Should ServiceNow discourage sending full catalog variable details in email notifications?

[NikolaTesla]

Hi Community,

I’d like to start a discussion around email notification design and platform adoption strategy.

Currently, ServiceNow allows notifications to include all catalog variables directly in email (for example using ${variables}). While this is convenient, it can unintentionally encourage users and approvers to rely on email rather than working within the platform itself.

From a governance and user adoption perspective, this creates a few challenges:

• Users may not log into ServiceNow to review the full request context.

• Comments and updates may occur outside the system.

• Audit trail and collaboration are weakened.

• It reinforces email-based behavior instead of digital workflow adoption.

• It reduces visibility into related records, SLAs, and activity history.

Many organizations are trying to increase Employee Center / Workspace adoption, yet sending the full form content in email makes it easy to bypass the platform experience entirely.

Has anyone implemented guardrails or best practices around this?
Should ServiceNow consider limiting or discouraging full variable dumps in email by default to drive in-platform engagement?

I’m interested in hearing how others balance usability vs. platform adoption.

Thanks!

[Mark Manders]

No. ServiceNow should stay away from this. The fact that any company/organization can decide for themselves how to work, is what makes the platform so strong. What once started with 'ServiceNow is going make emails redundant' has long since been caught up by reality. 

Yes, some users work in the platform constantly. And not allowing for ticket creation through email but through forms on the portal ensures that all information is gathered. 

But sending all variables is just a summary. Nothing should be allowed to do on a ticket if it's not approved. The tickets are to be worked on and resolved. Whatever happens outside of ServiceNow through emails is of no consideration to the resolving team. Any email including ServiceNow should be added to the ticket as information. If it's needed to resolve the ticket, it should be in there. If it's not, it's not part of the audit. That's where the rules should be at: what needs to be part of the ticket.

If someone wants to communicate outside of it, fine, but approval is still to be given. The ticket isn't resolved until all information is in there. 

NEVER solve a people problem with technology. It's a company's choice to allow for approval through email or not. It's an organization's choice to share data outside of a platform. It's not the platform's job to limit those choices.