Providing a persona-based application experience

• US 10,165,079 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2015
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Chardon, Alvin, Reierson, Kristofer Hellick, Anderson, Angela Mele, Hunt, Galen Clyde, Burger, Douglas Christopher, Pai, Dilip Krishna
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Adam
• Application Number:
  US14/831,347
• Publication Number:
  US 20160134721A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,223 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45504 Abstract machines for programme code execution, e.g. Java virtual machine [JVM], interpreters, emulators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for providing a persona-based application experience. In some configurations, an application can be adapted with a persona package selected from multiple persona packages. The persona packages may include persona-specific user settings, persona-specific application storage settings, or persona-specific application state settings. A persona package may be selected based on a current persona of a user, a time of day, and/or a location of the user. The selected persona package comprises a setting to adapt the execution of the application. In some configurations, a computer determines, a current persona of the user. The computer also receives a selected persona package comprising a user setting of the software application. The selection of the persona package is based on the current persona of the user and established credentials associated with the user. The computer adapts the execution of the software application according to the selected persona package.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method executed on a client device, the method comprising computer-implemented operations for configuring an execution of a virtualized software application in a virtual environment of the client device, the method including:

displaying a user interface of the client device;

identifying a user of the client device;

receiving a request, from the user interacting with a user interface of the client device, to execute the virtualized software application, wherein the request includes data indicating a content of a user-selected document;

selecting a persona from a plurality of personas of the user based in part on the identity of the user of the client device and the content of the user-selected document;

determining a location of the persona package corresponding to the selected persona, wherein the location is determined based on the selected persona, and wherein the location is located external to the virtual environment;

selecting, by the virtual environment, a persona package associated with the selected persona at the determined location, wherein the persona package comprises a user interface customization of the virtualized software application;

customizing the virtualized software application executing within the virtual environment according to the selected persona package; and

executing the customized virtualized software application within the virtual environment.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected persona package is selected based, at least in part, on a time of day when the virtualized software application is executed.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected persona package is selected based, at least in part, on a current location of the user.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected persona package is selected based, at least in part, on a user preference or configuration.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected persona package is selected based, at least in part, on a user generated gesture.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising providing a configuration manager for generating a plurality of persona configurations, wherein the user is restricted from accessing the configuration manager.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected persona package further comprises storage settings of the virtualized software application.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the storage settings define a location from which virtualized software application data can be retrieved or to which the virtualized software application data can be stored.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected persona package further comprises state settings of the virtualized software application.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the state settings define a recent state of the virtualized software application before the virtualized software application was closed.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising restricting access to the selected persona package to a select administrator to prevent modification of the selected persona package by the user.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on established credentials of the user.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, On a computer network of the client device.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the computer network is based, at least in part, on an IP address of the client device.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the persona package is selected based in part on a type of the document.

16. A computer system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

identify a user of the computer system;

receive a request, from the user interacting with a user interface of the computer system, to execute a virtualized software application, wherein the request includes data indicating a content of a user-selected document;

transmit the request, wherein a current persona of the user is selected from a plurality of personas of the user and is based on the content of the user selected document and the identity of the user, the current persona comprising data defining one or more user settings;

determine a location of a persona package corresponding to the current persona, wherein the location is determined based on the selected current persona, and wherein the location is located external to a virtualization layer of the computer system;

select, by the virtualization layer and from the location, a persona package corresponding to the selected current persona, the selected person package comprising a user setting of the virtualized software application, the user setting including a customization of a user interface of the virtualized software application;

customize the virtualized software application according to the selected persona package within the virtualization layer; and

execute the customized virtualized software application within the virtualization layer.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein selecting a persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a time of day when the virtualized software application is executed.

18. The computer system of claim 16, wherein selecting a persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a current location of the user.

19. The computer system of claim 16, wherein selecting a persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a computer network of the computer system.

20. The computer system of claim 16, wherein selecting a persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a user preference or configuration.

21. The computer system of claim 16, wherein selecting a persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on user gestures.

22. The computer system of claim 16, wherein selecting a persona package further comprises:

identifying a persona configuration from a plurality of persona configurations that matches the current persona of the user; and

retrieving the persona package corresponding to the current persona of the user from the identified persona configuration.

23. The computer system of claim 22, further comprising a configuration manager for generating the plurality of persona configurations, wherein the user is restricted from accessing the configuration manager.

24. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the persona package further comprises storage settings of the virtualized software application.

