All works

Helping users stay engaged with learning

Designing a notification experience for the MIMS mobile app that helps healthcare professionals discover relevant content and follow through on learning activities.

Three phone screens from the MIMS Education app: a push notification on the lock screen, the in-app notification center and the Learning tab with a notification bell
Project
Notification system
Product
MIMS Education app
Team
UX Design Team
Presented
January 2025
Scope
Notification strategy, user flows, high-fidelity UI

Overview

What brings a learner back after they sign up?

I designed a notification system proposal to increase engagement with the app’s learning content. The experience connected push notifications with an in-app notification center, giving users a clear path back to webinars, courses, and unfinished activities.

Following the introduction of the notification system, we observed a substantial increase in user engagement.

The challenge

Signing up is only the first step of learning.

Registering for a webinar or enrolling in a course is only the beginning of a learning journey. Users may register weeks before an event, leave a quiz unfinished, or miss the deadline to complete a course.

The design challenge was to help users stay aware of these opportunities and understand what to do next.

My approach

Four types of notification for four moments.

I organized the proposal around moments when a notification could help users take a meaningful action.

  1. Type A · Webinar reminders

    Remember an upcoming webinar

    Reminders brought registered webinars back to users’ attention closer to the event, including when they had signed up well in advance.

    A push notification and the matching in-app list for webinar reminders

  2. Type B · Incomplete actions

    Continue unfinished learning

    Notifications highlighted incomplete quizzes and courses nearing expiration. Clear actions helped users resume a course or find guidance on accessing quizzes and downloading CME/CPD certificates.

    A course expiring push notification and the in-app list with Enroll Now and Resume Course actions

  3. Type C · New content and recommendations

    Discover relevant content

    New content alerts introduced webinars and courses, with proposed recommendations based on specialty and location. The proposal also explored recommendations related to previous enrollments and popular courses within a user’s specialty.

    Push notifications for popular courses, a new course and a streak reminder, with the in-app list

  4. Type D · Announcements

    Stay informed about the app

    A separate notification category covered feature updates and promotional announcements.

    Push notifications for a new feature and an exclusive physician announcement, with the in-app list

The system

One reminder, three ways back in.

The experience included entry points both outside and inside the app: push notifications, an app icon badge, and a notification bell in the Learning tab.

An in-app notification center gave users a place to revisit updates, so a missed push was never a lost reminder.

Slide showing the five pieces of the notification system: an app icon with a notification badge, a push notification, the in-app bell badge, the notification list and the notification detail page
The five pieces: app icon badge, push notification, bell badge, notification list and detail page
iPhone lock screen showing two push notifications from the MIMS Education app: a webinar reminder and a new webinar alert
Push notifications on the lock screen
The Learning tab with a notification bell in the header and a red badge showing unread updates
A bell with a badge in the Learning tab
The in-app notification center on the Courses tab, listing reminders such as course expiring, finish your course, and new cardiology module, each with an action button
The in-app notification center

Scanning

Easy to scan, clear about what to do.

The high-fidelity designs used category tabs to organize updates, concise messages to communicate their purpose, and visible actions such as “Register,” “Resume Course,” and “See Courses.”

These decisions aimed to help users quickly distinguish a reminder about something they had already started from an invitation to explore something new.

Notification center on the Courses tab with Enroll Now, Resume Course and See Courses actions
Courses: resume, enroll, finish
Notification center on the Webinars tab with a Register action for an exclusive cardiology webinar and a reminder that a webinar starts in 30 minutes
Webinars: register, join
Notification center on the Announcements tab with Learn More actions for a new feature and a physician announcement
Announcements: app updates

Destinations

Every notification lands somewhere useful.

The proposed flows connected notifications to relevant destinations, including course overviews, filtered content lists, My Activity, and notification details.

This made the destination part of the design. Each notification needed to explain why it mattered and lead users toward the action it suggested.

User flow diagram: a push notification and the notification list lead to four destinations, the course overview, the notification detail page, a filtered list page and My Activity
Flow: from a push notification to four possible destinations
Webinar overview screen with duration, pre-registration dates, a Register button and a Back to webinars list link
Webinar overview, one tap from “Register”
Course overview screen for Asthma Exacerbation: Diagnosis and Treatment with specialty tags, CPD points, overview text and an Enroll button
Course overview, one tap from “Enroll Now”

Next steps

Closing the loop with the team.

I presented the concept to the team in three parts: the concept itself, a prototype demo, and a conversation about next steps.

I ended with two questions. Does this approach align with your vision and priorities for the MIMS mobile app? And which key factors should we prioritize as we move forward with the notification feature?

Outcome

More people came back.

After the notification system was introduced, we saw a substantial increase in user engagement.

The project reinforced the importance of designing the full journey around a notification: identifying a relevant moment, communicating a clear reason to return, and helping the user take the next step.