Notifications - Denotifying the Users
The idea of notifications got established in our lives and the subconscious, very subtly. Initially, the idea of notifications was restricted only to Facebook on the desktop for us. These notifications were truly notifying us of the activities or actions that pertained to us. For instance, we were notified when a friend wrote on our wall or when it was our friend’s birthday(with the growing list of ‘friends’ on Facebook, this too has become redundant and a blind spot at times).
When we had a limited list of friends on Facebook or followed groups and pages that mattered to our daily lives and interests, these notifications excited us and helped us act on them.
However, with the introduction to smartphones and better connectivity, supported by new apps and old apps developing newer user experiences, the idea of notifications subsequently spread onto our locked phone screens. Notifications are no longer restricted to the idea of some action happening within the application only. Notifications now require us to decide our individual relationship with each and every application on the phone — including our SMS app eg. messages on iPhone.
We have to decide not just whether we want to be notified by an app or not but also how we want it positioned and to appear.
It’s important to decide on these settings because we are constantly distracted by our phones. Phones have even introduced ideas and settings to reduce addiction or distraction by, for example, turning the phone display to greyscale(according to research this helps reduce the urgency and excitement with which we would respond to a notification on a colored screen) The concept of ‘shoulder snooping’ has made it important to sometimes hide message previews in public spaces. While these are settings that are based on user needs, it has somehow made the notification settings complex, especially when you have to set a different setting for different apps.
The prime reason for increased complexity is the unnecessary and irrelevant notifications that most apps have started sending our way on a daily basis.
This has almost made notifications in their entirety a blind spot for most of us. Facebook is a prime perpetrator in making notifications irrelevant or even irritating to a large extent.
Let us take two notifications that Facebook has recently started sharing with us:
1) XYZ recently added a photo.
Issue: This would have made sense when I was tagged in the photo as it would have had definite relevance for me. The interest in Facebook began because the power to discover what your friends and family were up to, was in your hands. With such a notification system, Facebook is making a desperate attempt to get you into the loop. Worse still, this ‘friend’ might just be an acquaintance whose life you are not interested in.
2) XYZ posted in group XYZ.
Issue: This is a group that I have never interacted with and just got added to the list of trillion groups or pages that we had ended up liking in the phase where the Facebook pages were fun and exciting. If it doesn’t pertain to my current activities or interests on the group, which is very easy for Facebook to determine, this is not only irrelevant but also leads to disinterest in the platform’s future notifications.
Notifications are one of the bigger reasons for app uninstalls. They are a point of irritation because you’d rather delete an app than go to settings->notifications->app->change notification settings.
Except for a few OTT messaging applications such as WhatsApp, we don’t pay genuine interest to notifications anyway. Also, because now notifications are technically in your SMS inbox, your email inbox, your locked home screen, in-app, and the million devices we all use. In fact, the ‘blindspot phenomenon’ also makes us miss important notifications at times. I constantly miss my Messages notifications, which are important because banks send messages to notify you of banking activities.
Applications are not going beyond the usual compulsory permission settings to think more about the users' interaction with the notifications.
What about the content of the notifications, the timing and frequency of the communication, reminders to followup on previous communication, difference between in-app and outside-app notifications, etc.
The problem also exists in not thinking of notifications as an important element in the user journey and thus an important component of your platform’s UX. Just as a robust UX helps a website perform better with the user, a well designed and well-written notification can increase the interaction period with the user.
Unlike a website or application, there’s no scrolling or click to another page in a notification. You have a milli-second and you need to make the most out of it!
In recent times, I have come across a few apps that are evolving how we communicate with or react to notifications. For instance:
1) Bustle — a relatable content platform that curates from across the world on the app
What I like:
It uses emojis, which we use more than words in most conversations these days and something we find relatable and exciting. The timing, considering it’s an article on dozing off, is perfect as it comes at 9.31 PM. The app sends such relatable content through the day and because of its design catches your eye.
2) Eve — a period tracking app for women with an informed and educative forum
What I like:
It’s keeping the user informed using emoticons to reduce tension and anxiety while delivering content that would without the emoticons make it sound hectic and stressful.
Again, the content and the design, with the use of emoticons make a difference in how the notifications would be perceived by the user.
Information and relevance thus is the key to great notifications. For instance, Apple, I really want you to send me a notification informing me of the money that will be debited for my subscribed apps, instead of the direct message I get from the bank. It always makes me wonder if someone is unfairly charging me. Only to later, happily and fortunately, realize that it’s the video streaming subscription.
It’s a thin line for some apps, but if planned well as part of the user journeys itself, then apps can provide genuine relevance to the users, and keep them in the loop instead of ‘get them back in the loop.’ It will also help them plan the content better for both in-app and outside-app notifications.
