Micro-randomized trial · 2023
How Notifications Affect Engagement With a Behavior Change App: Results From a Micro-Randomized Trial
Bell L, Garnett C, Bao Y, Cheng Z, Qian T, Perski O, Potts HWW, Williamson E
What it found
Each evening new users were randomly sent the usual notification, a new message, or nothing. A notification made opening the app in the next hour about three and a half times more likely.
Where the evidence stops
One app about drinking. The lab's reading of the full trial is that the short-term lift did not change how soon people stopped using the app; the abstract we checked reports the one-hour effect.
How it shapes Pursue
Pursue
A notification reliably gets a tap. That is exactly why Pursue does not count taps as success.
A design input, not evidence that Pursue works.