User-Initiated Triggers

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User-Initiated Triggers

People are more likely to interact with a trigger (e.g., a push notification, or an alert), if they've set it up themselves.

Featured in 26 UX Bites

Similar psychology:

Hyperbolic Discounting

Likely impacts:

Last updated: 26/09/2026

How to utilise this in your designs

During onboarding, you could ask users when they like to see new content, then use their answer to set notification times, making each alert a user-initiated trigger.

UI shows a daily habit builder with a progress bar, time picker set at 09:00, and options like "After morning coffee" linked by an arrow, with orange, purple icons.

Example from

Headway

You could try a traffic light system that lets users customise how and when they're alerted, so each notification is a user-initiated trigger they chose.

Dark mode UI with loan and hold status toggles; colored arrows connect Email (blue), Shelf notice (orange), Ignore (red) to three checkmark states—selected states are teal.

Example from

Libby

After a user's first lesson, you could prompt them to set their own goal. A user-initiated target may feel more motivating than an arbitrary pre-set one.

Duolingo streak goal UI with options: 3 days "Baby steps," 7 days "Strong start," 14 days "Clearly committed" (highlighted, orange), 30 days "Unstoppable streak." Duolingo mascot says, "You'll be 5x more likely to complete the course!" Buttons: "SKIP" (greyed) and "I CAN DO IT!" (blue).

Example from

Duolingo

You could ask new users to commit to a learning schedule, then frame that user-initiated commitment in terms of how likely they are to reach their goals.

Headway app UI with streak options: 7-day Promising, 14-day Determined (highlighted in blue), 30-day Impressive, 50-day Unstoppable; blue button says "Commit & continue."

Example from

Headway

When requesting notification permissions, try asking which notifications users care about, with dynamic examples, so the triggers they opt into feel self-chosen.

Example from

Tomorrow

Possible impacts

You could see a decrease in churn, as users who've set up their own user-initiated triggers feel more committed to the schedules and goals they chose.

As seen in:

Headway Headway's user-initiated triggers

Letting users choose which alerts they receive might increase feature usage, as user-initiated triggers draw people back to the parts of the product they care about.

As seen in:

Libby Setting notification triggers

Duolingo User-initiated trigger

Notifications may earn more attention from users, because a user-initiated trigger feels expected rather than intrusive, i.e., users helped create the alert.

As seen in:

Gojek How much luggage can you bring?

Pinterest Pinterest's drag and hold menu

Users may feel more motivated to act on a reminder, e.g., a workout or lesson, when it's a user-initiated trigger tied to a goal they set themselves.

As seen in:

Headway Timing your notifications

Libby Setting notification triggers

Written by Peter Ramsey

Consultant to 100+ companies

Published: 31/08/2023

How to utilise this in your designs

During onboarding, you could ask users when they like to see new content, then use their answer to set notification times, making each alert a user-initiated trigger.

Example from

Headway

You could try a traffic light system that lets users customise how and when they're alerted, so each notification is a user-initiated trigger they chose.

Example from

Libby

After a user's first lesson, you could prompt them to set their own goal. A user-initiated target may feel more motivating than an arbitrary pre-set one.

Example from

Duolingo

You could ask new users to commit to a learning schedule, then frame that user-initiated commitment in terms of how likely they are to reach their goals.

Example from

Headway

When requesting notification permissions, try asking which notifications users care about, with dynamic examples, so the triggers they opt into feel self-chosen.

Example from

Tomorrow

Possible impacts

You could see a decrease in churn, as users who've set up their own user-initiated triggers feel more committed to the schedules and goals they chose.

As seen in:

Headway Headway's user-initiated triggers

Letting users choose which alerts they receive might increase feature usage, as user-initiated triggers draw people back to the parts of the product they care about.

As seen in:

Libby Setting notification triggers

Duolingo User-initiated trigger

Notifications may earn more attention from users, because a user-initiated trigger feels expected rather than intrusive, i.e., users helped create the alert.

As seen in:

Gojek How much luggage can you bring?

Pinterest Pinterest's drag and hold menu

Users may feel more motivated to act on a reminder, e.g., a workout or lesson, when it's a user-initiated trigger tied to a goal they set themselves.

As seen in:

Headway Timing your notifications

Libby Setting notification triggers