Interactive Notification Cards for Mobile Social Apps

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for transmitting rich notifications between mobile devices and servers in social networking systems often lack the ability to deliver fully-featured, interactive content effectively, limiting user engagement and interaction.

Innovation Solution

A method where a mobile device receives content and instructions from a social-networking system to display notifications as structured cards within application interfaces, allowing user interaction and sending feedback to a third-party server, enhancing the push notification experience with customizable UI elements and timing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If traditional push notification methods are used, then notifications can be sent to mobile devices, but the notifications lack interactivity and user engagement

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenotification interactivityVSAvoiduser engagement

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The notification system transitions from static display to dynamic interaction by enabling users to perform actions directly within the notification card (such as replying to messages, liking posts, or taking surveys) without leaving the notification interface, making the notification adaptable to user actions while maintaining ease of operation

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The notification card serves as an intermediary interface between the push notification system and the full application, providing a middle ground where users can interact with content in a simplified format before optionally opening the complete application, thus enhancing both interactivity and user engagement

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If rich content is included in notifications, then user engagement improves, but notification size and data transmission increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent richnessVSAvoidnotification data size

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The notification content is segmented into essential elements displayed directly in the notification card (such as sender information, preview text, and key actions) while additional rich content is stored on the server and only loaded when users choose to expand or open the notification, reducing initial data transmission while maintaining content richness on demand

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The notification system uses a nested structure where a compact notification card contains references to larger content elements that are nested within the application or cached locally, allowing the system to deliver rich content efficiently by only transmitting the essential shell of the notification while keeping the fuller content available in the parent application context

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

3Productivity

If notifications are displayed frequently, then user awareness increases, but user annoyance and disengagement increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser awarenessVSAvoiduser annoyance

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The notification system implements periodic action by allowing users to set preferences for notification frequency and timing, delivering notifications at optimized intervals based on user behavior patterns and content importance, thereby maintaining user awareness while reducing annoyance through controlled periodic delivery rather than continuous bombardment

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The notification system applies local quality by allowing different notification types to have different frequencies and priorities based on their importance and user preferences, such as delivering urgent notifications immediately while spacing out promotional or informational notifications, thus maintaining awareness for critical content while reducing overall annoyance through differentiated delivery strategies

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS10785178B2In-application notifications

Publication Date: 2020.09.22 META PLATFORMS INC

AI summary

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, by a mobile device associated with a user from one or more computing devices associated with a social-networking system, content for a notification and instructions to display the notification in a user interface of the application, and displaying the content for the notification as a structured card over a background in the user interface. The method may include detecting a user interaction with the notification. The method may then include sending information about the user interaction with the notification to a third-party server associated with the application.