Annoying Design

RockYou.com is a top site for teens, and their Facebook apps are some of the most popular. As I alluded to, I interviewed Jia Shen, CTO and co-founder of RockYou, about how he and his team target young consumers online.

Jia had great insights to share, and a real knack for clearly articulating the way he approached efforts like creating Super Wall on Facebook.

With help from Bruce Temkin and Steve Geller, I fleshed out Jia’s commentary into a case-study document for Forrester: RockYou Showcases Gen Y Design Practices.

Here are they key points Jia shared, but if you want to full scoop with “Forrester’s Take,” check out the report:

• “Target girls first, boys second.” RockYou targets young female consumers with its online offerings, like a slideshow creation tool with customizable sparkling effects. Yet the firm has managed to appeal to both genders. How? “Attract a female market and let the male market follow naturally,” says Shen.
• “Grab design inspiration from offline media.” To find design inspiration and fresh content, RockYou hunts through teen fashion magazines like Cosmo Girl and Teen Vogue. “We think kind of like the fashion industry — things have seasonality.”
• “It’s really all about the fun.” To amass as much of a youth audience as possible, RockYou’s Facebook offerings focus on basic social themes: messaging and communication, social quizzes and dating, and games.
• “Design for viral messaging and social incentives.” RockYou articulated two approaches for creating Facebook applications: 1) Design for long-term stickiness, or 2) focus on viral growth.