Send push and email notifications tied to what users want to do

A habit trigger is a notification that fires because of something the user did, said or scheduled. It reminds them to finish a task, return at a time they picked, or see a result they were waiting for. It fits any product where value depends on people coming back on a rhythm, such as a fitness app, a budgeting tool or a project tracker. It does not fit a product people use once a quarter.

Why it works

People forget, even when they intend to act. A reminder that arrives at the moment they planned closes the gap between intention and action, and it feels like a service because the user asked for it. Generic “We miss you” blasts feel like the app wants something from them. Users learn which senders are useful and which are noise, and they treat the noisy ones with a swipe or an unsubscribe.

There is also a channel effect. Mobile operating systems let people turn off notifications for an app in two taps, and inbox providers watch engagement when deciding where mail lands. A smaller number of relevant messages protects the channel you will need for the next year.

How to do it

1. List the intents your product already captures. Look for goals set in onboarding, reminders scheduled, items saved, drafts left open, carts or tasks half finished, and alerts users subscribed to. Each one is a reason to message someone.
2. Track each intent as an event. Name the events clearly, for example goal_set, draft_abandoned or reminder_time_chosen, and store the details you need to personalise the message, such as the goal name or the draft title.
3. Write one rule per trigger. For each event, decide the delay, the condition that cancels the message (the user already came back) and the single action the message asks for. A draft reminder might wait 24 hours and cancel if the draft was edited.
4. Deep link to the exact screen. Tapping the message should open the draft, the workout or the report, already loaded. Landing on the home screen wastes the moment.
5. Set frequency caps and quiet hours. Cap messages per user per day and per week across all triggers. Respect local time and never send reminders at night unless the user chose that time.
6. Give users per-type controls. Add a notification settings screen with a toggle for each message type and a time picker for reminders. Link to it from the footer of every email.
7. Measure the downstream action. Judge each trigger on whether people completed the task it asked for, and compare against a holdout group that did not get the message.
8. Retire weak triggers every quarter. If a message drives few completions or more opt-outs than actions, rewrite it or turn it off.

Example

A hypothetical meal-planning app asks new users which evening they plan their week. On that evening, at the time they chose, it sends a push that says “Your plan for next week is ready to fill in” and opens the planner with last week’s favourites pre-loaded. If the user already opened the planner that day, the message is cancelled. The team drops its old weekly “Check out new recipes” email, since it rarely led to a plan being made, and measures plans completed within an hour of the push against a holdout group.

A B2B task tool does the same with mentions. When someone is mentioned in a comment and has not opened it after two hours, they get one email with the comment text and a reply button. If they reply from the app first, the email never goes out.

Metrics to track

• Action rate per trigger. The share of recipients who complete the task the message asked for within a set window. It should beat the holdout group by a clear margin.
• Notification opt-out rate. The share of users who turn off push or unsubscribe each week. It should stay flat or fall as you add triggers.
• Uninstalls after a send. Watch for spikes in app removals within a day of a message type going out.
• Return rate for the trigger’s cohort. Day-7 and day-30 retention for users who set an intent, compared with those who did not get reminders.

When it backfires

• Sending on your schedule. Messages timed to your campaign calendar ignore the user’s own plans, read as spam, and train people to ignore you.
• No cancel condition. Reminding someone to finish a task they finished an hour ago makes the product look broken.
• Stacking triggers. Five well-meant rules can hit the same person on the same day. Without a global cap, good triggers add up to a bad experience.
• Vague copy. “Something new is waiting for you” gets swiped away. Name the specific draft, goal or result.
• All-or-nothing settings. If the only control is “notifications on or off”, annoyed users will switch everything off, including the reminders they value.

Questions people ask

How many notifications per week is too many?

There is no safe universal number. Set a cap per channel, watch opt-out and uninstall rates after each change, and lower the cap if either rises. Messages tied to something the user asked for can run more often than generic nudges.

Should I use push or email?

Use push for short, time-sensitive prompts on mobile, such as a reminder the user scheduled. Use email for anything that needs context or a summary. Let users pick channels per message type in settings.

What should a user be able to control?

Each message type should have its own toggle, and reminders should let the user choose the time. Fine-grained controls keep people from switching off all notifications to stop one annoying message.