I hate interruptions
Especially from my phone
Most apps seek to annoy you with notifications
Everytime you install a new app
You have to be sure to read the prompts carefully
And there are intentionally hard to understand
Or once you starting seeing the annoying notifications
Go to settings and turn those off
Most of the apps on your phone measure their “engagement”
They use metrics like DAU- daily active users, MAU – monthly
They look at how many times you opened the app
And notifications are a way to get you to open the app
How do you balance what the creator of the app wants and what the user of the app wants?
If you want someone to use your product, tool, app regularly
Provide something of value
Something that user wants
Bugging users beyond a certain point
Has diminishing returns and sometimes even negative returns
Users tend to shut off notifications or simply delete the app
Once in a while some of the tools get this right
And it is not by chance
It can be done with intent and careful consideration
First understand what users want
What would please, help, or delight the users
Not just understand what users want, but what would they like
What are their underlying interests, motivation, emotions..
That is truly understanding users.
Not just tasks users want to do, but what is driving them.
For me that is #designthinking
For me that is #productdesign
And this is not just for #productmanager or #designer of the product.
But for everyone who is responsible for building, marketing and selling.
Recently I installed a cloud storage app on my phone.
It also stores my photos.
Everyday it shows me photos on the same day from a year or more ago.
I enjoy that.
It’s nice to look back and be reminded of some happy memories.
For once the app designers got it right.
What is an #app or #tool that you love?
Something that uses notifications or alerts wisely.
To benefit the user and not the tool creator..