Search It Up!

My kids are pawns

When our kids were super little, we had to WATCH them — like really watch them, to be sure that they didn’t swallow a train engine or knock their forehead on a coffee table or run out into oncoming traffic. 

Now that my kids are getting a little older (Lucy is 11 and Alex is 8 — Gregg and Nikin’s kids are roughly the same ages plus Nikin has a third who is now in Kindergarten), we get to OBSERVE them, which I am finding to be some combination of informative, hilarious, and confounding. 

Here are a few recent observations:

Observation #1 — Voice Commands

My kids are unbelievably comfortable with talking into their watches or Google Home or Alexa or whatever to take an action or get information. 

In fact, they PREFER to interact with devices this way if you ask them. Voice-to-text is not just a boomer trend — my kids do this all day long, too. And the few times that they’ve ever had to literally input a password into a TV remote letter-by-letter (including capitals) have been some of the few times that we’ve ever been able to get them off of a screen. 

This is impacting the way that they socialize and communicate and learn — and eventually how they will work. Assuming this persists, carpel tunnel and hunched backs and keyboard should decline, and Siri may finally make her way into the working world in a real way. 

Observation #2 — What Is Friction

My kids do homework with Chat GPT open (gasp!). I noticed this with Lucy a little while ago and have been observing and questioning her ever since. And YES… I asked and watched and made sure that she wasn’t using it (at least not yet) to write essays and fully answer questions. 

But she does use Chat GPT regularly for things that we used to Google or use Wikipedia or some embedded Microsoft feature to do — like ask for the definition of a word or the date of an event. The difference? No clicks! No links! Quick answers and then onto the next thing. 

Related to Observation #1 above, for better or worse, my kids HATE friction. They don’t even understand why it would exist, and if they can overcome any point of friction in their ability to take an action or get information, they take it.

Remember, they’ve grown up without it! These kids have hardly ever had to scroll a channel guide on cable (let alone read TV Guide) or read a box score or page an encyclopedia or even call a home phone, and their parents are suckers who do actually sometimes even pay for Internet on airplanes. 

This childhood setup already impacts the way that they engage with technology — and will continue to do so. Larry Page’s theory of friction killing products is only becoming more true — and one of the most important obsessions of product teams should continue to be grinding out and away user friction wherever they can. 

Observation #3 = “Search It Up”

My kids don’t “Google” things — Google isn’t a verb for them and they don’t seem to have much brand affinity with Google (even though I used to work there).

They instead say “search it up!” when they want to know something, and if you ask whether they know that Google powers most of the searches, they just kind of stare through you like you’re some kind of ghost of technologies past and ask whether or not you have the answer yet or if they should ask their Apple Watches.

I’ve been floating this phrase with friends lately and am finding it to be a trend… not sure what to make of it yet, but it can’t be good for Google. 

Do anybody else’s kids say this…?