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I want to propose this thread as a *problem* thread. I'm going to make some suggestions but I'd really like people to vote based on whether they agree there is a problem that effects them here. Use the thread to "brainstorm" possible solutions - as many as you like - I suggest we are not voting on those.

Notifications have undergone some significant tidy ups recently. This is fantastic, but as with all tidy-ups it makes you notice the next level of problem. In this thread I want to focus on one in particular:

Notifications pop-up indiscriminantly, causing distraction and, on occation, preventing normal use of existing open application windows.

It doesn't matter what you are doing, it seems what this background service wants to tell you takes priority. I liken this to American style "service" (sorry - its a stereotype - no offence intended to our US community): it is "in your face"... "do you want more coffee sir?" well no - what I really want is to be left undisturbed to finish my existing cup of coffee and read my paper!...

I don't think this is purely a persononal matter. It has been demonstrated that distractions impact productivity. What I would like to see from notifications is some work / context sensitivity. The best restaraunt service is invisible when you don't need it but is right at your side the moment you do. How can we make notifications work more like this ideal service model.

Part of the solution may be prioritising (as suggested in another thread). This clearly has merit. And a prime example: unless I'm involved in performance analysis of strigi I don't give a toss when it starts and stops its indexing. I care far more that it distracts me to tell me each time it does. This is a "debug priority" notification. But consistency in any priority rating might be hard to achieve without some clear guidelines. Perhaps establishing these would be a good starting point?

Alternatively perhaps just making notifications less distracting is sufficient. Change the colour of the notifications icon and overlay a number then let the user click to reveal the messages. This seems particularly appropriate for small displays where notifications interfere with application display space more often.

Or perhaps an activity model can be integrated so we have some combination: only high priority notifications (like "the battery is flat") are given during busy times; low priority notifications are queued for periods when there appears to be no activity (this required careful consideration as starting at an article you are writing, but not typing, doesn't equate to low activity).

The new notification system Aaron is currently working on supports having different priorities of notifications. I suspect the size and/or prominence of the message can depend on the priority.

TheBlackCat wrote:The new notification system Aaron is currently working on supports having different priorities of notifications. I suspect the size and/or prominence of the message can depend on the priority.

Excellent. That being the case it may be an appropraite time to discuss requirements? Or have these already been fleshed out elsewhere?

I read aseigo's post on plasma in 4.4 which had some promising teasers... but didn't give away too much.

One thing I'd like to see considered is some option to keep all notification display "inside" the panel area somehow unless deliberately opened.

Notifications should also be removed automatically.
They are hidden after some time (wich is not configuratable, argh), but when there's a new notification you'll see all the old notifications again.