Notifications and UX

Notifications and UX

Created 7 years ago by adnan

Quickly sharing my experience with Laravel Notifications while building two projects with Pyro the last few weeks,

This was my first time using notifications actually, initially wanted to use it to sent emails to keep the users informed and to engage them back to the app if an action is needed. However, I ended up building a dedicated module with custom ui, using Timeline pattern. The feedback I had from the client was very positive and they were very excited with how intuitive the application has become,

This example is a basic one for a law firm. The admin creates a payment entry with details on payment amount etc and that would generate a notification for the client. The system sends and email to inform the client, and when they login, they can make the payment which in turn sends the admin paid notification to complete the transaction (the usual stuff), .. the difference here is the UI,

I reproduced similar results with a bigger app (Employees Scheduler) that had three user roles. Before the notification module was installed, the client was confused about the different views for each role and the various interactions between / and responsibilities of each role,

That turned around big time after installing the notification module, and I knew that because they called me a wonderful developer, hh. The notification module in this case worked as a focal point for all users, ... employees (end users), supervisors and system admins. When a supervisor posts a job (to meet a client), a notification gets sent to all employees that are available for work (each has a calendar). This helps to engage the employees back to the app from email, and they can now examine and show interest (apply). Meanwhile, the supervisor(s) is kept inform and can view all applicants for the job as the notifications keep arriving. A decision to select one employee for the job (first come or qualifications) can then take place and the winning employee receives the details . Admins get notified on most of what's going on the system and can turn on/off different types of notifications.

This is an example for what an end user view, the grey timeline entry is for lost jobs,

I guess the take away point I had from this was, notifications (as in sending emails) and as a central point that ties different aspects of the application can greatly enhance the application overall UX. It certainly would make me spend less time writing manuals or explaining the logical flow of actions each user role has to take over and over,

Finally, I am hoping to open source this, as a Builder template perhaps, stay tuned