Visions urgently needed
The new driver behind digitalization: the generational conflict between digital nomads and digital natives. Companies need a sustainable, digital product vision more urgently than ever.
About the company
With a strong focus on smart customer experiences and high design standards, appmotion supports modern companies in developing and optimizing long-term customer relationships through unique digital customer experiences. The remote-first company sees itself as a holistic strategic consultant, implementer and integrator in digital transformation processes. The multi-award-winning and certified company has been part of the German-Swiss MYTY Group since 2022.
W ith roots in Germany for over ten years and now also in Bern, appmotion GmbH acts as a strong partner for companies striving for digital transformation by creating user-centered applications from the strategic product vision to the technical implementation. With over a decade of experience, the team knows why now is precisely the crucial time to invest in digitalization: the generation split between digital natives and digital nomads is now creating a conflict in which companies will only prevail if they also stand out digitally on the market in the future. In order to keep up in the long term, the whole thing needs to be approached strategically with interdisciplinary teams.
Why we need to hurry
The digital transformation is now facing us with a new urgency: Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) is demanding digitalization in all sectors. Not only are they part of the first generation of digital natives, they have now joined the ranks of the working population. In the coming years, they will become the population group with the highest purchasing power and will therefore help determine which needs the market will have to meet in the future. As the first generation to grow up and be socialized with digital technologies, they have clear expectations of digital applications: They must be seamless and user-centered. While their parents' generation currently sits on company boards and in strategy departments, they are the ones influencing the direction of the market. appmotion Managing Director Lasse Gruner-Lüders is convinced that "Generation Z is now the driving force behind the digital transformation. Because only high-quality digital applications will actually be used and this will increase conversion rates, brand loyalty and, in the long term, sales. Companies that don't get on board now will lose out in the long term."
Strong partnerships, smart strategies
The solution is obvious: investments in digitalization. But what does that mean? This step requires more than just developers who design an appealing website or app. It requires a strategic approach to ensure that the requirements of the company and its customers are authentically reflected. A digital application is always also a product of the company, and a sustainable product vision is required for digitalization to be implemented successfully.
This requires change on two sides: Companies must recognize that one-off implementations do not work, as digital products need to be constantly developed in order to remain relevant. This is why a long-term partnership with digital studios makes sense. Agencies also need to change. They need to think more in terms of product solutions than campaigns. After all, in order to succeed digitally in the long term, long-term strategies need to be planned and implemented iteratively in order to be able to react flexibly and quickly to the market. This does not work if partnerships between agencies and companies are short-term and project-based. The knowledge required for innovation is lost in the process.
Digital units instead of silo thinking
"Through our projects, we have recognized that sustainable digital product visions work best with interdisciplinary teams and have therefore introduced the digital unit model. Digital units are real powerhouses because they act as powerhouses of innovation to ensure long-term economic success," says Lasse Gruner-Lüders.
The Digital Units pool digital expertise in interdisciplinary teams to develop agile, customer-centric solutions beyond traditional company boundaries. Always with a view to creating sustainable digital products that solve real problems and really add value. And thanks to this close collaboration, they can react quickly to changes and open up new business models and opportunities for customers.
Digital units disprove the assumption that digital products are implemented exclusively by developers and do not play a major role in the overall process. Since customers often fail to recognize this fallacy, it is common for them to work with different service providers and sub-service providers. Strategy, design and development then come from different hands, which often have hardly any points of contact and operate in their silos. This leads to a lengthy and inflexible process, similar to the outdated waterfall model. This is not in keeping with the times, because with a properly thought-out product vision, all trades interlock seamlessly and work iteratively hand in hand. The digital units make it possible to create products that are not only technologically advanced, but also offer an optimal customer experience. And that should always be the goal of a digital product.
Experience, experience, experience!
Not news, but still a relevant appeal that companies need to understand: The user is always at the center. So customer centricity is here to stay. Companies must be able to recognize the needs and wishes of their customers and proactively integrate them into product development. This is the only way to set new standards in the digital landscape. "At a time when products and services are becoming increasingly homogenized, the ability to stand out through a unique user experience is crucial. Companies that ignore this risk losing their relevance," says Lasse Gruner-Lüders.
This is achieved with user experience (UX) design, because design-oriented products are not a luxury, but a necessity. UX design ensures that users have the best possible experience with digital applications, as they are developed to be user-centered, intuitively navigable and visually appealing, while promising high performance with seamless interactions.
Characteristics that are particularly relevant with regard to Generation Z: Many companies still have a blind spot here. There are various reasons for this: The generation is not yet classified as relevant, the connection between the needs of the target group and those of the company is not yet known or there is a lack of identification with it. Yet they already play a key role in the Swiss economy. Around 16% of the population belong to Generation Z and by 2022 around 13% of the working population will belong to Generation Z. This proportion is expected to rise in the coming years. As a growing consumer group, it is strategically relevant to integrate them into the business strategy, especially as they use digital applications the most in their everyday lives.
This is why direct interaction with the target group is necessary in the early stages of developing the product vision and in UX design. This requires the systematic use of data and direct user feedback. This ensures customer loyalty by constantly adapting to changing user needs. This ensures that users return to the application again and again.
Getting even closer to users through synergies
Really good, user-centered digital products are developed through cross-silo collaboration between marketing, business and product development. This is why collaboration with digital communication agencies is essential, as they are close to the target group, know their needs, observe trend developments and establish connections between the brand and the target group.
This interaction is made possible by MYTY Group, to which appmotion has belonged since 2022. The group's international network comprises 13 companies with a total of over 800 experts in areas such as Web3, eCommerce, marketing, creation and more. Over 200 of these employees are based in the Swiss cities of Zurich, Basel, Bern and Aadorf alone.
In Switzerland, appmotions projects are enriched, among other things, by the collaboration with Sir Mary AG, which offers valuable insights into current developments and new trends by analyzing data and target groups and using AI. "Just as good campaigns are based on strong target group insights, good digital products also focus on users and their needs. Interdisciplinary collaboration is absolutely key here. Optimal interaction between communication and product can prove decisive in competition," says Tino Elsener, Strategy Director and Partner at Sir Mary.
This interdisciplinary approach is not only practiced between the two teams, but also extends to MYTY Digital Solutions. It is made up of MYTY Group companies that specialize in the seamless and sustainable implementation of digital transformation. As this model is running successfully and thus ensuring strategic growth through digitalization, appmotion has also positioned itself as a technological partner in Switzerland since 2024.
"Only high-quality digital applications will be used."
"Digital units disprove the assumption that digital products are implemented exclusively by developers."
"Generation Z already plays an important role for the economy in Switzerland."
