What I Learned from Quarantining with My Kids

Like most working parents, I’ve been spending a lot more time with the kids lately as we shelter in place due to the global pandemic. My three children and I work shoulder to shoulder in the same family “bubble” as they attend their online classes and I work remotely.

Watching them interact with technology has been mind-blowing for me. I believe that the industry changes we like to think, talk, and write about — the consumerization of IT and the embrace of social media, for example — are not the most important factors shaping modern customer experiences.  What is most important to remember is that people are influenced by the era in which they grow up – what we call their generation – but are also stubbornly (and, fortunately so,) unique.

While each of my children is very ‘special’ to me, I don’t think they’re any more skilled than other kids today whose parents and school systems can provide them with the latest tech. To that extent, we could group the three of them as being part of “Generation S” (for smart and savvy in the digital world).

My daughter Allison, a 15-year-old sophomore in high school, spends each school day with about ten Chrome tabs open, simultaneously doing research, talking to friends, and listening to her teacher in a Zoom window on the lower-left corner of her screen. She takes notes at 60 words per minute on a Google Doc and uses a Windows laptop with a touch screen for her art class. She wears headphones so she won’t bother us. If she can’t log onto the Internet for some reason, she creates a hotspot with her phone.  And if there’s something about your website that gets in her way of accomplishing what she needs to, she’ll remember it and never return.

I was her age in 1990—not really that long ago in the greater scheme of things. I struggled just learning how to type, we didn’t have a home computer, and laptops and the Internet were not yet available to “regular people” like me. Just a few years later, my college dorm offered a shared computer and some kids brought their big Dell laptops to school with them. But we still didn’t have easy Internet access or wireless connections; it was strictly dial-up.

I’m what’s known as a “digital émigré,” someone who wasn’t born into the modern world of computers the way my kids were. My oldest son, Jackson, 17, and a high school senior knows so much about computers and data he could actually work as a customer service agent on a helpline. During his daily classes, he and the other “cool” kids keep their video feeds turned off. When he goes to buy something, he just wants to get into your website, get what he needs, then get out. If he does need to reach out, be sure your service agents know the right answers to Jackson’s questions or he will see right through them.

Even my youngest, Silas, who is six, is quickly becoming a computer whiz. He doesn’t need anyone’s help launching Zoom and Canvas for his kindergarten class. Silas likes hearing the teacher call his name, and he especially enjoys content that offers photos and embedded videos.

Speaking of teachers, let me digress a moment to acknowledge the superb work they are doing educating our children during this world health crisis. The prospect of leading a class of 30 youngsters through a meaningful in-person education experience is terrifying enough. Add to that the additional challenge of trying to hold their attention through a computer while mastering technology that’s new to them makes teachers heroes in my book.

My biggest professional takeaway from quarantining with the kids is that the generational buckets we tend to group them in are far less important than their individual interests and ways of working. Make the most of the data your company is collecting about your customers, creating unique profiles so you can offer them the goods and services they uniquely need — perhaps even before they realize they need them.

And, if you need more inspiration, ask your kids what they like and dislike about their online experiences. Because each of them will be unique.

For more, read my latest byline in destinationCRM, “Quarantining With My Kids: A Customer Experience Lab in My Living Room” https://oracl.info/mjtY50DDWVE