how apps communicate with users, at trmnl4

Name: how apps communicate with users, at trmnl4
Start: 2026-05-05
Location: TRMNL4, Traction Builder cohort

workshop · 2026-05 · TRMNL4, Traction Builder cohort

A video call with Mert on the right and a slide asking whether a notification can serve the user more than it serves you, with a two-by-two urgency grid.

In spring 2026 I was a speaker and mentor for Traction Builder, an equity-free B2C accelerator by TRMNL4 and Snap. It was an eight-week sprint for a cohort that was truly global, and it ended with a Demo Day at London Tech Week in June.

My workshop for the cohort was in May, and it was about something I think about a lot and that bothers me as a user very frequently. That’s how apps communicate with their users.

We went through a framework based on a 2016 Google I/O ethnographic study on notifications and attention management. I value revisiting past qualitative research a lot, because it’s a great way to pull insights into our current problems.

Also, it was great to hear the real-life thought processes of the founders and builders in the room. A few of them shared their own notification design processes, so thanks to everyone who did. Then thanks to the TRMNL4 team for organizing the program and having me in it.

So the one question I wanted everyone to leave with was “can this notification serve the user more than it serves you?” To be honest, it’s useful on any layer of design, not just communication, and as a user I’d be much less bothered if more apps asked it.