The present invention relates to a system (10) and methodology (170, 173, 180, 400, 600, 1000) to enable a variety of information associated with one or more notification sources (26-28) to be directed to one or more notification sinks (36-38) via a notification platform architecture (10). The architecture (10) includes a context analyzer (22) for determining a user's state such as location and attentional focus, wherein the user's state is employed by a notification manager (24) to make decisions regarding what, when and how information generated by the notification sources (26-28) should be forwarded to the notification sinks (36-38), for example. These decisons can include a cost benefit analysis wherein considerations are given as to whether the benefits of notifying the user are outweighed by the costs of disrupting the user. Decision-theoretic policies (177, 180) and/or somewhat less formal heuristic policies (177) can be employed to enable the decision-making process within the notification manager (24). |