PRD: Unified Notification Center
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Author | Demo PM |
| Date | 2026-02-27 |
| Status | Draft |
| Charter Area | Developer Experience |
| Related Work | ADO-12345, GH-789 |
Problem Statement
Users receive notifications across 4 separate channels (in-app, email, Teams, mobile push) with no centralized view. Support data shows 34% of escalations stem from "missed notification" — users didn't see a critical alert because it arrived in the wrong channel at the wrong time. Weekly active notification dismissal rate is 78%, suggesting notification fatigue from duplicates.
User Signal
- Support tickets: 142 tickets in Q4 2025 tagged "missed alert" or "notification not received"
- User research (N=28): 89% of participants said "I miss important updates because there are too many unimportant ones"
- Telemetry: Average user receives 47 notifications/day; opens only 6 (12.7% engagement rate)
- Competitive: Figma, Linear, and Notion all shipped unified notification centers in 2025
Proposed Solution
A single Notification Center panel accessible from the global header that:
1. Aggregates all notification types into one feed
2. Allows priority-based filtering (Critical / Important / FYI)
3. Supports "Do Not Disturb" scheduling with smart escalation
4. Provides daily digest option for low-priority items
5. Remembers per-category preferences across sessions
User Experience
Before:
User opens app → checks in-app bell → checks email → checks Teams → checks mobile
→ Still misses the one critical alert buried in 47 notifications
After:
User opens app → Notification Center badge shows "2 critical"
→ Clicks → sees prioritized feed → acts on critical items → bulk-dismisses FYI
→ Zero missed escalations
Acceptance Criteria
- All notification types appear in a single unified feed
- User can filter by priority level (Critical / Important / FYI)
- "Do Not Disturb" mode suppresses non-critical notifications for a configurable duration
- Critical notifications bypass DND and appear with visual + audio alert
- Daily digest email consolidates all FYI notifications from the past 24h
- User preferences persist across sessions and devices
- Feed loads in < 200ms for up to 500 notifications
- Keyboard accessible (Tab, Enter, Escape, arrow keys)
Success Metrics
| Metric | Current | Target | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notification engagement rate | 12.7% | 35% | 90 days post-launch |
| "Missed alert" support tickets | 142/quarter | < 50/quarter | 1 quarter post-launch |
| Notification dismissal rate | 78% | < 40% | 90 days post-launch |
| User satisfaction (CSAT) | 3.2/5 | 4.0/5 | 90 days post-launch |
Dependencies
| Dependency | Owner | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|
| Notification Service API v2 | Platform Team | 🟡 Medium — API in beta |
| Push notification infrastructure | Mobile Team | 🟢 Low — stable |
| User preference storage | Identity Team | 🟢 Low — existing system |
| Email digest service | Comms Team | 🟡 Medium — needs new template |
Risks & Mitigations
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| API v2 delays | Medium | High | Implement with v1 fallback; v2 features as fast-follow |
| Notification fatigue persists | Low | Medium | A/B test priority algorithm before full rollout |
| Cross-device sync latency | Medium | Low | Accept 5s sync delay; show "syncing" indicator |
| Accessibility gaps | Low | High | Include accessibility review in design phase |
Out of Scope
- Custom notification sounds/ringtones (v2 consideration)
- AI-powered notification summarization (v2 consideration)
- Third-party notification sources (Slack, Discord, etc.)
- Admin-level notification policies (separate admin PRD needed)
Open Questions
- ❓ Should "Critical" classification be sender-defined or ML-based? — Owner: PM, Due: Sprint 1
- ❓ What's the max notification retention period? (7 days? 30 days?) — Owner: Engineering, Due: Design Review
- ❓ Do we need an API for external systems to mark notifications as "Critical"? — Owner: Platform, Due: Sprint 2
Timeline
| Milestone | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Spec Approved | 2026-03-07 | ⬜ |
| Design Complete | 2026-03-21 | ⬜ |
| Dev Start | 2026-03-28 | ⬜ |
| Internal Dogfood | 2026-04-25 | ⬜ |
| Public Preview | 2026-05-15 | ⬜ |
| GA | 2026-06-01 | ⬜ |
Generated by Brain OS /prd_writer — review and iterate before sharing