{"id":4147,"date":"2019-09-03T23:05:14","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T21:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stephaniewalter.design\/?p=4147"},"modified":"2021-01-18T10:07:05","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T09:07:05","slug":"the-ultimate-guide-to-not-fck-up-push-notifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephaniewalter.design\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-not-fck-up-push-notifications\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide to Not F#!@ing Up Push Notifications"},"content":{"rendered":"

TLdNR: push notifications became yet another way to artificially re-engage users and force content down their throat. That\u2019s why so many of them hate it. But there\u2019s some interesting use cases for it. Here is some advice on how to stop ruining it for the rest of us. Spoiler alert: stop asking for permission on page load (and make them useful for users)<\/em><\/p>\n

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a kind of fun \/ trollesque site: “Should I Add Push Notifications To My Website? – No<\/a>“.\u00a0 That’s all fun and I understand the purpose of this site and also why it exists. But I would not be that strict. There’s some interesting use-cases for push notification, BUT as usually website abused it for the sake of engagement. Users are now annoyed by it, the usual story of our industry. Here is my opinion and advice on that matter.<\/p>\n

We got greedy, that\u2019s why we can\u2019t have nice things<\/h2>\n

Push notifications used to be a \u201cnative app feature only\u201d. You needed users to download your app to push them content. But things changed. Thanks to a few cool APIs like Push<\/a> + Service Workers<\/a> browsers now have the ability to send notifications to users<\/strong>. This works on both mobile (Android Chrome and Firefox) and desktop (Chrome on Mac and Win, Safari on Mac and Edge on Win10). Fortunately, users need to give permission to the site to send those. And sadly, that\u2019s when things are starting to get annoying for them.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot

Different notifications permission request on safari and chrome desktop and mobile<\/p><\/div>\n

For the sake of ** sick ** growth hacking, we got greedy. Website owners now see push notifications as yet another way to force content down user\u2019s throat, to increase page views and profit<\/strong>, to sell more \u201cGummistiefeln\u201d shoes in the process (this will be explained later in the article). Don\u2019t get me wrong, there\u2019s nothing wrong with making money. But not at the expense of user\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n

Many websites now ask permission for push notifications (and geolocation) directly on page load on first visit. And THAT\u2019S the issue. Those sites are both greedy and lazy. Most users don\u2019t not know about this particular site, the content, the value. Yet those sites want access to their notifications. They want their attention span and the authorisation to distract them, right here, right know. They don\u2019t give users time to understand the value of their content. Of course, users are fed up with that. It\u2019s so annoying that some browsers like Firefox now try to shield users from all this mess and provide an option to block them all for once<\/a>. And in January 2020 users will need to have interacted with the page before seeing notification request<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Chris Wilson at Chrome Dev summit in 2018<\/a>: \u201c90% of permission prompts are dismissed or ignored<\/strong>\u201d. This is why we can\u2019t have nice things. Every time something new arrives on the web, some people find ways to ruin it for the rest of us<\/strong>. And this is exactly what is happening with push notifications. The big \u201cissue\u201d is not the technology, but what we do with it. Humans are both greedy and lazy.<\/p>\n

Push notifications can bring value to users for some use-cases<\/h2>\n

You might think that I\u2019m against push notifications. But I\u2019m not. Let\u2019s not forget that more and more of our tools and services are now cloud based. We have a lot of Sass tools, tools in the browser, etc. There\u2019s actually some interesting cases for \u201cin the browser push notifications\u201d that bring real value to users. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m even more pissed at those sites who are abusing it and ruining it for the rest of us. There\u2019s a lot of really cool stuff that we could do with push notifications. Here are a few examples, feel free to share yours in the comments.<\/p>\n

Appointments, meetings and events<\/h3>\n

I hate calling doctors. I book my appointments on Doctena<\/a> whenever I can. They have an app but honestly, I never bothered downloading it. I kind of expect that for the moment I don\u2019t need to go to the doctor that often. Push notifications on such sites for appointments would be a great idea<\/strong>. Something like \u201cyeah stef you got an appointment in 1 hours + the address\u201d.<\/p>\n

