my own

experience with this remember

Maddie from product to go to market to

annual planning to All Things link tree

we work on the whole spectrum of things

and our relationship has proven to me

just how powerful pairing can be even

this talk is our shared

brainchild when we riff we combine

pattern matching from my experience with

Maddie's digitally native

intuition and just like Dabney who

wouldn't have always been able to clock

some of the ideas that her gen Z

designer came up with I find so many of

Maddie's ideas incredibly refreshing

and also what I'm seeing firsthand you

know that authenticity that I mentioned

jenzie really craves it doesn't just

apply to the products that we build it

translates to the working relationships

too our dialogue is open and ongoing

there's no need to say hi or how are

you we riff in real time on anything

from product ideas to inspiration

to photos of our very different

weekends if you can let the formalities

and the awareness of hierarchy really

fall

away and and those things were really

what defined like earlier generation

working relationships you're able to get

to the heart of things to challenge

challenge each other and really ensure

that the best ideas come

out and speaking of authenticity this

brings me to the final piece of the

puzzle how do you bring market products

to Market in a way that doesn't feel

contrived first you need to co-create

with your community by leveraging social

channels for Rapid

feedback while writing this talk I

talked to Yuki the CPU of figma and he

shared something that really stuck with

me make everything feel like it emanated

from the community

your users are your best source of

research but they're also your best

marketing channels in the same way that

jenzy wants flexibility to be able to

choose your their own adventure in the

product they want to be able to feel

like they can shape how the product

evolves as

well figma and the browser company do

this incredibly well by asking for

feedback on socials in order to get

rapid signal they make their Community

feel like they're are part part of the

things that they're building nurturing a

sense of Pride that helps mobilize their

users into becoming Champions and the

ultimate Advocates of their

product and by pulling back the curtain

they're also showcasing the authenticity

that gen Z

craves which brings me to my final

Insight this is the era were personal

overp polished

Reigns Jen ZZ sees straight St through

contrived

messaging with only a subset of older

Generations knowing how to use something

like a Photoshop it's kind of ironic at

this conference um jenzy have grown up

with filters and they don't believe

always that what they see is a real

thing and so the content that actually

resonates is content that is

indistinguishable from organic ugc

things that they're already seeing in

their

feets content that genuinely entertains

and Sparks interest content that doesn't

make them feel like they're being sold

to take this

example now here are two Instagram reels

from the luggage company away as you can

see the reel on the on the left here

it's much more reminiscent of

traditional marketing it's polished the

product is kind of the star of the show

whereas the real over here on the right

is very different it's focused on the

away team trying to stuff as many

clothes as they can to a suitcase the

product is featured much more

organically in this content the same way

that you would engage with it if you

were on your social media channels and

it helps it feel not so

contrived the editing is yeah the

editing is also very similar to

non-branded content that creators

share and all of this it helps it make

it feel authentic like it's purpose is

to entertain as opposed to

promote and in terms of what

resonated the real on the right got

150 times more views 3 million compared

to 20,000 that is a huge difference and

that is because in today's world people

want personal connection over polished

content okay we've covered a lot of

ground

today how do you build how do you hire

and how do you

Market here are six key

takeaways to build for jenz you need

to get to the

point think canvases not

corridors create space for intimate

interactions invest in emerging Talent

by hiring and pairing with

them co-create with your community for

Rapid

feedback and when you bring your product

to Market think personal

overol and speaking of

co-creation I'd love to thank this

amazing community of product marketing

and design leaders who have helped me

co-create these

insights and actually there's one last

Insight that I'd love to share

you may think that today I've given you

a talk about how to build for

genz and that I've made the point that

to build for Gen Z you need to build

with j

z but what you've probably also realized

is that a lot of these insights likely

resonate with your expectations

too and that is because at the end of

the day what I've actually just been

talking about is how to build great

products thank you

[Music]