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When talking about Notification Design I have seen Notifications placed on the top of the screen, on proximity of where the UI element and action is happening and finally, central, on the screen.

What is the best approach in terms of usability? Why? Are there any differences between web and applications/software?

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I have discovered that according to the Nielsen Norman Group, "Unlike validation, notifications may not be directly tied to user input or even to the user’s current activity in the system, but they usually inform the user of a change in the system state or of an event that may be of interest. In the case of email, social networks, and mobile-phone applications, notifications can even be delivered while a user is away from the application.", therefore probably a top or central position would be better but, it all depends of the situation since "notifications can be contextual —applying to a specific UI element— or global —applying to the system as a whole."

And notifications can be "Action-required notifications", by alerting the user "of an event that requires a user action" or passive, informational in the sense they alert the user for an event that may of interest but, doesn't require any prompt action.

Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/indicators-validations-notifications

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