Systems and methods for monitoring website activity in real time

• US 20020087679A1
• Filed: 01/04/2001
• Published: 07/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Advizor Solutions Incorporated (The Pursuant Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visual Insights
• Inventors: Chapman, Michael H., Bertrand, Phillippe F., Loop, Sandra, Kapler, Thomas B., Pulley, Harry C.
• Application Number:
  US09/753,602
• Publication Number:
  US 20020087679A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Tracking customers is easier in cyberspace than in the brick-and-mortar world. Unfortunately, customer traffic through a website cannot be readily observed. In the systems, methods and data visualization metaphors of this invention, one or more instrumentation techniques are used to capture website activity data in real-time. This website activity data is provided to an aggregation subsystem that stores hits matching monitored web pages into one or more contexts. Each context is implemented as one or more independent data structures that contain configuration information and that are usable to capture and store hit data for web pages that are relevant to the monitoring task. The stored hit data is visualized using any one of a number of different visual metaphors, such as a “floor-and-back wall” visualization metaphor. In various exemplary embodiments of this visualization metaphor, distinct portions of the context are organized as “aisles” on the “floor” of a 3-dimensional space. The website activity, such as, for example, hits on monitored pages, is displayed as 3-dimensional objects whose height represents the amount of website activity for a current “tick”. Previous values of the website activity are shown as 2-dimensional graphs that “tail” from the 3-dimensional objects. Movement by visitors between monitored web pages is visualized by transferring 3-dimensional objects between source and destination objects that represent the number of visitors leaving one page for another page. A back wall of the 3-dimensional space is used to display graphical data, such as flow graph charts, graphs, and/or pie charts.

Claims

1. A system for visualizing activity on a node of a distributed network, comprising:

an activity monitoring system usable to capture visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network; and

an activity visualization system that generates a graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity, the graphical representation comprising;

a entry portion, the entry portion including at least one entry point segment, each entry point segment representing a portion of the node of the distributed network used by visitors to enter the node of the distributed network and including a representation of visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network; and

a monitor portion, the monitor portion including at least one node section segment, each node section segment representing a portion of the node of the distributed network and including a representation of visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network.

2. The system for visualizing activity of claim 1, wherein the graphical representation further comprises a commerce portion, the commerce portion including at least one commercial activity segment, each commercial activity segment representing a commercial transaction portion of the node of the distributed network used by visitors to perform at least a portion of a commercial transaction using the node of the distributed network and including a representation of visitor activity relative to that commercial transaction portion of the node of the distributed network.

3. The system for visualizing activity of claim 2, wherein the at least one commercial activity segment comprises a plurality of commercial activity segments, the plurality of commercial activity segments organized into at least one group within the graphical representation.

4. The system for visualizing activity of claim 3, wherein:

the node of the distributed network is an e-commerce website on the Internet having a plurality of web pages and usable to sell a plurality of products to the visitors, each of the plurality of products associated with at least one of the plurality of web pages of the site; and

the at least one aisle of commercial activity segment comprises a buy pipeline, each of the plurality of commercial activity segments of the buy pipeline representing at least one of the web pages accessed by a visitor when purchasing at least one of the plurality of products.

5. The system for visualizing activity of claim 4, wherein, for each commercial activity segment, the representation of visitor activity comprises:

a current time segment visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page for a current time period; and

a previous time segments visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page for a plurality of preceding time segments.

6. The system for visualizing activity of claim 5, wherein the current time segment visitor activity representation is one of a two-dimensional object and a three-dimensional object, one of an appearance and a dimension of the current time segment visitor activity representation representing the visitor activity for the current time segment.

7. The system for visualizing activity of claim 5, wherein the previous time segment visitor activity representation is a two-dimensional object having a plurality of portions, each portion corresponding to one of the plurality of preceding time segments, one of an appearance and a dimension of that portion representing the visitor activity for the corresponding one the plurality of preceding time segments.

