Notification

Overview

A notification is the way an app or service tells its users about new information or something that has happened. There are several channels, such as push notifications on smartphones, browser notifications, email notifications, and in-app notifications. On social media, notifications like "Someone liked your post," "Someone followed you," and "You have a new message" become the trigger that pulls users back into the app.

How notifications affect what users do

Notifications are a way to keep users engaged, but used the wrong way, they can backfire. If they come too often or announce things that don't matter, users may turn notifications off or uninstall the app.

Designing notifications for a question box service

Without a notification telling owners that a new question has arrived in their question box, they would need to check the dashboard regularly, and it would take longer for them to answer.

For owners who get a lot of questions, email notifications can become a hassle. Ideally, the service lets owners set how often they are notified (right away, an hourly digest, a once-a-day summary, and so on), so each person can match it to how they run their question box.

Dealing with notification fatigue

Notification fatigue is what happens when so many notifications arrive that users stop paying attention to notifications at all. They start missing important ones too, and notifications lose their original purpose.

One way to deal with it is to set priorities for notifications. Only the truly important ones (like account security alerts) go out as push notifications, and everything else goes to in-app notifications or an email digest. Users can also actively turn off notifications from apps they don't need, so that only the notifications they really need reach them.