How I increased notifications opt-in rate by 135%

mobile

gig economy

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Industry

Gig economy
Fintech

Device

Mobile

My role

UX Research
UX design
UI design
Analysis

Duration

21 days

Tools

Figma
Mixpanel
Smartlook

ABOUT THE CLIENT

Appjobs Work is a mobile application designed for gig workers who collaborate with platforms like Glovo, Wolt, Uber, Uber Eats, Bolt Food, and others. The app has two main components:

An insight platform for gig workers, providing statistics on their work and motivating them to work smarter through special quests.
A billing partner* module - financial management section tailored for gig workers, enabling them to seamlessly manage their earnings and expenses. Within this module, users can effortlessly access their settlements, review their work and payout history, monitor tax liabilities, and securely store all work-related documents.

Appjobs Work website

*In Poland, couriers need a billing partner, as a middleman, to manage settlements and employment, as direct hiring by these platforms is not possible. Appjobs Work billing partner, acting as an Employer of Record (EOR), legally employs workers and handles employment aspects such as compliance, payroll, taxes, and benefits. The Appjobs Work app stands out by offering these services digitally, contrasting the traditional paper-based methods used by other billing partners.

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Notification opt-in challenge

Notifications

Effective communication with users in Appjobs Work app is primarily through app notifications and online channels. These notifications are vital for keeping couriers informed about income, payouts, and documents. However, we faced challenges in maintaining high opt-in rates for these notifications. Typically, notifications are associated with unwanted spam and marketing messages. Additionally, bundling the notification prompt with other permission requests immediately after logging into the app can indeed overwhelm users, leading to low opt-in rates. For users eager to start working, timely notifications are crucial. Our previous research indicated that other communication channels, like email, had lower engagement rates, with messages often opened too late to be actionable.

The challange

My task was to increase the opt-in rates for notifications, recognizing their significant value to users. Timely delivery of information was crucial. I was responsible for research, design, spec writing, and ensure smooth implementation.

Go to solution

For users eager to start working, timely push notifications are crucial. (...) However, we faced challenges in maintaining high opt-in rates for these notifications.

Research

Review of the current solution

Initially, I examined the existing implementation and the opt-in rate for notifications. The current system, established primarily for marketing purposes, had not been updated for some time. It consisted of a straightforward request for consent to receive push notifications presented during the user sign-up process, bundled with other permissions such as tracking and geolocation.
This approach often overwhelmed users, I could see in our Smartlook recordings that users rapidly click through these screens to access the app. Because of this, a lot of them – actually, 70% – chose "not right now" when prompted for notification consent and only 30% of users agreed on getting push notifications.

Source: Mixpanel Appjobs Work

Old design of notification screen

Identifying Main Pain Points

Through data analysis and user behavior studies, I identified two primary pain points:

Lack of perceived value

Users often didn’t see the benefits of enabling notifications, primarily due to unfamiliarity and lack of trust in the app.

Overwhelming Requests

The onboarding process was cluttered with too many requests, leading users to reject them all in an effort to quickly start using the app.

SOLUTION

User-centric notification consent strategy

After the research, identifying users’ pain points and goals, I developed a solution aligned with three key rules.

Value

The value of prompts should be obvious to users. Clearly communicated the benefits tied to notification, showing how it enriches their experience or helps them reach their goals.

Context

Show personalized, contextually relevant notification prompt that correspond to the user's recent interactions. A personalized approach ensures that notification prompts will be not only timely and clear but also highly relevant to individual users.

Timing

Prompt users at the right time, closely related to value and context. Aligning the timing with the user's activity within the app, ensures that prompts are not only relevant and valuable but also appear at moments when users are most likely to benefit from them.

Working on the flow

Understanding the User

Recognizing the diverse user base of Appjobs Work, I identified two primary user groups:

Utility Users: Those seeking to utilize app features like insights, work statistics, and quests.
Billing Partner Seekers: Users looking to start working and needing to sign contract with a billing partner.

In determining the best timing for displaying notification prompts, I focused on understanding users' goals and identified opportune moments.
For Utility Users, we want to catch them at the moment they're most likely to engage with features like connecting work apps and quests.
Billing Partner Users prioritize tasks like contract signing and uploading necessary documents, so I wanted to time our prompt to align with these crucial steps in their journey.