25. The computer system of claim 24, wherein the storage settings of the virtualized software application define a location from which virtualized software application data can be retrieved or to which the virtualized software application data can be stored.

26. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the persona package further comprises state settings of the virtualized software application.

27. The computer system of claim 26, wherein the state settings define a recent state of the virtualized software application before the virtualized software application was closed.

28. The computer system of claim 16, further comprising restricting access to the persona package to a select administrator to prevent modification of the persona package by the user.

29. A non-transitory computer storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the operations of:

generating a query for a persona package, wherein the query includes an identity of a virtualized software application and an identity of a user logged into the computer;

transmitting the query, causing, a current persona of a plurality of personas of the user to be determined based on the identity of the user;

receiving a query result including the location of a persona package, wherein the location is determined based on the determined current persona, and wherein the location is located external to a virtualization layer of the computer;

selecting, by the virtualization layer, a persona package at the location corresponding to the determined current persona comprising a user-specified user setting of the virtualized software application;

customizing the virtualized software application according to the selected persona package within the virtualization layer; and

executing the customized virtualized software application within the virtualization layer.

30. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, wherein selecting the persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a time of day when the virtualized software application is executed.

31. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, wherein selecting the persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a current location of the user.

32. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, wherein selecting the persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a computer network of the computer that transmitted the query.

33. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, wherein selecting the persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on a user preference or configuration.

34. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, wherein selecting the persona package further comprises selecting the persona package based, at least in part, on gestures generated by the user.

35. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, wherein selecting a persona package further comprises:

identifying a persona configuration from a plurality of persona configurations that matches the current persona of the user; and

retrieving the persona package corresponding to the current persona of the user from the identified persona configuration.

36. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 35, which when executed by the computers, further cause the computer to perform the operation of:

providing a configuration manager for generating the plurality of persona configurations, wherein the user is restricted from accessing the configuration manager.

37. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, wherein the persona package further comprises state settings of the virtualized software application.

38. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 37, wherein the state settings define a recent state of the virtualized software application before the virtualized software application was closed.

39. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 29, further comprising restricting access to the persona package to a select administrator to prevent modification of the persona package by the user.

40. A computer system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

transmit, from the computer system, a query for a persona package, wherein the query includes an identity of a virtualized software application, a content of a document selected by a user of the computer system to be loaded by the virtualized software application when executed, and an identity of the user of the computer system;

receive a determined current persona from a plurality of personas of the user of the computer system based on the identity of the user and the content of the document;

receive a location of a persona package corresponding to the determined current persona, wherein the location is located external to a virtualization layer of the computer system;

select, by the virtualization layer, a persona package at the location corresponding to the determined persona, the selected persona package comprising a user-supplied user setting of the virtualized software application;

customize the virtualized software application according to the selected persona package within the virtualization layer; and

execute the customized virtualized software application within the virtualization layer.

41. The computer system of claim 40, wherein select the persona package further comprises select the persona package based, at least in part, on established credentials of the user.

42. The computer system of claim 40, wherein select the persona package further comprises select the persona package based, at least in part, on a computer network of the computer system.

43. The computer system of claim 42, wherein the computer network is based, at least in part, on an IP address of the computer system.

44. The computer system of claim 40, wherein select the persona package further comprises select the persona package based, at least in part, on a user preference or configuration.

45. The computer system of claim 40, wherein the persona package is selected based on the determined current persona of the user, the time of day, and the location of the user.

46. A computer-implemented method for providing a persona-based application experience for a virtualized software application executing within a virtualization layer of a client computer, the method comprising computer-implemented operations for:

identifying a user logged into the client computer;

receiving a request, from the user interacting with a user interface of the client computer, to execute the virtualized software application;

determining a location of a persona package, wherein the persona package comprises a user-specified user setting of the virtualized software application, wherein determining the location of the persona package is based on determining a current persona of the user logged into the client computer, and wherein the current persona of the user is one of a plurality of personas of the user;

selecting, by the virtualization layer, the persona package at the determined location, wherein the determined location is located external to the virtualization layer;

customizing, within the virtualization layer, the virtualized software application according to the selected persona package; and

executing, within the virtualization layer, the customized virtualized software application.

47. The computer-implemented method of claim 46, wherein the persona package further comprises a user setting including a state of the virtualized software application.

48. The computer-implemented method of claim 47, wherein the state of the virtualized software application includes a list of documents recently accessed by the virtualized software application.

49. The computer-implemented method of claim 47, wherein the state of the virtualized software application includes a list of recent symbols inserted into one or more documents.