# Product notification preferences survey

Separate useful updates from interruptions in a software workflow.

If nothing was unclear or difficult, say so. Skip questions about steps you did not experience; use not applicable where appropriate.

## 1. Which notification helps you act in time?

Answer: ____________________

## 2. Which notification do you usually ignore?

Answer: ____________________

## 3. What context makes a notification useful?

Answer: ____________________

## 4. Which update needs a different channel?

Answer: ____________________

## 5. What would you want to control yourself?

Answer: ____________________

## Author notes / illustrative keys where applicable

1. Timely notifications help a user act on a particular task. Identify the action and deadline relationship before prioritizing alerts; attention alone is weaker evidence than usefulness.
2. Ignored updates reveal possible mismatch in relevance, timing or repetition. Investigate the reason for ignoring them before removing a channel that other tasks or users may require.
3. Useful context helps recipients understand why an alert matters and what to do next. Identify missing task details without asking users to paste confidential notification contents.
4. Channel preferences depend on urgency and how people work. Compare the update's purpose with the requested channel before proposing a setting the actual product may not support.
5. Requested control reveals which interruptions users need to manage themselves. Distinguish frequency, topic and timing preferences, then check available controls rather than promising every suggested configuration.

Interpretation caution: Preference feedback does not establish that a product has every requested notification setting.


## Illustrative finding and follow-up

Observation: Illustrative users want timely action alerts but fewer repeated summaries.

Action to test: Distinguish action-needed updates from optional summaries before changing defaults.

Follow-up: After testing the action, revisit this original observation: Illustrative users want timely action alerts but fewer repeated summaries. Repeat the relevant experience prompts with people who encountered the change. Compare specific explanations and sample differences; do not claim causation from the before-and-after responses.