News Feature | November 3, 2015

Your IT Clients Need To Catch Up To Millennials' Desktop User Expectations

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Your IT Clients Need To Catch Up To Millennials’ Desktop User Expectations

Desktop computer experiences have a significant impact on workplace productivity — particularly for millennials — according to the findings of the AppSense 2015 Desktop Experience Study. The report found that logins that take longer than 30 seconds often encourage millennials to turn to mobile devices and coworkers, which hurts overall productivity.

“Millennials are accustomed to fast phones and even faster texting. When they come to work they are highly frustrated by a desktop experience that is slow and far less optimized than their typical mobile experience,” said Jed Ayres, SVP of marketing for AppSense. “We’re in a super-charged talent environment. Offering not only millennials but all workers the best user experience is simply a smart, competitive business strategy to attract and retain employees.

While 98 percent of business users say that a good desktop experience makes them more productive, millennials are the most distracted when computers are slow, according to AppSense, a user environment management (UEM) solutions provider. Of users that are reportedly “always” distracted when they logon or open a slow application, 28 percent are millennials, compared to 16 percent who are Gen X and only 6 percent who are baby boomers.

The study also found that what users do when they are distracted varies by generation, with millennials most distracted by mobile devices and coworkers, and baby boomers more likely to be distracted by paper. When business users were queried about how they spend the time while waiting for their computer, their responses were the following:

  • made a personal call, played a game or went on social media: 8 percent of baby boomers, 21 percent of Gen X, and 28 percent of millennials
  • paper-based work: 58 percent of baby boomers, 45 percent of Gen X, and 44 percent of millennials
  • got a drink or visited the restroom: 45 percent of baby boomers, 56 percent of Gen X, and 55 percent of millennials
  • chatted with a co-worker: 36 percent of baby boomers, 43 percent of Gen X, and 45 percent of millennials
  • made a work call: 27 percent of baby boomers, 33 percent of Gen X, and 29 percent of millennials

Such work distractions can be costly for your IT clients, with half of users’ computer-related distractions lasting between 1 and 5 minutes and 38 percent lasting more than 5 minutes.