8. The system for visualizing activity of claim 7, wherein, for each portion of the previous time segment visitor activity representation, a dimension of that portion represents the visitor activity for the corresponding one the plurality of preceding time segments, and an appearance of that portion corresponds to a time of the corresponding one of the previous time segments prior to a time of the current time segment.

9. The system for visualizing activity of claim 3, wherein, for each commercial activity segment, the representation of visitor activity comprises:

a current time segment visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to a represented commercial transaction portion of the node for a current time period; and

a previous time segments visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to a represented commercial transaction portion of the node for a plurality of preceding time segments.

10. The system for visualizing activity of claim 2, wherein, for each of the at least one group, the plurality of commercial activity segments of that group are laid out within the graphical representation into at least one aisle.

11. The system for visualizing activity of claim 1, wherein the captured visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network comprises at least one event initiated in response to actions by a visitor relative to the node of the distributed network.

12. The system for visualizing activity of claim 11, wherein each at least one event is one of a browsing event, a marketing event, a basket event, a commerce event, an auction event, an inventory event, an order processing event, an error event, a session event, a distribution event, a support event, and a scan event.

13. The system for visualizing activity of claim 1, wherein the node of the distributed network is a site on the Internet.

14. The system for visualizing activity of claim 13, wherein:

the site is an e-commerce website having a plurality of web pages and usable to sell a plurality of products to the visitors, each of the plurality of products associated with at least one of the plurality of web pages of the site; and

each of the at least one node section segment of the monitor portion represents at least one of the plurality of products and at least one web page associated with that at least one represented product and includes a representation of visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with that at least one represented product.

15. The system for visualizing activity of claim 14, wherein the at least one node section segment comprises a plurality of node section segments, the plurality of node section segments organized into at least one group.

16. The system for visualizing activity of claim 15, wherein, for each of the at least one group, the plurality of node section segments of that group are laid out within the graphical representation into an aisle.

17. The system for visualizing activity of claim 15, wherein:

at least one of the plurality of node section segments represents a subplurality of the plurality of products; and

in response to one of the at least one of the plurality of node section segments that represents a subplurality of the plurality of products being selected, the monitor portion further comprises a plurality of additional node section segments, each additional node section segment representing at least one of the subplurality of products, at least one web page associated with that at least one represented product and visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with that at least one represented product, the plurality of additional node section segments organized into an additional group.

18. The system for visualizing activity of claim 17, wherein:

the plurality of node section segments of each group are laid out within the graphical representation into an aisle; and

the plurality of additional node section segments of each additional group are laid out within the graphical representation into an additional aisle.

19. The system for visualizing activity of claim 17, wherein:

at least one of the plurality of additional node section segments represents a sub-subplurality of the subplurality of products; and

in response to one of the at least one of the plurality of additional node section segments that represents a sub-subplurality of the plurality of products being selected, the monitor portion further comprises a plurality of additional node section segments, each additional node section segment representing at least one of the sub-subplurality of products, at least one web page associated with that at least one represented product and visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with that at least one represented product, the plurality of additional node section segments organized into an additional group.

20. The system for visualizing activity of claim 19, wherein:

the plurality of node section segments of each group are laid out within the graphical representation into an aisle;

the plurality of additional node section segments of each additional group are laid out within the graphical representation into an additional aisle; and

the plurality of additional node section segments of each additional group of additional node section segments that represent at least one of the sub-subplurality of products are laid out within the graphical representation into another additional aisle.

21. The system for visualizing activity of claim 15, wherein:

the plurality of products is organized into a catalog;

the at least one group includes a first aisle comprising a subset of the plurality of node section segments; and

each node section segment of the first aisle corresponds to a different product category of the catalog.

22. The system for visualizing activity of claim 21, wherein:

in response to one of the node section segments of the first aisle being selected, the monitor section comprises a second aisle, the second aisle comprising a second subset of the plurality of node section segments; and

each node section segment of the second aisle corresponds to one of at least a product subcategory and a product of the catalog within the product category corresponding to the selected node section segment.

