If being a successful jailbreak developer can get you hired at Apple, apparently so can redesigning the oft-criticized Notification Center. Apple has hired Jan-Michael Cart, perhaps best known for creating demos of proposed Notification Center tweaks, to intern with the company for the next seven months. Cart's internship follows two other recent hires known for notification work, suggesting the company is aware that iOS notifications still need some work.

Cart, currently a junior majoring in Mass Media Arts at the Univeristy of Georgia (go Bulldogs!), specializes in video and graphic design. He has recently begun experimenting with Xcode and learning about iOS development, according to his website. With the release of iOS 5, Cart began creating videos to demonstrate his ideas for improving its Notification Center feature.

Before the introduction of iOS 5 in October, iOS notifications were very basic, modal, and difficult to manage. The new Notification Center and a redesigned approach to notifications offered a vast improvement as part of iOS 5, but while the changes were generally welcomed by most users, Notification Center has faced its share of criticisms. This included buttons that are too small to use reliably, its inconsistent use of Apple's now-ubiquitous linen texture, and a limited integration with other iOS functionality.

Cart has a number of ideas for improving Notification Center, including collapsible notifications, a persistent status bar badge, and user-customizable widgets for quick access to certain app features. And luckily for Cart, it appears that his ideas—as well as his ability to demonstrate those ideas with animation and video—have caught Apple's eye. Cart will spend the next seven months as UI/UX Design intern at Apple's Cupertino campus.

Cart's internship isn't the first Apple has given to someone showing an interest in improving iOS notifications. Developer Peter Hajas, the man behind the popular jailbreak app MobileNotifier, also scored an internship at Apple this past summer.

As noted by TiPB, Apple hired back webOS's notification expert, Rich Dellinger, in June. Dellinger, who was intimately involved in UI and UX design for webOS and its Mojo frameworks, also "invented [its] non-intrusive banner notification system." He originally worked at Apple for several years before joining the webOS team at Palm in 2006, including doing early UI design work for the iPhone. Now he serves as a Senior User Interface Designer for Apple.

Though the improvements to notifications in iOS 5 represent a major step forward, it's clear that Apple is putting more effort and manpower into improving notifications in future versions of iOS. After watching Cart's demos, we hope Apple implements some of his clever ideas.