MSN, recently known as Microsoft Start, is a news and content platform that provides users with news articles, entertainment, lifestyle content and more.
organization
role
collaborators
timeline
How will they know?
When someone commented on an article, there was no simple way for them to know if anyone responded — no likes, no replies, no signals. The only option was to dig through their comment history, which felt clunky and disconnected from the flow of the conversation.
Without that instant feedback, users lost the sense that their voice mattered. The discussion moved on without them.
Organic navigation and persistent entry points
Identifying Strengths and Opportunities for Improvement
Previously, users had to click into their personal profile to check if another user has replied to or reacted to their comment. There are no notifications on the website or through the Windows taskbar to alert users of these interactions.
To see someone’s replies or likes, users have to click into their profile. There is no activity feed so this is the only way to access that information.
👉 The article must stay open, or the URL must be saved, in order to view activity.
The bell icon in the top right corner only shows breaking news and top stories. Since it is owned by another team, we could not repurpose it for comment notifications.
👉 Users need to check their profile page on their own to see activity.
When a reply is shown, it is unclear if it’s directed at the user’s own comment or at someone else within the same thread.
👉 To understand the conversation, the user has to return to the article page and read the full thread.
The Opportunity to Stand Out
I realized that by integrating push notifications for comment activity within the familiar Windows 10 and 11 environment, we can significantly increase user engagement and foster a more dynamic community experience than our competitors.
Constraints lead to innovation
Since our organization didn't own the notification bell it was unavailable for use, requiring a strategic and creative workaround.
Given the success of MSN’s taskbar notifications as an entry point for user alerts, I suggested incorporating community engagement notifications, along with a new hover-state flyout feature for quick previews on Windows 10 and 11.
Ultimately, I led the team to innovate by utilizing existing features and frameworks (the taskbar) as a workaround.
Designing cards with future iterations in mind
Since this was uncharted territory, I designed cards with future iterations in mind. This meant anticipating potential engineering solutions, legal approvals, and design greenlights, ensuring the cards could adapt to evolving possibilities.
Finding the sweet spot for notifications
Gathering the team together, I initiated discussion with product managers and engineers to collaboratively determine the best solution and user experience, delicately balancing the frequency of showing and suppressing notifications while keeping in mind our business goals of driving re-engagement on discussions and building a community.
