April POST - Campaign against thumb cramping
As part of the ‘opposable thumb club’, I know how important my digitus primus is for daily use. Of course a list can be made of all its uses but I will not bore you with it. I do own a cell phone but - while using my various digits, I do not partake in endless scrolling - so no thumb cramping.
When the capacity of scrolling came on to the scene and allowed the user to ‘see’ so much more content seamlessly and easily, we all thought that was going to be the ultimate in marketing turning to profit experiences.
Uh-oh - not exactly. So what’s the problem? and then what’s solution?
PROBLEM - According to 02 a UK and German mobile network operator, 43% of smartphone users experience ‘thumb pain’. There are also conditions that are associated with repetitive tasks, such as thumb scrolling for almost 3 hours every day. These are physical problems. But, there are also some marketing and therefore branding issues that we should noted.
Laptop websites as well have the scrolling capability and therefore have problems too. There are SEO drawbacks in designing websites with content that goes on forever such as; key word targeting - the utility analysis of the productivity of the site. Another complication is if you have a too much content. Browsing aimlessly through feeds could cause risk of losing a viewer.
SOLUTION - curate content rather than provide quantity of content. This takes time and money but well worth it. An area of interest which could prove useful is good UX - the UX experience is about the ease and the please of interacting with an app/website. This is definitely an area that one could investigate to help alleviate the excessive use of scrolling on social apps. The client feels that the more the app engages, the more the client believes that the door remains open for the consumer to purchase or to read the opinion and like. But, there is exhaustion afoot. Look into it!
From a marketing perspective - we are now all accustomed to the rapid explosion of visuals and text as well as audio and video. This can nevertheless become boring and monotonous. This isn’t good in the long term for the ROI. And, from a human perspective, just isn’t good (obviously).
So back to the solution - how do you use ‘less scroll’ and still get your point or product across?
1. Take the time to create quality content.
2. Cluster relevant information.
3. Use an experienced consultant to help sift through and audit what are the gaps, as well as suggestions of audience targeted ‘gap fillers’!
A user can slowly lose their focus, they tune out, and therefore become less susceptible.
That’s poor marketing!
4. Hook your viewers using a targeted strategy with the correct content which has been vetted thoroughly and cross-referenced with the target audience.
5. Infographics are a well thought out iconographic tool and utilize simple/specific imagery to help focus viewing, therefore less scrolling.
6. Nothing substitutes for good design, copy and strategic navigation!
There is no reason why these suggestions can not be instituted in the creative process for both web and app design.
Is there a way to get the message out to the predominant users of social media (i.e. Gen Zers and Millennials) that all this scrolling is not only overkill and mind-numbing but limits our daily lives and IRL interactions?
A 2024 survey conducted by Morning Consult (an American business intelligence company), concluded that approximately 31% of American adults scroll regularly, with millennials at 46%, and Gen Zers at 51%.
We all know that the social media platforms are used predominantly for casual social interactions. Yet, there has been a many articles published of its probability of being ultimately quite damaging. According to the Pew Research Center 64% of social media has a negative effect.
Social media as a platform is not now what it started out to be, but we can not ignore what is has become - and move forward along side of it, but it must be done in a curated and thoughtful manner both from the marketing perspectives as well as the physical and mental outcomes.
I believe that the design industry is clever enough to come up with a campaign both for business use as well as personal use, to help those professionals create quality and cleverness in their messaging for their clients. But also, for the general viewer/reader out there.
— the brand auditor —