VANKPA
The decision
A notification should tell someone about a change that affects their next action. Too many low-value alerts make important ones easier to miss. Define the recipient, urgency, channel, and expected response before adding notifications to every event.
In practice
A project manager may need immediate notice of a blocked approval but only a daily summary of routine updates. Give the alert enough context to act and a link to the relevant record. Avoid sending private details through channels that are not appropriate for them.
- Classify events, set defaults, and offer useful preferences where needed.
- Test repeated events, duplicate delivery, and actions already completed.
- Review whether recipients act on alerts and whether the underlying work progresses, rather than counting sends as success.
When to take the next step
Review notifications when staff ignore alerts or spend time clearing routine messages. Identify the events that truly change a person's next action before adding more channels.
Questions clients ask
Should notifications be real time?
Only when timely action requires it. A summary may serve routine updates more effectively.
Can users disable every alert?
Separate optional preferences from essential operational messages and explain the distinction.