To optimize user experience, I segmented these groups upfront, tailoring the platform to their specific needs. This not only improves usability but also assists the marketing team in delivering more personalized communication. To seamlessly implement this segmentation, I introduced a preliminary screen prompting users to specify their intended use of the Appjobs Work app. This offers three options, guiding them towards relevant functionalities.

Finding the optimal moment

I thought that asking people for permission to send them notifications right when they start using the app was less effective This is because we were asking for too many things at once. So, I decided to ask them for permission when users are more likely to see the value in notifications.  This approach is supported by NN Group’s findings, which suggests that users are more receptive to such requests when they understand their immediate relevance and benefits. For this, I made different user flows for each segment.

Different flows depending on type of user

Customizing the Content

To addressing design pain points, I collaborated closely with a UX writer to ensure our notification prompts content was personalized and contextually relevant.

Different content depending on who the prompt is for and when it appears

implementation

Technical Challenges

After getting the flows and design all set, I called the developers for a walk-through meeting. This is something I always do to explain my design decisions and answer any questions. All specs remained in Figma to improve the speed and quality of collaboration and keep everyone on the same page. I was feeling pretty good about my work.

Final design with the flow and documentation

To my surprise, the developers weren't thrilled with my solution – actually, they were pretty upset! They said I made a simple process too complicated and wondered why we couldn't just do it like most other apps, asking for consent right at the start.Hearing all that criticism wasn't easy, but I managed to convince them to give my design a shot. We made a deal: We'd check the notification opt-in rates after a month. If they weren't better, we'd go back to the old way of doing things.

Results and Impact

Notification opt-in rate increased by

135%

Here is what we accomplished one month after implementation:

More than doubled notification opt-in rate - by implementing contextually relevant notification prompts and timing them to appear when users were likely to find them valuable. 69 % of users were now allowing notifications.
40% increase in user activation rate by utilizing timely notifications for document verifications and recruitment announcements, thereby expediting the onboarding process.
Increased engagement and conversion rates across marketing campaigns by enhancing user segmentation for targeted messaging and analyzing user data to tailor communication to specific needs.

Notifications opt-in rate before implementation
Source: Mixpanel Appjobs Work

Notifications opt-in rate after implementation
Source: Mixpanel Appjobs Work

Lessons Learned

Questioning Traditional Approaches

In this project, I learned a valuable lesson: it's good to stick with your ideas especially if they're backed by solid research and careful thought. It's not just okay, but often necessary, to question the usual way of doing things. Take our approach for instance: most apps ask for notification permissions right away, but research suggested a different strategy could work better. Trusting this unique idea turned out to be a smart move.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

This project highlights the importance of effective collaboration with developers. Maintaining open communication and seamless teamwork was crucial in bringing our vision to life. Their invaluable contributions and willingness to challenge ideas were instrumental in realizing the project's full potential. Good communication and teamwork with them really helped turn my design ideas into reality.

Better Experience, More Users

The new flow for notification consent did more than just boost opt-in rates, it had a practical impact on our user experience. By providing timely and relevant notifications, we were able to significantly speed up the process for new users to start working with the app. This was particularly important for delivering critical information and requesting necessary documents to activate users on gig platforms. But it's not just about speed. This change brought more active users to our platform. With clearer communication, more people could start their gigs without any delays. This is a win-win situation – better for users and better for our business. It shows that when we make our app better for users, it also helps our business grow.

Opportunities for Improvements

We definitely hit our target of getting more people to opt-in for push notifications.The new notification system wasn't just about higher opt-in rates; it was about creating a user-friendly experience. Users appreciated the timely and relevant notifications, which were no longer perceived as intrusive or spammy. However, I did observe that a small group of users missed the notification prompt entirely. This insight is crucial for further refinement of this approach.

conclusion

All in all, this project was a great success. It showed that good design isn't just about following what everyone else is doing; it's about understanding users and finding new ways to meet their needs. We did more than just increase the number of people who accept notifications; It improved how we connect with our users. I'm really proud of what we achieved together, and I'm excited about bringing these insights into future work.

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