Skip to content
UX Atlas
Plate PAT·015 · PatternGrid E2 · Rev. 2026-09-14

Notifications

Telling users something happened, where the default should be not to interrupt.

PatternCraft conventionIntermediate

Definition

Notifications inform users of events. They range from passive indicators to interrupting alerts, and the choice of channel should be driven by urgency and by whether the user can act on it now.

Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.

On this plate
  1. 1Definition
  2. 2Channels by urgency
  3. 3Rules
  4. 4Volume and control
  5. 5Deciding whether to send at all
  6. 6In practice
  7. 7Commonly confused with
  8. 8Local chart
  9. 9Continue from here

Reach for this when

  • Designing any event-driven communication.
  • Reviewing notification opt-out rates.
  • Events happen while the reader is elsewhere and some of them genuinely need them.

Common mistakes

  • Everything set to interrupt.
  • Essential information in transient toasts.
  • No granular controls.
  • Notifications invisible to screen readers.

Channels by urgency

UrgencyChannelBehaviour
AmbientBadge or counterNo interruption. The user finds it when they look.
InformationalInbox or activity feedPersistent, reviewed when convenient.
ContextualInline messageAppears where it is relevant, stays until resolved.
Transient confirmationToastBrief, dismissible, never carrying essential information.
BlockingModalReserved for decisions that genuinely cannot proceed without input.
Out of productEmail or pushRequires explicit consent and granular controls.

Rules

  • Default to the least interrupting channel that works.
  • Batch related notifications rather than sending one per event.
  • Give granular controls, per category and per channel, and honour them immediately.
  • Make every notification actionable, or explain why it is worth knowing.
  • Never put essential information only in a toast. Toasts disappear, and some users will not see them at all.
  • Announce in-product notifications through a live region so they reach assistive technology.

Volume and control

Do

  • Batch anything that arrives in bursts.
  • Give per-category controls, not a single on and off.
  • Respect quiet hours and the reader's timezone.
  • Make the unsubscribe route as short as the subscribe route was.

Do not

  • Send a push for something that can wait for the next visit.
  • Notify people about their own actions.
  • Use a badge that cannot be cleared.
  • Treat notification volume as an engagement lever. The cost lands later and permanently.

Deciding whether to send at all

Run each proposed notification through this before choosing a channel. Most do not survive step three.

  1. 1

    Did the reader ask for this?

    Following, subscribing or being assigned counts. Being a user does not.

  2. 2

    Is there something to do?

    If there is no action and no consequence, it belongs in an activity feed the reader visits, not in a message that arrives.

  3. 3

    Can it wait for the next visit?

    If yes, it is a badge or an inbox item. This removes most candidates.

  4. 4

    Can it be batched?

    Six events in ten minutes are one notification. Digests exist because bursts are the normal shape of activity.

  5. 5

    Choose the least interrupting channel that works

    Interruption is a cost paid by everyone who receives it, including the people for whom it was not relevant.

  6. 6

    Watch the opt-out rate afterwards

    A notification that raises unsubscribes has spent a permanent resource for a temporary metric.

In practice

  1. i.

    Batching

    Collaboration tools

    Sending one summary for twelve comments on a document, rather than twelve messages, keeps the channel usable and is what users choose when offered the option.

  2. ii.

    Turned off, and never on again

    Why volume is permanent

    Push permission is granted once and revoked once. A month of over-notifying converts into a permanently unreachable reader, and no later restraint wins it back.

Commonly confused with

Close neighbours that get substituted for each other. The difference is stated first, then the condition that picks one over the other.

vs.

Activity Timelines

Pattern

A chronological history of events on a record, available whenever it is wanted.

Key difference

A timeline is a record of what happened to a thing, read on purpose. Notifications are pushed at a person because something needs their attention. The same event can appear in both, and only one of them should interrupt.

Use Notifications when

  • Someone needs to know without going to look.
  • The event is addressed to a person, not filed against a record.
  • You are deciding how loudly to interrupt.

Use Activity Timelines when

  • The question is what changed, when, and by whom.
  • The events belong to an object rather than to a person.
  • Completeness matters more than urgency.

Learn about Activity Timelines

vs.

Toast

Component

A transient on-screen message confirming something that just happened.

Key difference

A toast is one delivery channel. Notifications are the whole system behind the event: what is worth telling anyone, how urgent it is, and where it lives once the moment has passed.

Use Notifications when

  • The event happened while the reader was elsewhere.
  • You are deciding between inbox, badge, email and push.
  • There has to be somewhere to catch up on what was missed.

Use Toast when

  • The reader caused the event and is still looking at the screen.
  • The message is safe to miss.
  • Nothing needs to be retrievable afterwards.

Learn about Toast

Local chart

PAT·015 · Region III · Grid E2

This entry and the entries it is stated to connect with. Each line is labelled with what the connection means.

Visibility of System StatusHEUR·001 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISBanner BlindnessPSY·003 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISFlowPSY·005 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISSelective AttentionPSY·004 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISStatus Messages and Live RegionsA11Y·009 · DEPENDS ONAlert and Inline MessageCMP·015 · OFTEN USED WITHBadge and TagCMP·023 · OFTEN USED WITHModal DialogCMP·010 · OFTEN USED WITHCollaborationPAT·026 · OFTEN USED WITHToastCMP·014 · COMMONLY CONFUSED WITHActivity TimelinesPAT·019 · COMMONLY CONFUSED WITHReducing Notification Volume Without Losing SignalCASE·007 · PRACTICAL EXAMPLE

Continue from here

Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.

Applies when you are designing

An AI ProductAn Onboarding Flow

Principles behind this

The reasoning this solution is an application of.

Depends on

Get these right first, or this one will not hold.

Often used with

These usually appear in the same screen or the same decision.

Practical example

A worked decision where this was the deciding factor.

Short definition

The one-paragraph version, for when that is all you need.

Related concept

Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.