Secondary Notification System for Priority-Based Message Surfacing

Solution Overview

Problem

Merchants face challenges in managing electronic messages effectively, as not all messages require urgent attention, leading to potential missed opportunities for sales conversions due to overwhelming communication volumes.

Innovation Solution

A computer-implemented method and system that generates secondary notifications based on message priority, which is updated considering factors like customer online status, shopping cart items, message type, and response time, to surface high-priority messages distinctly through pop-ups, lock screen notifications, or haptic feedback.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If merchants monitor all incoming messages, then no customer inquiry is missed, but merchants become overwhelmed by communication volume and cannot respond timely to urgent messages

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemessage response completenessVSAvoidmerchant response efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating notification intensity based on message priority. High-priority messages (those requiring urgent response) receive secondary notifications with distinctive characteristics such as pop-up displays, lock screen notifications, or haptic feedback, while low-priority messages receive only standard notifications. This allows merchants to maintain high response efficiency for critical messages while filtering out less urgent communications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring message attributes (customer online status, shopping cart contents, message timing) and dynamically adjusting notification delivery accordingly. When a message meets priority criteria, the system provides enhanced feedback through secondary notifications, ensuring merchants respond to the most time-sensitive inquiries first.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Device complexity

If merchants use standard notifications for all messages, then notification system remains simple, but high-priority messages do not receive sufficient attention and may be missed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenotification system complexityVSAvoidurgent message detection

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating notification intensity based on message priority. High-priority messages (those requiring urgent response) receive secondary notifications with distinctive characteristics such as pop-up displays, lock screen notifications, or haptic feedback, while low-priority messages receive only standard notifications. This allows merchants to maintain high response efficiency for critical messages while filtering out less urgent communications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The notification system is segmented into two distinct levels: primary notifications for all incoming messages and secondary notifications for high-priority messages only. This segmentation allows the system to maintain simplicity for routine communications while providing enhanced alerting for urgent matters, resolving the contradiction between system complexity and reliable urgent message detection.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Productivity

If merchants respond to low-priority messages first, then communication volume is managed systematically, but urgent sales opportunities are lost due to delayed response

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemessage management systematicityVSAvoidresponse time for urgent messages

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring message attributes (customer online status, shopping cart contents, message timing) and dynamically adjusting notification delivery accordingly. When a message meets priority criteria, the system provides enhanced feedback through secondary notifications, ensuring merchants respond to the most time-sensitive inquiries first.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-evaluating incoming messages against priority criteria (customer online status, shopping cart items, message timing) before delivery. Messages that meet urgent criteria are pre-flagged for secondary notification, ensuring they receive immediate attention before the merchant becomes overwhelmed by the communication queue.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS20230179676A1Method and system for actionable push notifications

Publication Date: 2023.06.08 SHOPIFY INC

AI summary

A computer-implemented method for generating secondary notifications, the method including receiving a message; generating a primary notification of the message; updating a priority associated with the message; determining that the updated priority exceeds a threshold; and responsive to determining that the updated priority exceeds a threshold, generating a secondary notification, the secondary notification being distinct from the primary notification.