This article is a part of our content series “Thoughtful Notifications”, you can check out the first part*“*Fighting Back Against Alert Overload” here.
Smart app creators need to make notifications meaningful for customers by adopting a curator mentality. In the same way an art gallery/museum doesn’t put just any piece of work on its walls, apps should carefully consider which messages are worth sending to users.
Of course to do that, you first need to understand their needs and goals. Research shows that notification overload can negatively impact user focus and well-being, while mindful communication leads to better engagement and satisfaction.
A mindful notification gets users closer to accomplishing their goals; it does distract them with irrelevant or unimportant information. Mindfulness helps ensure that notifications support user well-being and make it easier for them to achieve what matters most. Find out what your customers want to accomplish and keep asking yourself, “Is this notification helping users achieve their goals?” If not, you’re probably better off holding back.
Introduction to Mindfulness
Mindfulness is all about being fully present and aware in the current moment. It’s the practice of tuning in to what’s happening right now, rather than getting lost in thoughts about the past or worries about the future. When we practice mindfulness, we bring our attention to the present moment, noticing our thoughts, feelings, and surroundings without judgment. This mindfulness practice isn’t just something you do on a meditation cushion—it’s a way of living that can transform everyday life.
By focusing on the present moment, we become more aware of ourselves and the world around us. This awareness helps us respond to life’s challenges with greater compassion and clarity. Mindfulness means being fully present in our lives, whether we’re working, spending time with loved ones, or simply enjoying a quiet moment. When we practice mindfulness, we open ourselves up to a deeper sense of connection, purpose, and well-being in the world. In short, mindfulness is a powerful tool for living a more focused, compassionate, and fulfilling life.
The Importance of Mindfulness in Notifications
In today’s fast-paced world, notifications are a constant part of daily life. But instead of helping us, they often pull us away from the present moment, leaving us feeling scattered and overwhelmed. Mindfulness in notifications is about changing that dynamic. When we practice mindfulness in the way we design and respond to notifications, we create space to focus on what truly matters.
Mindful notifications encourage us to pause, breathe, and return to the present moment, even in the middle of a busy day. By practicing mindfulness, we can choose how we respond to alerts, rather than reacting automatically. This shift can reduce stress, boost productivity, and support our overall well-being. When notifications are crafted with mindfulness in mind, they become helpful reminders to stay focused and present, rather than distractions that pull us away from life. In this way, mindful notifications can help us reclaim our attention and bring more intention and balance to our daily lives.
Learning from the wrong way
Sometimes the best way to illuminate the correct path is to look at the wrong way to do it. So let’s examine the elements of ineffective messaging…
Annoying app notifications: It’s not immediately clear why the notification is being sent. The tone is confusing or, even worse, comes off as rude/insensitive. It’s sent at a random time distracting a user from the task at hand. Or it’s sent in the middle of the night while the user is asleep – or when the user is away from a destination/device required to take action on it. And it’s sent multiple times “just to be sure.”
The end result: Wasteful, inefficient messaging that results in negative emotions for customers. Users may even feel sad or frustrated by these interruptions. Poor notifications can make users feel like their devices are their own worst enemy, turning technology into their worst enemy instead of a helpful tool.
On the other hand…
Mindful messaging: A mindful notification is crystal clear in its purpose. The tone is concise, clear, and polite. It’s sent just in time for users to take the needed action(s). It doesn’t distract from essential tasks and it’s not sent while the user is asleep. It arrives when they are in the right location (and right mindset) to do something about it. And it’s only sent once unless the user requests otherwise.
The result of this sort of approach: Clear, effective communication that leads to positive vibes for customers. Unlike the confusion and frustration caused by unwise thoughts triggered by bad notifications, mindful messaging supports clarity and peace of mind.
Stick to the essentials and practice mindfulness
Why is the curator mentality so important? Because users are already overwhelmed. We’re living in an age of alert overload and it’s not just because of social media – it’s also because of the apps we’re required to use for work.
These tools force us to endure a neverending stream of annoying and unwanted notifications. “Log off!” people argue. But we can’t just abandon the tools we need to do our jobs.
It’s easy to blame the end-user, but alert overload isn’t their fault; mindful messaging is the responsibility of app creators. App creators must focus on what truly matters. Only notifications that genuinely matter should be sent, ensuring users receive information of real significance.
Customers want a small number of thoughtful messages and less notification pollution. Apps that ignore this do so at their own peril. Appreciating ordinary things, like simple and essential notifications, helps users stay mindful and focused without being overwhelmed by trivial alerts.
And let’s be clear about the top problem most apps have with messaging: They send too many notifications. “We, as users, have learned to identify and avoid notifications, just as we have learned to identify and avoid ads,“ UX designer Nupur Patel.