23. The system for visualizing activity of claim 15, wherein:

the at least one group includes a first aisle comprising a subset of the plurality of node section segments; and

each node section segment of the first aisle represents a different portion of the site to be monitored, each different portion comprising at least one web page of the site to be monitored.

24. The system for visualizing activity of claim 23, wherein:

in response to one of the node section segments of the first aisle being selected, the monitor section comprises a second aisle, the second aisle comprising a second subset of the plurality of node section segments; and

each node section segment of the second aisle represents a different subportion of at least one web page of the site to be monitored within the portion of the site represented by the selected node section segment.

25. The system for visualizing activity of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of products is one of a good and a service.

26. The system for visualizing activity of claim 1, wherein, for each entry point segment and each node section segment, the representation of visitor activity comprises:

a current time segment visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a current time period; and

a previous time segments visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a plurality of preceding time segments.

27. The system for visualizing activity of claim 26, wherein the current time segment visitor activity representation is one of a two-dimensional object and a three-dimensional object, one of an appearance and a dimension of the current time segment visitor activity representation representing the visitor activity for the current time segment.

28. The system for visualizing activity of claim 26, wherein the previous time segment visitor activity representation is a two-dimensional object having a plurality of portions, each portion corresponding to one of the plurality of preceding time segments, one of an appearance and a dimension of that portion representing the visitor activity for the corresponding one the plurality of preceding time segments.

29. The system for visualizing activity of claim 28, wherein, for each portion of the previous time segment visitor activity representation, a dimension of that portion represents the visitor activity for the corresponding one the plurality of preceding time segments, and an appearance of that portion corresponds to a time of the corresponding one of the previous time segments prior to a time of the current time segment.

30. The system for visualizing activity of claim 1, wherein the activity visualization system further comprises at least one two-dimensional graphical representation of the captured visitor activity.

31. The system for visualizing activity of claim 1, wherein the graphical representation further comprises a plurality of motion indicators that represent movement of visitors between portions of the node of the distributed network corresponding to the at least one entry point segment and the at least one node section segment displayed in the entry portion and the monitored portion.

32. The system for visualizing activity of claim 31, wherein each of the plurality of motion indicators comprises one of a two-dimensional motion indicator object and a three-dimensional motion indicator object, each motion indicator object associated with a source portion of the node and a destination portion of the node, one of an appearance and a dimension of that motion indicator object representing an amount of visitor movement between the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object.

35. The system for visualizing activity of claim 1, wherein the activity visualization system generates the graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity in substantially real time, such that the graphical representation represents the captured visitor activity as the visitor activity occurs and is captured.

33. The system for visualizing activity of claim 324, wherein, for each of the plurality of motion indicator objects, the graphical representation further comprises a path representation extending between a source segment of the at least one entry point segment and the at least one node section segment displayed in the entry portion and the monitored portion corresponding to the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination segment of the at least one entry point segment and the at least one node section segment displayed in the entry portion and the monitored portion corresponding to the destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object.

34. The system for visualizing activity of claim 33, wherein, in response to the graphical representation being updated based on visitor activity within a current time period from visitor activity within a previous time period, each of the plurality of motion indicator objects moves along the path representation for that motion indicator object from the source segment for that motion indicator object to the destination segment for that motion indicator object.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the captured visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network comprises at least one event initiated in response to actions by a visitor relative to the node of the distributed network.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein each at least one event is one of a browsing event, a marketing event, a basket event, a commerce event, an auction event, an inventory event, an order processing event, an error event, a session event, a distribution event, a support event, and a scan event.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein representing the captured visitor activity using at least the graphical representation further comprises representing each of at least one commercial transaction portion of the node of the distributed network used by visitors to perform at least a portion of a commercial transaction using the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that commercial transaction portion of the node of the distributed network using a commercial activity segment.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein displaying the at least one commercial activity segment comprises displaying the at least one commercial activity segment in at least one group.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein displaying the at least one commercial activity segment in at least one group comprises displaying, for each of the at least one group, the plurality of commercial activity segments of that group in at least one aisle within the graphical representation.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein:

