UX that Builds Confidence: Will 2026 Be the Year We See It Again?
- Editorial Team
- Jan 12
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 15
The story of the past half-decade of digital life has been a story of "Enshittification": updates that progressively and increasingly optimized value extraction while degrading the actual user experience in the process. Originally coined to describe social media, the phenomenon has spread to services of all kinds, from Amazon to Uber. Even automakers have started getting in on it by requiring subscriptions for certain features. But there are signs that Americans' collective patience for it has limits – limits brands should be aware of.
The Cultural Signal
Enshittification Is Driving Gen Z to Touch Grass. A couple examples:
• Vinyl sales are skyrocketing, driven by a generation born after music had gone digital.
• 61% of Gen Zers prefer to discover new products in-store rather than online.
• Over ¾ feel burned out on dating apps and 9 in 10 would prefer to meet potential partners offline.
Why Now?
This might seem counterintuitive...but should it? Digital natives are by definition highly attuned to digital user experiences; as the pioneer users of many of the most popular services they remember how things worked before things got enshittified. Gen Z is also entering adulthood during a time of bleak prospects and general dissatisfaction, and is increasingly disinclined to lower their expectations just because it's good for someone else's bottom line. If you'll forgive the use of a very pre-digital metaphor, they're canaries in the coal mine...canaries who aren't chirping a cheery melody.
Marketing Implications
Brands should carefully weigh the benefits of short-term value extraction vs. damage to brand affinity. In particular, they should consider:
Do alternatives exist that don't clutter the UX with ads and other obstacles to user goals?
Are there non-digital equivalents?
Is the service a "nice to have" or a "need to have"? (Be honest)
Frame your responses to these questions as though you were replying to a significant other who's accusing you of never listening to them.
Our Prediction
Gen Z will keep using services that actually make their lives easier, such as pay by phone. As for the rest, they've happily abandoned platforms en masse before, and they'll start doing it again this year – with extreme prejudice.
This post is Part 1 of our 4-part series on PACO Predicts: 2026 Trends.
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