I also use the web version of outlook at my client\u2019s office. I get notifications within the interface in the browser about my meetings. But if I\u2019m not on the right tab (or if the tab was closed) I miss it. Let\u2019s have some browser push notifications for meetings<\/strong> if the users want them (even if the tab was closed)!<\/p>\n

Last but not least, notifications could be an interesting feature for conferences websites. Some conferences have a super complex setup with many rooms and users can schedule where they want to go. Sending them reminders about the sessions<\/strong> that will start soon could bring some value.<\/p>\n

When it comes to professional or personal online tools, push notifications linked to appointments and events can be an interesting feature for some users.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Flight (train) delays on mobile browsers<\/h3>\n

Some of you might now that I travel a lot. I travel with a lot of different airlines. Like many users, I do not bother installing the native app of every company I will travel with. Even if they don\u2019t install the app, users want to know about flight (or trains) delays. Some companies like KLM let you get notified by SMS or WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

Push notifications also work for some mobile browsers like Android Chrome<\/strong> (not yet in Safari last time I checked). On Android, they integrate on the system like native notifications<\/strong>. They also work even when the website was closed thanks to Service Workers.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot

Push notifications in the browser integrated in the system<\/p><\/div>\n

Notifications could be sent from the airline\u2019s sites to user\u2019s phones to give them information about arrivals, departures, gates and delays of their specific flight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Also, if you want to know more about this kind of mobile nice little features and more, you can take a look at the slides of my talk on mobile capabilities:<\/p>\n

Super Secret Powers of Mobile Browsers <\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Deliveries<\/h3>\n

Another use case for valuable notifications is deliveries. Online shopping sites could send notifications about parcel status and delivery<\/strong> directly through their websites. No need to install an app.<\/p>\n

Messages and chats (slack, etc.)<\/h3>\n

One of the most obvious use cases for push notifications is of course messages and chats alerts<\/strong>. I won\u2019t go into the details of the user’s attention and the issues of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) that can sometimes come with too many notifications, especially for chats. But again, we live in an area of a lot of communication tools are in the browser. If you take a look at slack, you can download their app for your computer, but you can also access your slack channels with the URLs in the browsers. Online chats and instant messages services are a good candidate for push notifications in the browser.<\/p>\n

How to NOT ruin your push notifications experience<\/h2>\n

As you\u2019ve read, push notifications can bring value to users. But for that, we need to ask for permissions and build them the right way<\/p>\n

You only get one chance to ask the question, ask wisely<\/h3>\n

Users can refuse to grant access to notifications. If they change their mind afterwards and decide they want to give you permission to notify them, granting the access to push notifications back is tricky.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Android and Chrome, they need to find some setting hidden deeply somewhere in the browser setting on both phone and desktop. Most users don\u2019t even know how to do that. Believe me. I refused to grant access to microphone once, I needed it later for a call and it took me 10minutes to find how to grant the access again. Most users won\u2019t even try.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot

Users need to dig through some settings to allow permissions once they refused<\/p><\/div>\n

On iOS Safari, last time I checked, if the users refused to grant access, you can ask a second time. After that, users need to go somewhere in the settings (of the OS).<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have a computer with Windows and Edge so I\u2019ve no idea what happens if users refuse. I checked this article<\/a> which explains a little bit how to enable disable them is it also looks that you need to go through settings. If you have Edge and know what happens when users refuse the notifications access you can comment \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

At the time of writing this article, this all means that, if users refuse to grant you access to notifications, it\u2019s going to be a whole mess to get them to approve again<\/strong>. Understand this: you will get ONE CHANCE at asking permissions<\/strong>. And only one. And this also goes for microphone, geolocation, etc. So, choose wisely when and how to ask.<\/p>\n

When and how to ask for push notifications permission<\/h3>\n

Users are not likely to grant you access on the first visit, especially if they don\u2019t know your website.\u00a0 Especially if they come from a search engine, followed a link on a blog or social medias. They don\u2019t know you, why would they want to engage with your content (yet) ? They\u2019ve no idea what you will bring to the table. STOP trying to trick users into granting access on the first visit: don\u2019t demand permissions on page load.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Yeah,<\/p>\n

For the user to grant access to push notifications, they need to understand what\u2019s the benefit. So, you need 2 things:<\/p>\n