Notification Stream

Role

Design Team Lead

Timeline

~8 months

Tools

Figma, FigJam, Dscout

Team

3 designers, 5 engineers, 1 PM

Users were checking separate platforms to figure out what to do next. Funnel data showed people bouncing around, often missing time-sensitive items in one because they were focused on others.

I ran 10 interviews across roles and seniority levels and shadowed 4 users through their first-thing-in-the-morning ritual. The same complaint surfaced every time: "I never know which screen to start on."

The product had bifurcated "urgency" into multiple channels, burying actions you owed and information you needed. Users were doing the merge mentally and inefficiently.

With product and engineering, we agreed on a single stream model: every notifiable event flows through one ranked surface, weighted by urgency, recency, and relevance to the user's active work.

Stakeholders aligned on a hard constraint: the new stream had to feel calm and productive with actionable next steps.

Focused outcome: one stream where the next right action is always visible above the fold.

Target metrics: 15% reduction in time-to-task, 20% CSAT lift, ≤2 swipes/scrolls to reach the first urgent item.

Design plan: a ranked card-based stream with three notification archetypes (urgent action, FYI market update, informational system message), each with a tuned visual weight; per-user controls to snooze, mute, or pin categories; an empty-state worth landing on.

Feedback loops: three rounds of moderated tests on the prototype, weekly check-ins with product and business on requirements, instrumented launch with a two-week guardrail dashboard before broad rollout.

Shipped the unified stream and increased prioritized transparency. Time-to-task dropped 20% and CSAT lifted 25% — both above target.

Lesson: when users complain about "too many notifications," the fix is rarely fewer notifications — it's a better ranking of the ones they already get.