The Do's and Don'ts of App Messaging: Use the real words
A glossary is required to communicate effectively. "Get that thing from that place" is not effective. A rose with any other name would smell as sweet; nevertheless, we decided to name it Rose.
Use your words, and even more importantly, use the right words. We try to escape definitions and classifications. It is not a good idea. Definitions and meanings will vary based on context. A simple dictionary can simplify communications and ease organization.
This article defines message components. This post builds on top of Communication Models. This article will also contain a give-away. After reading this post you should be able to start organizing your communications.
The End Goal
The App Messaging framework tries to provide order, clarity and shared understanding of the user journey. Each message we send should ideally answer all basic questions: Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why.
WE want to send a RELEVANT MESSAGE, to the RIGHT PERSON, over a SPECIFIC CHANNEL at THE RIGHT TIME to ACHIEVE A GOAL in a SPECIFIC DESTINATION.
Definitions:
Sender: A sender is the person or system that is issuing the message. Answers the question Who.
A Person: A message triggered manually by a person,
A System: A message triggered automatically by a system.
Origination: A message can be initiated by the organization or the end user.
Inbound: Message is originated by the end-user
Outbound: Message is originated by the organization
Recipient: A recipient is the person or system that receives the message sent by the sender. Answers the question To Whom.
A Specific Person: A message that is specifically directed at a specific individual,
An Audience: A message that is sent to a specific user persona or user archetype.
Message: A message is any communication shared between the Sender and the recipient. A message is shared over a medium and a channel. Answers the question What.
Intentionality: Described the intention of the message. A message can have 3 different intentions, to inform, to create action, or to have a conversation. Intentionality is described in detail in a previous article.
Message Sequence: A message sequence is a collection of messages that can be grouped together. A message sequence follows a logical order.
Medium: A medium is the mean of transmission through which the message is shared. In the context of App Messaging the Medium could be in-app, email, or SMS. Answers the question How.
Channel: A Channel is the mean through which the message is distributed. A Channel is dependent on a medium. For example an In-App message could be delivered through different channels like a Push Notification. Answers the question Where.
Trigger Event: Indicates a relevant event that should be communicated.Answers the question When.
Goal: The goal is the reason why we are sending a message. Communication for the sake of communication is noise. Goals answer the question Why.
Message Goal: What are we trying to achieve with this specific message.
Message Sequence Goal: A Message Sequence goal is the desired result for a series of messages.
Destination: Where should the audience or user perform the desired goal.
Start Organizing
I created a Notion Template that helps you plan and organize your messages. This document should help multiple departments align on what types of communications are currently being sent.
