Meeting the needs of the application generation

Demand for flawless application experiences

Consumer expectations for seamless digital experiences have been rising steadily for several years. As the world’s most innovative brands deliver increasingly intuitive and personalized digital experiences, people now are questioning why other applications and digital services aren’t performing at the same level. 

 This trend has accelerated dramatically since the pandemic. In our latest research, The App Attention Index 2023: Beware the Application Generation, 62% of consumers claim that their expectations for digital experiences are far higher now than they were just two years ago. During the pandemic, consumers were grateful for brands whose applications were a lifeline to normality throughout what was a challenging period for so many. However now, there is only a sense of expectation and deep frustration when these digital services don’t perform as they should. 

 Our latest study of more than 15,000 global consumers reveals how these sentiments are amplified amongst younger people, aged 18-34—what we’re calling “The Application Generation.” Attitudes and behaviors toward digital services have evolved very differently for this group, and it’s presenting a huge challenge for organizations in all industries.  

Understanding the Application Generation

Here are three key takeaways from the research—things that every application owner urgently needs to understand about The Application Generation: 

1. They may be the heaviest users of digital services—using an average of 41 different applications every month—but younger consumers are more mindful about their use of applications. 67% report that they are looking to limit the number of applications they are using. The Application Generation is constantly evaluating the relevance and value of digital services, and they think hard before downloading new applications.
2. The Application Generation is eagerly crying out for innovation, always looking for the next evolution in applications and digital services. They want to push the boundaries in their use of applications and feel like they are benefiting from the most cutting-edge technologies. They pride themselves on enjoying the most intuitive, personalized, seamless and secure digital experiences.
3. The Application Generation is totally unforgiving toward brands who deliver bad digital experiences. These consumers feel disrespected if an application doesn’t perform as it should and they look for immediate retribution. On average, they’ve deleted as many as seven applications as a result of bad digital experiences in the last 12 months, and 70% report they’re now more likely to warn other people against using digital services that don’t perform. 

Application disruption and downtime is on the rise

Given these high expectations, it’s alarming that 94% of consumers aged 18-34 report they have encountered at least one poorly performing application in the past year. While expectations for digital experiences are soaring, instances of application disruption and downtime are actually rising (up from 83% in 2021).  

Application owners need to act decisively to ensure their applications and digital services are operating at peak performance at all times—otherwise they risk seeing a whole generation of consumers walk away. 

Application observability is crucial for organizations to deliver always-on, seamless digital experiences. It brings IT teams together to identify and understand application availability, performance and security issues. By correlating application data with real-time business metrics, application observability allows them to prioritize actions based on customer and business impact. 

Cisco is uniquely positioned to help our customers to meet the needs of The Application Generation. As a leading provider of Application Observability and Application Performance Monitoring technology, Cisco AppDynamics helps customers observe what matters inside and beyond their IT environments. Combined with the power of Cisco Observabilty Platform, AppDynamics enables organizations to deliver exceptional user experiences by centralizing and correlating data into contextualized insights of key business metrics – providing them with the power to prioritize actions based on business needs. 

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