The key is to find the right balance in how frequently you contact customers. The folks at SilverBlaze Solutions offer this advice
For truly effective push notifications, strike a balance between the right information and the right frequency of communication. Going overboard with push alerts and sending information that your customers do not care about will only lead to your alerts being ignored or muted.
So rule number one: Don’t flood your users with alerts they don’t need.
Tone, emotion, and timing: listen deeply
When you do send a message, it needs to strike the right tone. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for that; the key is to be appropriate for your app’s purpose.
You want to use the correct language for your users and their respective situations. The words you choose in your notifications can greatly impact how your message is received and the overall user experience. You’ll want to use a serious/instructive tone to make your users feel secure if you’re a banking app. If you’re a gaming app, you can probably be more playful.
Always consider the emotions you generate. Your notifications should result in customers feeling the feelings you want to be associated with your platform.
It’s important to practice compassion when crafting your messages, ensuring empathy and understanding are at the forefront. By including compassionate thoughts in your notifications, you can foster positive emotions and create a more supportive environment for your users.
Below, Patel explains how an app’s messaging tone can vary:
Based on the situation, the tone of voice of the message could be serious, authoritative, or even instructive in nature. Take, for example, any banking or finance-related applications. Their users’ sense of security is primary to the brand, so they have to take extra care with their instructions and build the copy/content to reflect this sense of security…
Users also welcome a break from the mundane and enjoy the experience when brands go for a playful and lighter tone of voice. I ordered one of my meals from Box 8, and they added a playful touch to the notification regarding my delivery by using the word “sooperman.”
When understanding user situations, it’s essential to listen to user feedback and needs, so your notifications remain relevant and respectful.
Timing is integral too.
You want to provide customers with the right message at the right time. You should deliver information at the precise moment a customer is likely to take action on it. Communicating with honesty and transparency is crucial; always ensure your notifications reflect the truth to build trust with your users.
For example: If you’re a lunch delivery service, you might want to roll out a deal notification around noon for your customers since that’s when people think about ordering lunch. And remember that’s noon local time for each customer.
Location, location, location: the present moment
If your app involves geolocation, you should consider the user’s location when sending notifications. Marketer Sarah Hein explains how travel apps can take advantage of a user’s location to deliver impactful information:
What can travel destinations do with this information? Instead of treating the journey as a means to an end, destinations can use this time to give visitors information about the environment around them.
For example, in today’s mobile environment, a tourist hiking with a smartphone can simultaneously receive material about local landmarks, native vegetation, interesting wildlife, and historical tidbits.
Consider the specifics of your customers and how you can help them “fill in the blanks” with their surroundings. If you’re targeting someone who hikes, you could send relevant notifications about local landmarks, interesting wildlife, and local history as they come upon them. User needs can shift like clouds in a windy sky, so staying aware of these changes helps you deliver more meaningful notifications.
If you make an app for tourists, you could send notifications when users are near to (or arrive at) their destination. If it’s a guided tour, you might want to send more notifications at the start, when people need guidance, and fewer once they get the hang of how the tour works.
Also, consider if they’re on foot, bike, car, public transportation, etc. That will impact how frequently you contact them. And think about the particulars of where they’re visiting; Italy might mean your messaging focuses more on places to eat, while the Rockies might mean you’re alerting customers to a shift in ski conditions.
Remember your overarching goal: Enhance the user’s experience without overwhelming them. Well-timed, relevant notifications can be a precious gift, providing users with just the right information at the right moment.
“But I’m not a travel app.” That’s okay. That’s just one example of how timing and location can be useful considerations. The infinite possibility of location-based notifications means you can create unique, enriched experiences for users in any context.
Perhaps you’re building an app for a chain of gyms. Then, you might notify customers with a special deal when they’re a few blocks away from their local gym or send a discount offer for personal training if you notice a customer hasn’t checked in for a few weeks.
Power to the people: practice compassion
Another essential concept here is to continually give the notification power to your customers.
Important clarification: This isn’t about burdening them; users should be able to turn optional alerts on/off, but they also shouldn’t have to continually navigate a tricky gauntlet of preferences, in-app settings, etc. It’s important not to let life harden your approach—stay open to feedback, even when it’s challenging.
Instead, you should be paying attention to what customers want and make wise choices on their behalf. It’s always wise to remember that classic usability tenet: Don’t make me think.
To do this, constantly collect feedback from users as frictionless as possible. Notice engagement rates on the messaging you send. Are they being read? Are they helping customers get more done? Do they have a way of easily giving you feedback about the helpfulness (or lack thereof) of these messages? Remember, user feedback often reflects a messy life and the entire imperfect reality of your audience, so embrace the complexity and imperfection in their responses.