the node of the distributed network is an e-commerce website having a plurality of web pages and usable to sell a plurality of products to the visitors, each of the plurality of products associated with at least one of the plurality of web pages of the site; and

the at least one aisle of at least one commercial activity segment comprises a buy pipeline, each of the plurality of commercial activity segments of the buy pipeline representing at least one of the web pages accessed by a visitor when purchasing at least one of the plurality of products.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein representing the visitor activity represented by each commercial activity segment comprises:

representing visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page for a current time period using a current time segment visitor activity representation; and

representing visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page for a plurality of preceding time segments using a previous time segments visitor activity representation.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein:

the current time segment visitor activity representation is one of a two-dimensional object and a graphical object; and

representing the visitor activity for the current time segment comprises altering one of an appearance and a dimension of the current time segment visitor activity representation based on the visitor activity for the current time period relative to the represented commercial transaction portion of the node.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein:

the previous time segment visitor activity representation is a two-dimensional object having a plurality of portions; and

representing, for each of the plurality of preceding time segments, the visitor activity for that preceding time segments comprises altering one of an appearance and a dimension of the portion of the two-dimensional object corresponding to that preceding time segment based on the visitor activity for that preceding time period relative to the at least one represented web page.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein:

representing, for each of the plurality of preceding time segments, the visitor activity for that preceding time segments comprises altering a dimension of the portion of the two-dimensional object corresponding to that preceding time segment based on the visitor activity for that preceding time period relative to (the represented commercial transaction portion of the node/ the at least one represented web page); and

representing, for each of the plurality of preceding time segments, a time of that previous time segment prior to a time of the current time segment comprises altering an appearance of that portion of the two-dimensional object.

47. The method of claim 40, wherein representing the visitor activity represented by each commercial activity segment comprises:

representing visitor activity relative to a represented commercial transaction portion of the node for a current time period using a current time segment visitor activity representation; and

representing visitor activity relative to a represented commercial transaction portion of the node for a plurality of preceding time segments using a previous time segments visitor activity representation.

48. The method of claim 36, wherein the node of the distributed network is a site on the Internet.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein:

the site is an e-commerce website having a plurality of web pages and usable to sell a plurality of products to the visitors, each of the plurality of products associated with at least one of the plurality of web pages of the site; and

each of the at least one node section segment represents at least one of the plurality of products, at least one web page associated with that at least one represented product and visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with that at least one represented product.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein:

the at least one node section segment comprises a plurality of node section segments; and

displaying the graphical representation comprises displaying the plurality of node section segments in at least one group.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein displaying the at least one node section segment in at least one group comprises displaying, for each of the at least one group, the plurality of node section segments of that group in at least one aisle within the graphical representation.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein:

at least one of the plurality of node section segments represents a subplurality of the plurality of products;

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node section segment comprises representing, for each such node section segment, the subplurality of products corresponding to that node section segment using a plurality of additional node section segments, each additional node section segment representing at least one of the subplurality of products, at least one web page associated with that at least one represented product and visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with that at least one represented product;

the method further comprises selecting one of the at least one of the plurality of node section segments that represents a subplurality of the plurality of products; and

displaying the plurality of node section segments in at least one group further comprises, in response to selecting one of the node section segments that represents a subplurality of the plurality of products, displaying, in an additional group, the plurality of additional node section segments that represent the subplurality of the plurality of products corresponding to the selected node section segment.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein displaying the at least one node section segment in at least one group comprises:

displaying, for each of the at least one group, the plurality of node section segments of that group in at least one aisle within the graphical representation; and

displaying the plurality of additional node section segments of the additional group in an additional aisle within the graphical representation.

