Mobile Notification Friction Study
Solving the issue of selection bias in rating apps through user research and interface design
Overview
As part of a Human-Computer Interaction course at Princeton University, I collaborated with a team of four students to design and conduct a between-subjects study on mobile notification strategies to solve the issue of extreme online ratings. We developed three distinct mobile applications, each employing a different notification approach: traditional push notifications, no notifications, and an interactive lockscreen rating module through Apple Live Activities. Our objective was to evaluate how these notification types influenced user engagement, and how it impacted the extremity of reviews they left on the apps.
Approach
My main task was to design the interfaces for the three mobile app versions, ensuring that each app provided a seamless and engaging user experience while effectively implementing the designated notification strategy. I created high-fidelity prototypes using Figma, focusing on intuitive navigation and clear call-to-actions. Specifically, I did some research on best practices for designing Apple Live Activities dynamic islands as well, since it was new to me.
After designing the apps, I collaborated with my team to deploy them on TestFlight for user testing. My next task was to conduct the research study, which meant recruiting participants and coordinating a one-week study. I managed communcation with the three cohorts of participants and assigning each cohort the correct app version. At the end of the study, I also scheduled and conducted qualitative interviews with a subset of participants to gather feedback on their experiences with the different notification strategies.
Finally, I assisted in analyzing the collected data, focusing on user engagement, extremity of reviews left on each app version, and commonly expressed sentiments from the participant interviews. This analysis helped us draw conclusions about the effectiveness of each notification strategy in mitigating selection bias in app ratings. This study concluded with writing a 6-page research paper.
Key Insights
I learned how to run an IRB-approved user study and gained experience in designing for mobile platforms. Collaborating with my team, I contributed to the design of three different mobile apps, each with unique notification strategies. We analyzed user engagement data and qualitiative interview data to determine the effectiveness of each notification type. This project enhanced my skills in user research, data analysis, and mobile UI design.