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Feature Tested: Distinct Notification Treatment

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Focus Group Notes · 🔗 Prototype · 🔗 Survey Form

Introduction

I tested the Distinct Notification Treatment prototype to evaluate whether a visually and audibly distinct daily BeReal notification is understandable, feels authentic to BeReal's tone, and would realistically help users notice and act on their daily prompt instead of missing it among other app alerts.

Methodology

I conducted a focus group session with 4 participants who explored a clickable prototype simulating the notification, capture flow, settings toggle, and silent error fallback, then completed a 10-question scale survey plus 4 open-ended questions via Google Forms.

Key Findings

Finding 1 — The core concept was understandable, though not unanimously without friction.

• Participants figured out the purpose of the prototype without significant explanation, and the idea of making the BeReal notification more noticeable was clear.
• Survey: only 2 of 4 (50%) agreed or strongly agreed they understood the feature without needing an explanation (avg 3.25/5)
• By contrast, 3 of 4 (75%) understood what the Settings toggle does on its own (avg 4.25/5).

Finding 2 — The prototype's entry point was the main usability hurdle — confirmed unanimously by the survey.

• The primary confusion was where to begin: the prototype opens by simulating an incoming notification, which wasn't immediately obvious as the starting point.
• Survey: all 4 of 4 participants (100%) agreed there was a screen where they weren't sure what to do next — directly matching the qualitative notes and confirming this is not an isolated impression.
• Once participants understood where to start, they navigated the rest of the flow without further difficulty (ease-of-navigation avg 3.25/5, pulled down mainly by this one hurdle rather than the flow itself).

Finding 3 — Authenticity and brand fit landed exceptionally strongly.