diff --git a/app/models/notification/data_exported.rb b/app/models/notification/data_exported.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dc9d1634
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/notification/data_exported.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# NOTE: `target` is not really used for this notification, but it should be of type `User::DataExport`
+class Notification::DataExported < Notification
+end
diff --git a/app/models/user/data_export.rb b/app/models/user/data_export.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c8aee5e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/user/data_export.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# stub model to nicely allow for data export notifications, do NOT use this directly!
+class User::DataExport < User
+end
diff --git a/app/views/notifications/type/_dataexport.html.haml b/app/views/notifications/type/_dataexport.html.haml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b39210fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/notifications/type/_dataexport.html.haml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+.media.notification
+  .notification__icon
+    %i.fa.fa-2x.fa-fw.fa-download
+  .media-body
+    %h6.media-heading.notification__user
+      = t(".heading")
+    .notification__text
+      = t(".text_html", settings_export: link_to(t(".settings_export"), settings_export_path))
diff --git a/app/workers/export_worker.rb b/app/workers/export_worker.rb
index 420ee06e..411c5318 100644
--- a/app/workers/export_worker.rb
+++ b/app/workers/export_worker.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-require 'exporter'
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "exporter"
+
 class ExportWorker
   include Sidekiq::Worker
 
@@ -6,11 +9,16 @@ class ExportWorker
 
   # @param user_id [Integer] the user id
   def perform(user_id)
-    exporter = Exporter.new User.find(user_id)
+    user = User.find(user_id)
+
+    exporter = Exporter.new(user)
     exporter.export
-    question = Question.create(content: "Your #{APP_CONFIG['site_name']} data export is ready!  You can download it " +
-        "from the settings page under the \"Export\" tab.", author_is_anonymous: true,
-                               author_identifier: "retrospring_exporter")
-    Inbox.create(user_id: user_id, question_id: question.id, new: true)
+
+    Notification::DataExported.create(
+      target_id:   user.id,
+      target_type: "User::DataExport",
+      recipient:   user,
+      new:         true
+    )
   end
 end
diff --git a/config/locales/views.en.yml b/config/locales/views.en.yml
index cfe1c84d..f419a71a 100644
--- a/config/locales/views.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/views.en.yml
@@ -327,6 +327,10 @@ en:
           link_text: "their answer"
         other:
           link_text_html: "%{user}'s answer"
+      dataexport:
+        heading: "Your data export is ready"
+        text_html: "Head over to %{settings_export} to download it."
+        settings_export: "the settings page"
       reaction:
         heading_html: "%{user} smiled %{type} %{time} ago"
         answer:
@@ -396,7 +400,7 @@ en:
           <p>The data is inside a <code>.zip</code> archive that contains some JSON files.
           The archive also contains a copy of your profile picture and header picture in all sizes.</p>
           <p>Please note that you can only export your data once a week. Exporting your data
-          will take a while, so please be patient. You will receive a question once exporting
+          will take a while, so please be patient. You will receive a notification once exporting
           is done.</p>
         export: "Export"
         export_url:
diff --git a/spec/workers/export_worker_spec.rb b/spec/workers/export_worker_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..71935d95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/workers/export_worker_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "rails_helper"
+
+describe ExportWorker do
+  let(:user) { FactoryBot.create(:user) }
+
+  describe "#perform" do
+    let(:exporter_double) { double("Exporter") }
+
+    before do
+      # stub away the testing of the exporter itself since it is done in lib/exporter_spec
+      allow(exporter_double).to receive(:export)
+      allow(Exporter).to receive(:new).and_return(exporter_double)
+    end
+
+    subject { described_class.new.perform(user.id) }
+
+    it "creates an exported notification" do
+      expect { subject }.to change { Notification::DataExported.count }.by(1)
+
+      notification = Notification::DataExported.last
+      expect(notification.target_id).to eq(user.id)
+      expect(notification.target_type).to eq("User::DataExport")
+      expect(notification.recipient).to eq(user)
+      expect(notification.new).to be true
+    end
+  end
+end