diff --git a/cypress/e2e/notifications.cy.js b/cypress/e2e/notifications.cy.js
index 75ff5fd8..8fd20b52 100644
--- a/cypress/e2e/notifications.cy.js
+++ b/cypress/e2e/notifications.cy.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { login } from "./helpers";
 
-describe("notifications.cy.js", () => {
+describe("notification list page", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     cy.manageCommand("cypress_reset");
     cy.manageCommand("create_default_notifications");
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ describe("notifications.cy.js", () => {
   it("can paginate notifications", () => {
     login("admin", "test");
     cy.visit("/notifications");
+    cy.wait(2000);
 
     cy.get('[data-cy="no-notifications"]').should("not.exist");
     cy.get("[data-cy^=notification-idx-]").should("have.length", 7);
@@ -21,8 +22,7 @@ describe("notifications.cy.js", () => {
 
     // We load additional 7 notifications
     cy.get('[data-cy="load-more-notifications"]').click();
-    cy.get("[data-cy^=notification-idx-]").should("have.length", 13);
-    cy.get('[data-cy="load-more-notifications"]').should("not.exist");
+    cy.get("[data-cy^=notification-idx-]").should("have.length", 14);
 
     for (let i = 0; i < 7; i++) {
       cy.get(`[data-cy=notification-idx-${i}]`).within(() => {
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ describe("email notification settings", () => {
     cy.get('[data-cy="it-checkbox-USER_INTERACTION"]')
       .should("exist")
       .check({ force: true });
+    cy.get('[data-cy="it-checkbox-USER_INTERACTION"]')
+      .should("exist")
+      .should("be.checked");
 
     cy.reload();
     cy.wait(1000);
diff --git a/cypress/support/commands.js b/cypress/support/commands.js
index d884523d..8c7c5821 100644
--- a/cypress/support/commands.js
+++ b/cypress/support/commands.js
@@ -55,15 +55,17 @@ const _ = Cypress._;
 Cypress.Commands.add("manageCommand", (command, preCommand = "") => {
   const execCommand = `${preCommand} python server/manage.py ${command} --settings=config.settings.test_cypress`;
   console.log(execCommand);
+  // hack to add my asdf python instance to the path
+  // so I can run the test directly from within IntelliJ
+  let pythonPaths = [
+    "/Users/daniel/workspace/vbv_lernwelt/.direnv/python-3.10.6/bin",
+    "/Users/eliabieri/iterativ/vbv_lernwelt/.direnv/python-3.10.6/bin",
+  ];
+  let bashCommand = `PATH=${pythonPaths.join(":")}:$PATH && ${execCommand}`;
   return cy
-    .exec(
-      // hack to add my asdf python instance to the path
-      // so I can run the test directly from within IntelliJ
-      `PATH=/Users/daniel/workspace/vbv_lernwelt/.direnv/python-3.10.6/bin:$PATH && ${execCommand}`,
-      {
-        failOnNonZeroExit: false,
-      }
-    )
+    .exec(`bash -c "${bashCommand}"`, {
+      failOnNonZeroExit: true,
+    })
     .then((result) => {
       if (result.code) {
         throw new Error(`Execution of "${command}" failed