Notification Center
Best practices for creating a persistent, in-app log of all user recommendations.
An in-app notification center provides a central, persistent location for users to review all recommendations sent by the MOOST platform. It serves as a complete historical log, ensuring that users can find and review notifications they may have missed or dismissed.
Core Functionality
We recommend a clean, chronological-order feed for your notification center. For simplicity and ease of use, the center should focus on presenting information clearly rather than tracking interaction status.
Each entry in the notification center should display:
Title: The title of the recommendation.
Text: The full text of the recommendation.
Date and Time: The timestamp of when the recommendation was sent, localized to the user's timezone.
Best Practices
Include All Notifications
The notification center should be the single source of truth for all recommendations, regardless of whether they were originally delivered as an in-app message or a push notification.
Use Unread Indicators
Clearly differentiate new (unread) notifications from those the user has already seen. This is most commonly achieved by:
Displaying a "bell" icon with a badge count of unread items.
Placing a small dot next to unread entries in the list.
Bolding the title or text of unread entries.
Provide a "Mark All as Read" Action
To complement unread indicators, include a single button or link (e.g., "Mark all as read") that allows users to clear all new notification states at once. This prevents users from having to click every single entry.
Provide a Path to Notification Preferences
Users must have a clear way to manage their notification preferences and re-enable messages they have previously disabled. We strongly recommend placing a "Settings" icon (e.g., a cogwheel) on your Notification Center screen. This icon should link to a dedicated "Notification Preferences" page within your app.
For more information see Notification Preferences
Allow Dismissal
Users should be able to clear individual notifications from the feed. This is typically handled via a "swipe to dismiss" gesture or a small 'X' icon on the notification entry.
Design a Clear Empty State
When a user opens the notification center for the first time or after clearing all messages, do not show a blank screen. A well-designed "empty state" improves UX by:
Confirming that the feature is working.
Reassuring the user (e.g., "You're all caught up!").
Briefly explaining what kind of information will appear there (e.g., "Your recommendations will appear here.").
Maintain Simplicity
To reduce implementation complexity, we advise against showing which action (if any) was taken on a notification. The center's primary purpose is to serve as a simple, easy-to-read log.
Advanced Grouping
For more advanced implementations, consider grouping notifications by date (e.g., "Today," "Yesterday," "Last 7 Days") to make the chronological feed easier to scan.
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