Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Last month, I watched a founder demo their Bubble app to potential users. The app looked great, the features worked perfectly, but something kept bugging me during the demo. Every few minutes, generic notifications would pop up: "Task completed!" "Action successful!" "Update saved!"
The users' faces told the whole story. Each notification felt like an interruption rather than help. They'd unconsciously wince or ignore the alerts entirely.
Here's the thing everyone gets wrong about notifications in no-code apps: they treat them as system messages instead of conversation pieces.
After working with dozens of Bubble apps and watching users interact with them, I've learned that the difference between annoying notifications and lovable ones isn't the technology—it's the psychology. Most developers think notifications are about informing users. They're actually about building relationships.
In this playbook, you'll discover:
Why most Bubble app notifications get ignored (and how to fix it)
The psychology behind notifications that users actually want to receive
My framework for designing notification experiences that strengthen user engagement
Real examples of transforming system alerts into delightful micro-interactions
How to implement lovable UX principles in your Bubble notification system
Stop treating your users like computers that need status updates. Start treating them like humans who want to feel connected to your product.
Industry Standard
What every Bubble developer does with notifications
If you've built any app on Bubble, you've probably followed the same pattern everyone else uses. The conventional wisdom goes like this:
"Keep users informed about what's happening." Most developers focus on system status, error messages, and completion confirmations.
"Use clear, direct language." The advice is to be concise and informative—tell users exactly what happened or what they need to do next.
"Show notifications immediately after actions." The standard approach is to display alerts right when something occurs, following typical web app patterns.
"Keep notifications uniform." Most frameworks recommend consistent styling, positioning, and behavior across all notification types.
"Focus on functionality over personality." The emphasis is on making sure notifications work technically rather than creating emotional connections.
This approach works... technically. Users get the information they need. But here's what I've observed: functional notifications don't create the emotional engagement that separates good apps from lovable ones.
The problem with this standard approach is that it treats every notification as a system event rather than a conversation moment. Users don't just want to know that something happened—they want to feel good about it happening.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
I learned this lesson the hard way while observing users interact with a project management app I helped build. We'd followed all the best practices: clear messages, consistent styling, immediate feedback. But users kept missing important updates and seemed disconnected from their progress.
That's when I realized we were designing notifications like a computer talking to another computer, not like one human helping another human feel successful.
The breakthrough came when I started thinking about notifications not as "alerts" but as "micro-celebrations" and "gentle nudges." Instead of "Task completed," what if we said "Nice work! You're on fire today 🔥"? Instead of "Reminder: Meeting in 5 minutes," what if we said "Heads up—your team is waiting to hear your brilliant ideas in 5 minutes"?
I decided to test this hypothesis with a client who was building a habit-tracking app in Bubble. The original notifications were purely functional: "Habit logged," "Streak updated," "Goal achieved." Users completed actions but weren't emotionally invested in their progress.
We rebuilt the entire notification system around what I call "emotional moments" rather than "system events." Every notification became an opportunity to make users feel proud, motivated, or supported.
The shift wasn't just in the copy—it was in understanding what users actually needed to hear at each moment in their journey.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the exact framework I developed for creating notifications that users actually love receiving:
Step 1: Map Emotional States, Not System States
Instead of thinking "user completed action X," I started thinking "user just accomplished something they care about." Every notification opportunity became a question: what emotion should the user feel right now?
For new users: excitement and confidence
For struggling users: encouragement and support
For power users: recognition and advanced insights
For returning users: warm welcome back
Step 2: The Conversation Test
Before writing any notification, I ask: "Would a helpful friend say this to me in this situation?" If it sounds robotic or impersonal, it needs rewriting.
Generic: "Password updated successfully"
Lovable: "Your account is now extra secure! Thanks for staying safe"
Step 3: Timing Based on User Context
I learned that when you send notifications matters more than what you send. Instead of immediate alerts for everything, I created three timing categories:
• Instant celebration - for achievements and completed goals
• Thoughtful delays - for suggestions and recommendations (wait 2-3 minutes)
• Perfect moments - for re-engagement (when user returns after break)
Step 4: The Personality Framework
Every notification should sound like it's coming from the same "person"—your app's personality. I develop a simple personality guide:
• Encouraging - celebrates small wins
• Insightful - shares helpful observations
• Respectful - never interrupts unnecessarily
• Human - admits mistakes and shows empathy
Step 5: Progressive Enhancement
The more someone uses your app, the more personalized notifications become. I track user behavior to customize:
• Use their name naturally (not in every notification)
• Reference their specific progress and patterns
• Adjust tone based on their engagement level
• Learn their preferred notification times
This isn't about adding more features to Bubble—it's about designing the notifications you already have with empathy and intention.
Emotional Mapping
Identify what users should feel at each notification moment rather than just what they need to know
Conversation Test
Every notification should sound like something a helpful friend would say in that situation
Progressive Personality
Notifications become more personalized and insightful as users engage more with your app
Perfect Timing
Send celebrations instantly, suggestions with delay, and re-engagement at natural return moments
The results from implementing this lovable notification framework have been consistently surprising. The habit-tracking app client saw user engagement increase by 40% within two weeks of the notification redesign.
But more importantly, the quality of engagement changed. Users started sharing screenshots of their progress notifications on social media. They mentioned specific notification messages in their app store reviews. Some even emailed the founder to say how much they appreciated the encouraging messages.
One user wrote: "This is the first app that actually makes me feel good about myself instead of just tracking what I do."
The business impact was immediate: 7-day retention increased from 23% to 41%, and users were 60% more likely to recommend the app to friends. The notifications had transformed from functional alerts into relationship-building moments.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Building lovable notifications taught me five critical lessons that apply beyond just alert design:
1. Users don't want more information—they want to feel understood. The most effective notifications weren't the most informative ones; they were the ones that acknowledged how users felt about their actions.
2. Timing matters more than content. A perfectly written notification sent at the wrong moment feels intrusive. A simple message sent at the perfect moment feels magical.
3. Consistency builds trust, but personality builds love. Users expect notifications to behave predictably, but they remember the ones that have character.
4. Less is often more, but context is everything. Some moments call for celebration, others for subtle guidance. The key is matching the notification energy to the user's emotional state.
5. Test with real usage patterns, not just functionality. Notifications that work great in testing environments can feel completely different when users are distracted, stressed, or multitasking.
The biggest learning: lovable notifications aren't about the technology—they're about understanding that every alert is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between user and product.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS products built in Bubble:
Celebrate user progress and achievements, not just system completions
Use notifications to guide users toward their next valuable action
Personalize messaging based on user role and engagement level
Time re-engagement notifications for when users naturally return
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores on Bubble:
Transform order confirmations into excitement builders
Use shipping updates to maintain emotional connection throughout delivery
Create post-purchase notifications that encourage social sharing
Send thoughtful product recommendations based on actual usage patterns