A client needs to design or overhaul their notification system across channels (email, push, in-app, SMS). Common when users are complaining about notification overload, engagement metrics are declining, or a product is adding new communication channels and needs a coherent strategy before shipping.

How it works

1. You provide the product, available notification channels, user segments, and current notification volume
2. The skill builds a multi-channel notification framework covering channel selection, frequency capping, personalization tiers, opt-in/opt-out flows, content templates, and engagement health metrics
3. It returns a notification strategy document the product, engineering, and marketing teams can use to implement a system that respects user attention while driving engagement

Prompt

You are building a multi-channel notification strategy for a Kate Makrigiannis consulting engagement. Kate helps clients stop treating notifications as an afterthought and start treating them as a product surface that directly impacts retention and trust. Before writing, read knowledge/voice-tone-guide.md -- use the client-facing voice.

Inputs I will provide:

• Product: {{PRODUCT}} (what the product does, key user actions, business model)
• Notification channels available: {{CHANNELS}} (e.g., "email, push (iOS + Android), in-app, SMS" -- list what's currently live or planned)
• User segments: {{USER_SEGMENTS}} (key segments -- e.g., "free users, paid users, enterprise admins, churning users")
• Current notification volume: {{CURRENT_VOLUME}} (current state -- e.g., "we send 3 emails/week and 1-2 push/day" or "we have no system, sending ad hoc" or "users are complaining about too many notifications")
• Context (optional): {{CONTEXT}} (what triggered this work -- engagement drop, channel expansion, user complaints, regulatory requirements)

Step 1: Notification audit and channel assessment

Current State Assessment

Evaluate the inputs and identify:

• What notifications are being sent today (transactional, marketing, product, social)
• Which channels are being used for which message types
• Known pain points (over-sending, wrong channel, no personalization, no opt-out)

Channel Capability Matrix

Step 2: Notification taxonomy

Classify every notification type by category and assign channels:

Message Type Classification

Categories:

• Transactional: User-triggered, expected, often legally required
• Product: Feature updates, usage nudges, onboarding
• Marketing: Campaigns, promotions, content
• Social: User-to-user interactions, community activity

Step 3: Frequency capping rules

Per-Channel Caps

Aggregate Caps (across all channels)

• Maximum total non-transactional notifications per user per day: [N]
• Maximum total non-transactional notifications per user per week: [N]
• When a cap is hit, prioritize by message priority tier (critical > high > medium > low)
• Transactional messages are never capped

Priority Queue Logic

When cap is reached and a new notification triggers:

1. If new notification priority > lowest queued notification priority, replace it
2. If equal priority, use recency (newer wins)
3. Dropped notifications are logged but not sent; review dropped-notification reports weekly

Step 4: Personalization tiers

Define four personalization tiers and map each notification type to its appropriate tier:

Tier 0: No Personalization

• Same message to all recipients
• Use for: system-wide announcements, legal notices, maintenance alerts
• Example: "Scheduled maintenance on Saturday 2am-4am EST"

Tier 1: Segment-Based

• Content varies by user segment (free vs. paid, role, plan tier)
• Use for: feature announcements, marketing campaigns, onboarding sequences
• Example: "New feature for Pro users" vs. "Upgrade to unlock [feature]"

Tier 2: Behavioral

• Content varies by user behavior (usage patterns, engagement history, lifecycle stage)
• Use for: re-engagement, usage nudges, milestone celebrations
• Example: "You've created 10 projects this month -- here's a power tip"

Tier 3: Individual

• Content is unique per user (recommendations, personalized digests, activity summaries)
• Use for: weekly digests, recommendation engines, activity feeds
• Example: "3 items need your review: [specific items]"

Personalization Mapping

Step 5: Opt-in / opt-out flow design

Opt-In Strategy

• Progressive permission: Don't ask for all channels at once. Earn each channel through demonstrated value.
• Push notification priming: Show an in-app prompt explaining value before triggering the OS permission dialog
• Email permission: Collect at signup with clear expectation-setting ("You'll receive [frequency] emails about [topics]")
• SMS permission: Only request when high-urgency use case is demonstrated

Opt-In Flow

Preference Center Design

Users should be able to control:

• Channel preferences per notification category (not per individual notification -- too granular)
• Frequency preferences ("daily digest" vs. "real-time" vs. "weekly summary")
• Quiet hours (no non-critical notifications between [time] and [time])
• Pause all non-transactional notifications for [N] days

Opt-Out Flow

• Every non-transactional message must include an easy opt-out mechanism
• One-click unsubscribe for email (no confirmation page)
• Opt-out from a category should not opt out from all categories
• Opt-out confirmation message: acknowledge the change and link to preference center
• Track opt-out reasons when possible (dropdown on unsubscribe: "too many," "not relevant," "switched to competitor," "other")

Step 6: Notification content templates

For each major notification type, provide a content template:

Template: [Notification Type]

• Subject / Title: [Template with {{variables}}]
• Body: [Template with {{variables}}, under character limit for channel]
• CTA: [Primary action, one verb + object]
• Fallback (no-CTA version): [For channels that don't support buttons]

Character limits by channel:

• Push title: 50 characters
• Push body: 150 characters
• Email subject: 60 characters
• SMS: 160 characters (1 segment)
• In-app: flexible, but keep under 200 characters for banners

Step 7: Engagement metrics and health indicators

Per-Channel Metrics

Fatigue Detection Signals

Monitor these indicators for notification fatigue:

• Open rates declining week-over-week for 3+ consecutive weeks
• Opt-out rate spiking above 1% on any single send
• Push notification permission revocation rate increasing
• Time-to-open increasing (users are ignoring and catching up later)
• In-app dismissal rate above 80% without click

Fatigue Response Protocol

When fatigue is detected:

1. Reduce frequency by 30% for the affected segment
2. A/B test send times (current vs. shifted by 2-4 hours)
3. Review content relevance -- are notifications adding value or just filling a schedule?
4. Consider switching from push to digest format
5. Re-test after 2 weeks; if metrics recover, stabilize at new frequency

Related skills: Pairs with /email-campaign-builder for email-specific campaign design. Uses /personalization-playbook for deeper personalization strategy. Feeds into /activation-optimization for onboarding notification sequences.