Notification Design

Communicate without annoying.

How to use

• /notification-design Apply notification constraints to this conversation.

Constraints

Hierarchy of Interruption (least to most disruptive)

1. Badge/dot (unread indicator)
2. In-app notification center
3. Toast/banner within the app
4. Email digest
5. Individual email
6. Push notification
7. SMS

Rules

• MUST match urgency level to interruption level. Not everything is push-worthy.
• MUST let users control notification preferences at a granular level
• MUST include an unsubscribe/mute option in every notification channel
• NEVER send the same notification through multiple channels simultaneously
• SHOULD batch low-urgency updates into digests instead of individual messages

Copy

• MUST be actionable. Tell them what happened AND what to do next.
• Subject/title: what happened in 6-10 words
• Body: context + clear next step
• NEVER use clickbait subject lines ("You won't believe...")
• MUST preview well in notification trays (front-load the important info)

Timing

• SHOULD respect the user's timezone
• NEVER send non-urgent notifications between 9pm and 8am local time
• MUST implement frequency caps (max notifications per day per user)
• First notification within 24 hours of signup should deliver value, not ask for something

Anti-Patterns

• Re-engagement emails that say "We miss you" (users don't miss you back)
• Push notifications for marketing content disguised as product updates
• Notification counts that include items the user can't act on
• Sending a notification about a notification preference change