identified opportunities to motivate users and boost notification opt-ins in a news app
news/MEDIA
Role: Product Designer
Reading Time: 4 mins
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Challenge
Push notification opt-ins have an engagement rate of 3%, and since the app comes pre-installed, most users open it without prior knowledge of its value or features. The goal is to increase notification opt-in to 8%.
The challenge is to design a concise and persuasive onboarding experience that builds trust quickly, clearly communicates the value of personalised and localised news alerts, and identifies key in-app moments where the user is most receptive to enabling notifications.
The result
CREATED user flowS and high-fidelities that aim to motivate users to opt in to notifications
I led the design process from discovery to prototyping, collaborating with the product team to define the problem, gather insights, and design experiences that aim to increase opt-in rates. I was responsible for creating user flows, high-fidelity prototypes, and suggesting improvements to in-app interactions that would motivate users to engage with notifications.
CREATED the foundations of a multi-brand DESIGN SYSTEM
Additionally, to further strengthen my application, I created the foundations of a design system that could support the multi-faceted ecosystem of the company to demonstrate my ability to create and manage a complex design system.
The full story
How can we BUILD TRUST and motivate users to opt in?
This project was a take-home challenge for a Product Design role in a company that specialises in pre-installed applications on Android. The challenge was to design an onboarding process and opportunities that engage users and motivate them to opt in by offering clear, relevant, and personalised benefits. The solution should foster trust, highlight the advantages of receiving timely and localised updates for a user that has no prior knowledge of the pre-installed app.
Understanding the Landscape
Due to the short 1-hour timeframe of the initial stage of this task, I combined a competitor analysis with user insights generated via ChatGPT, focusing on engagement triggers and pains in news consumption.
This allowed me to ground design decisions in user needs and pain points. I also ran a competitor analysis, exploring how other news apps like BBC, HuffPost, and Ground News handled onboarding and notifications.
COMPETITOR INSIGHTS
Users can occassionally set their NOTIFICATION preferences
Only a few competitor apps allowed users to set preferences on the categories and topics of news they get served.
Allowing users to set their preferences increases the value and credibility of notifications and motivates users to opt-in to receiving notifications.
Users can see a list of previous news alerts
Users aren’t able to opt in to receive update notifications on the news stories they care about
‘Ground News’ and ‘HuffPost’ allow users to see an overview of their news alerts, but there is no functionality to opt in to get updates from news stories they care about. There is also an opportunity for users to dismiss content they wish not to get notifications for.
user insights
In order to consider the users perspective, motivators and needs, I gathered insights by prompting ChatGPT to give user insights relevant to the research objectives.
Timely and urgent updates:
Users need notifications to be timely, especially for urgent matters like breaking news, local emergencies, or critical updates (e.g., weather warnings or traffic disruptions).
Relevance of content:
Users want notifications that provide content directly related to their interests, location, and daily lives (e.g., local news, weather alerts, community events).
Control and customisation:
Users want control over which types of notifications they receive. They want the flexibility to change these settings as their preferences evolve.
Notification Fatigue:
Users often feel overwhelmed by receiving too many notifications from various apps, leading to notification fatigue. This can cause users to perceive the app as intrusive, diminishing their interest in enabling notifications.
Lack of value:
Users may feel that the notifications they receive are repetitive or don’t provide new, meaningful information. If notifications don’t offer any actionable value, users are less likely to opt in.
Read vs Watch:
Many people still prefer reading news rather than watching it. Offering brief, easily consumable text-based notifications could engage users who may not be interested in video-based content, which is becoming more prevalent in news consumption.
DELIVERED
presented user flows and high-fidelity wireframes
I pitched my user flows and high-fidelity wireframes to the design team at X company in response to the challenge they had set. I presented my approach to the task like gaining empathy with users and the designs I created to improve notification opt-ins.
ONBOARDING
Build trust through credible News Sources
Showing icons of the news sources people rate most trusted in the US will build trust and value in the app.
Give control over Notifications
The last step of the onboarding flow is a modal that allows users to opt in for the notifications they want. Giving users control over notifications will help build trust and increase their perceived value. This will motivate users to opt in because notifications reflect the user’s individual preferences for local and global news and weather alerts.
in-app
Get updates on the news that matters
Giving users the option to receive updates on news stories they care about creates a valuable opportunity to boost opt-ins and deliver more relevant, personalised notifications.
Allowing users to have an overview of alerts and explore options to opt in for updates on content without opening the article will also boost opt-ins, while building trust and value in the app.
What next?
Gorilla test a prototype
Potential next steps would be to continue developing a working prototype to gorilla test on users and get insights on the effectiveness of the onboarding and key moments in the app that motivate users to opt-in.
A/B test notifications
Unmoderated variable testing would allow us to evaluate what notifications and copy are more successful in engaging users and motivating them to opt-in to receive more notifications.
Develop a notification logic
After testing the effectiveness of the notification prompts, a logic would need to be created for what, when and how often notifications are served to users.
How would we measure SUCCESS?
It’s important to establish which metrics are going to be followed to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of solutions other than the broader opt-in rate.
Key takeaways
Created the foundations of a multi-brand Design system
I enjoyed building the foundations and deepening my understanding of scalable design system with a clear structure that would meet the requirements of a multi-facted organisation.
Building out parts of the design system for the app has given me a deeper understanding of how design tokens, components, properties, and guidelines come together to create a scalable and cohesive experience built upon atomic framework. Through this process, I’ve been able to refine my approach, ensuring that the system is efficient and responsive. This has helped me think more critically about consistency, accessibility, and how to adapt the system for different use cases while maintaining a strong foundation and principles.
