Staw Poll - Email Notification Preferences
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I think you have your definitions the wrong way around in the survey. To opt-in is to NOT receive the emails by default, so you opt-in to receive them. To opt-out is where you receive them by default, and opt-out if you want them to stop. Without knowing more details it's difficult to judge what my preference would be. Probably opt-out (i.e. receive by default) as I'd want to keep on top of the project(s) and could always cancel the emails later. But it depends what other methods of getting the same information are available to me
MVVM # - I did it My Way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
I agree - that is confusing.
The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)
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I think you have your definitions the wrong way around in the survey. To opt-in is to NOT receive the emails by default, so you opt-in to receive them. To opt-out is where you receive them by default, and opt-out if you want them to stop. Without knowing more details it's difficult to judge what my preference would be. Probably opt-out (i.e. receive by default) as I'd want to keep on top of the project(s) and could always cancel the emails later. But it depends what other methods of getting the same information are available to me
MVVM # - I did it My Way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
Yes, you are correct. I understood it wrong until now. I have updated the answers. Sorry about that. :)
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If I have opted in to an email, then it should be sent even if there is nothing to do. Otherwise I don't know there is nothing to do which could either indicate a problem with the reporting system (solvable) or a problem with the inputs to the reporting system (could be major hassle if I don't find out)
The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)
Interesting. I have signed up with many task/project management services so that I can compare them with my service. And some of them will send an empty email with 'Hey, nothing to do here. Why not find something to do', while some of them will just skip the email. And I my opinion those empty emails are kind of useless. But I agree with your point.
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
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Interesting. I have signed up with many task/project management services so that I can compare them with my service. And some of them will send an empty email with 'Hey, nothing to do here. Why not find something to do', while some of them will just skip the email. And I my opinion those empty emails are kind of useless. But I agree with your point.
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
For project management, the only time there is "nothing to do" is when the project is finished...and that won't last, either! :laugh:
The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)
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We are adding automated email notifications to our web application. and I was wondering what is your preference to receive a email notification.
It's a project management application, so whether you want to receive emails or not to receive 'by default'. There will be a preferences section to change this later, even each email will contain an 'Unsubscribe link'.
Currently we are planning following automated emails.
- Pending in-app Notifications
(Runs every hour, Skips if no notifications) - Weekly Digest - of work items to do.
(Runs every Sunday, Skips if nothing to do)
I have created a survey. Please vote here.[^] And if you think 'it depends' then let's discuss the possibilities here. Thanks.
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It depends. Ultimately if getting e-mails makes my life easier, I'd rather opt-out (otherwise I'd rather opt-in). The definition of "what makes my life easier" is going to change job to job. As a developer, I'd like to see when a task has been assigned to me, but not that Phase X milestone is approaching. As a project manager, the minutiae of individual jobs probably isn't going to be of much interest normally, but the milestone thing might be. On a badly designed system (e.g. one that use e-mail to replace a decent UI or notification system) even these useful e-mails can become spam. For anything outside of work I'd rather opt-in (not subscribed by default). A good example of spam could be the hourly in-app notifications: too much info (especially untargeted) and the useful stuff gets lost. Too little and it becomes useless. So my answer is: I don't think this poll will help as we are not your users, and even if we represent a typical cross section of your users, one size will not fit all for all e-mailings.
“Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed”
“One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated”Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535)
- Pending in-app Notifications
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Interesting. I have signed up with many task/project management services so that I can compare them with my service. And some of them will send an empty email with 'Hey, nothing to do here. Why not find something to do', while some of them will just skip the email. And I my opinion those empty emails are kind of useless. But I agree with your point.
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
Rutvik Dave wrote:
And I my opinion those empty emails are kind of useless.
Not totaly useless. Not receiving an email is not a confirmation there are no tasks.
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We are adding automated email notifications to our web application. and I was wondering what is your preference to receive a email notification.
It's a project management application, so whether you want to receive emails or not to receive 'by default'. There will be a preferences section to change this later, even each email will contain an 'Unsubscribe link'.
Currently we are planning following automated emails.
- Pending in-app Notifications
(Runs every hour, Skips if no notifications) - Weekly Digest - of work items to do.
(Runs every Sunday, Skips if nothing to do)
I have created a survey. Please vote here.[^] And if you think 'it depends' then let's discuss the possibilities here. Thanks.
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
If your web application is available for public registration, there may be a legal requirement (under anti-spam law) to have email notification as opt-in. A notification of every update and a daily/weekly summary suit different people (and as your workload changes your preference might too), so you should allow each user to pick one, and change it later. For a regular digest, I agree that you should still send it even if there are no tasks.