Notifications aren’t a “set it and forget it” kind of thing. Mindful messaging is an ongoing process that requires consistent monitoring. What worked yesterday for one customer may not work tomorrow for another. Take the time to understand how users feel continually truly. It takes guts to make bold changes based on honest feedback, but this courage leads to better user experiences.
A good example of this approach: Uplight, which brings together energy providers and their customers, spent three months interviewing and surveying users about which notifications they wanted to receive, how often, and in what format. In” Creating Meaningful Business Customer Energy Alerts,” Crystal Leaver of Uplight explained how the company uses this information to tailor messages to different customers:
Different users expressed interest in different energy alerts depending on their role, business type, and size.
Small business owners don’t have much time to devote to energy efficiency projects, so they want to hear about simple, easy actions to see energy cost savings (e.g., adjusting thermostat settings for a holiday weekend).
In contrast, facilities managers at larger companies may have other sophisticated energy monitoring tools and are looking for near real-time notifications to help avoid utility fees for high “spikes” in demand.
Finally, energy efficiency managers at established companies are keen on understanding the ROI and realizing cost savings after undergoing, for example, an HVAC retrofit project.
Leaver explains that the path to mindful messaging revolves around three simple questions:
-
Which energy alerts would interest our business users?
-
How would they like to receive those alerts?
-
How often do they want to receive updates?
In response to these questions, Uplight steers customers toward the appropriate messaging. It offers a “Preference Center” so users can easily choose which notifications are important to them and how they want to receive them. Leaver explains, “If users are offered a few simple choices, notifications can remain a useful tool rather than a distraction.”
Don't blame the messages
Finally, it’s also worth noting that even if you create best-of-breed notifications, you still might fail to keep some customers engaged.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “Don’t blame the messenger.” Well, it applies to notifications too, except it’s more “Don’t blame the messages.”
If your app isn’t delivering a crucial service or improving customers’ lives, there will be a ceiling to how meaningful users find any notification you send. On the other hand, your messages will be appreciated if your app solves problems or makes things better for people.
There’s no messaging “magic bullet” that will turn things around if the product itself is unhelpful.
And that brings us back to the original problem: Notification fatigue is driving many of us up the wall. The best way to avoid being part of the problem is to cull your app’s notifications ruthlessly so only essential communication occurs.
Work hard to be part of the solution, and remember: Sometimes, the best notification system you can send is none at all.
Many renowned mindfulness teachers—such as Jack Kornfield, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thich Nhat, Eckhart Tolle, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Amit Ray, and Mother Teresa—have shared wisdom on meaningful communication, presence, and happiness. Drawing on their teachings and favorite mindfulness quotes, mindful quotes, and mindfulness quote collections can inspire notifications that foster well-being and connection. By integrating favorite mindfulness practices and reflecting on these insights, we can craft messages that not only inform but also support happiness and mindful awareness in everyday life.
How to Use Attention Resistance to Fight Notification Fatigue.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Mindful Notifications
Understanding whether mindful notifications are truly making a difference requires thoughtful measurement. It’s not just about counting clicks or open rates—measuring effectiveness means looking at how these notifications impact well-being, focus, and daily life. Metrics like reduced stress levels, improved productivity, and self-reported well-being can offer valuable insights into the benefits of mindful notifications.
Incorporating mindfulness practices, such as conscious breathing prompts or inspiring mindfulness quotes, into notification systems can also help users accept life as it is and stay grounded in the present moment. By encouraging users to pause, breathe quietly, and reflect, these mindful notifications support a more focused and intentional approach to everyday life. Regularly gathering feedback and tracking changes in user experience can help app creators refine their approach, ensuring that notifications continue to support mindfulness practice and overall well-being.
Conclusion and Future Directions
Mindfulness is more than a trend—it’s a way of being that can transform how we interact with technology and the world around us. By bringing mindfulness into notifications, we empower individuals to stay present, practice mindfulness, and respond to life’s demands with greater intention and compassion. As we look to the future, there’s exciting potential to deepen this approach by integrating mindfulness quotes, conscious breathing exercises, and other mindfulness practices directly into notification systems.
Researchers and app creators alike can explore how mindful notifications impact stress, productivity, and well-being, using both data and user stories to guide innovation. By listening deeply to users and embracing the little moments of daily life, we can design notifications that support freedom, awareness, and a sense of connection. Mindfulness embraces the idea that it’s not just your thoughts or the rush of everyday life that matters—it’s how you show up, fully present, in each current moment. By prioritizing mindfulness and well-being, we can help everyone live a more compassionate, aware, and fulfilling life, one notification at a time.