"Tell Me Why You're Asking": Exploring How to Increase Engagement in Preference Feedback for Intelligent Notification Systems

Understanding how people are willing to express notification preferences is essential for designing personalized intelligent notification systems. Yet little is known about when, how, and under what conditions individuals choose to provide such input. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 33 participants, using design probes to examine the timing, methods, and concerns surrounding preference expression. Our findings make three contributions. First, we show that willingness to provide feedback depends not only on input ease and function but also on the justifiability of the moment, with requests embedded into notification-handling routines perceived as most natural. Second, we find that sustained engagement requires two forms of clarity: clarity in how to express one’s preferences and clarity in how the system interprets and applies that input. Third, we reveal expectations for notification systems to act as evolving partners that distinguish temporary and situational shifts from longer-term preference changes and support mutual learning over time.