- Pending in-app Notifications
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It depends. Ultimately if getting e-mails makes my life easier, I'd rather opt-out (otherwise I'd rather opt-in). The definition of "what makes my life easier" is going to change job to job. As a developer, I'd like to see when a task has been assigned to me, but not that Phase X milestone is approaching. As a project manager, the minutiae of individual jobs probably isn't going to be of much interest normally, but the milestone thing might be. On a badly designed system (e.g. one that use e-mail to replace a decent UI or notification system) even these useful e-mails can become spam. For anything outside of work I'd rather opt-in (not subscribed by default). A good example of spam could be the hourly in-app notifications: too much info (especially untargeted) and the useful stuff gets lost. Too little and it becomes useless. So my answer is: I don't think this poll will help as we are not your users, and even if we represent a typical cross section of your users, one size will not fit all for all e-mailings.
“Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed”
“One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated”Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535)
Makes sense. When we were initially developing the application, We made an assumption that you as a user will work on something serious using it and you will check the application time-to-time, so We will only provide in-app notifications. But since we have launched more than 70% of users are asking for Email Notifications, for some of them it is a deal breaker. That's why we are implementing the email notification system.
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
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If your web application is available for public registration, there may be a legal requirement (under anti-spam law) to have email notification as opt-in. A notification of every update and a daily/weekly summary suit different people (and as your workload changes your preference might too), so you should allow each user to pick one, and change it later. For a regular digest, I agree that you should still send it even if there are no tasks.
I agree. I have decided to opt-in the users (before I was thinking to opt-in on weekly digest and opt-out for new notifications), and let them set the preferences later. and then send a marketing email for new feature announcement to the existing users. And I will also send the no-tasks email (I was not giving it any importance but now it makes sense). It's funny how bunch of emails from users with 'Please add this' can reverse your mind set. I will have to learn to ignore, and it is as difficult as saying no. :)
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
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Makes sense. When we were initially developing the application, We made an assumption that you as a user will work on something serious using it and you will check the application time-to-time, so We will only provide in-app notifications. But since we have launched more than 70% of users are asking for Email Notifications, for some of them it is a deal breaker. That's why we are implementing the email notification system.
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
Rutvik Dave wrote:
That's why we are implementing the email notification system.
Suggestion: Expose the notification stuff via a web api or similar. Then poll it from a long-running installable app (one that sits in the taskbar Notification area). We've got the e-mail for notifications thing on an internal app and it is a PITA sorting out the useful from the unimportant. We do the notification icon thing for windows, but the Mac users kicked off. There was an attempt to write a single notification app using Adobe Air, but it didn't work properly. To me, there is always the architectural-whiff about a system has the need for near real-time updates and notifications but uses a web UI. YMMV of course, our internal system as to cope with a mixed Windows/Mac environment, so a web app was easier than maintaining two separate native clients.
“Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed”
“One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated”Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535)
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Rutvik Dave wrote:
And I my opinion those empty emails are kind of useless.
Not totaly useless. Not receiving an email is not a confirmation there are no tasks.
I am glad that I mentioned the skipping email part. because it was something which was not important to me. Looks like I am missing some Project Management qualities. :)
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
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Rutvik Dave wrote:
That's why we are implementing the email notification system.
Suggestion: Expose the notification stuff via a web api or similar. Then poll it from a long-running installable app (one that sits in the taskbar Notification area). We've got the e-mail for notifications thing on an internal app and it is a PITA sorting out the useful from the unimportant. We do the notification icon thing for windows, but the Mac users kicked off. There was an attempt to write a single notification app using Adobe Air, but it didn't work properly. To me, there is always the architectural-whiff about a system has the need for near real-time updates and notifications but uses a web UI. YMMV of course, our internal system as to cope with a mixed Windows/Mac environment, so a web app was easier than maintaining two separate native clients.
“Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed”
“One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated”Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535)
This is a good suggestion. But the users wants the notifications on their Mobile also (They actually want a mobile app, screw you Apple :mad:). There are many emails from the users saying they cant find our App on the App-Store, I mean when this became this obvious. And because we are a very small team, we cannot afford to make application for multiple platforms/devices. and we figured that email is there on almost all the platforms/devices, why not send them email while we work on the responsive layout of our web application. We are working on the small-screen layout for a while and it is very difficult to fit the existing UI in a small-screen. Lot of difficult decisions on what to include and what not to include. I think it is because we are doing the mobile interface for the first time. But now I really appreciate those nicely designed mobile apps. :)
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
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For project management, the only time there is "nothing to do" is when the project is finished...and that won't last, either! :laugh:
The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)
and if (a big IF) there is nothing to do and they (your boss) cant find anything to do... they will put a niddle and draw blood until it compares against your salary. :laugh:
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