54. The method of claim 52, wherein:

at least one of the plurality of additional node section segments represents a sub-subplurality of the subplurality of products; and

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node section segment comprises representing, for each such additional node section segment, the sub-subplurality of products corresponding to that additional node section segment using a plurality of additional node section segments, each additional node section segment representing at least one of the sub-subplurality of products, at least one web page associated with that at least one represented product and visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with that at least one represented product; and

the method further comprises selecting one of the at least one of the plurality of additional node section segments that represents a sub-subplurality of the plurality of products; and

displaying the plurality of node section segments in at least one aisle further comprises, in response to selecting one of the additional node section segments, displaying, in an additional aisle, the plurality of additional node section segments that represent the sub-subplurality of the plurality of products corresponding to the selected additional node section segment.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein displaying the at least one node section segment in at least one group comprises:

displaying, for each of the at least one group, the plurality of node section segments of that group in at least one aisle within the graphical representation;

displaying the plurality of additional node section segments that represent the subplurality of the plurality of products in an additional aisle within the graphical representation; and

displaying the plurality of additional node section segments that represent the sub-subplurality of the plurality of products in an additional aisle within the graphical representation.

56. The method of claim 50, wherein:

the plurality of products is organized into a catalog having a plurality of product categories;

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node section segment comprises representing each of the plurality of product categories using a different one of a subset of the node section segments, each different node section segment representing one of the product categories, at least one web page associated with the represented product category and visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with the represented product category; and

displaying the plurality of node section segments in at least one group comprises displaying the subset of node section segments in a first aisle.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein:

each of the plurality of product categories of the catalog comprises at least two of at least one subcategory and at least one product within that product category;

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node section segment further comprises representing, for each of the plurality of product categories, the at least two of at least one subcategory and at least one product within that product category using a different one of a second subset of the node section segments corresponding to that product category, each different node section segment representing one of the at least two of at least one subcategory and at least one product, at least one web page associated with each represented subcategory or product and visitor activity relative to the at least one represented web page that is associated with the represented subcategory or product; and

the method further comprises selecting one of the node section segments of the first aisle; and

displaying the plurality of node section segments in at least one group further comprises, in response to selecting one of the node section segments of the first aisle, displaying the second subset of the plurality of node section segments corresponding to the selected node section segment in a second group.

58. The method of claim 50, wherein:

displaying the plurality of node section segments in at least one group comprises displaying a first aisle comprising a subset of the plurality of node section segments; and

each node section segment of the first aisle represents a different portion of the site to be monitored, each different portion comprising at least one web page of the site to be monitored.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising selecting one of the node section segments of the first aisle, wherein:

displaying the graphical representation further comprises, in response to selecting one of the node section segments of the first aisle, displaying a second aisle comprising a second subset of the plurality of node section segments; and

each node section segment of the second aisle represents a different subportion of at least one web page of the site to be monitored within the portion of the site represented by the selected node section segment.

60. The method of claim 36, wherein representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network used by visitors to enter the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using an entry point segment and representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node section segment each comprises:

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a current time period using a current time segment visitor activity representation; and

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a plurality of preceding time segments using a previous time segments visitor activity representation.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein:

the current time segment visitor activity representation comprises one of a two-dimensional object and a three-dimensional object; and

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the current time period using the current time segment visitor activity representation comprises representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the current time period using one of an appearance and a dimension of the one of the two-dimensional object and the three-dimensional object.

62. The method of claim 60, wherein:

the previous time segment visitor activity representation comprises a two-dimensional object having a plurality of portions; and

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the plurality of preceding time segments using the previous time segments visitor activity representation comprises representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the plurality of preceding time segments using one of an appearance and a dimension of the two-dimensional object.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the plurality of preceding time segments using one of an appearance and a dimension of the two-dimensional object comprises:

representing, for each of the plurality of portions, the visitor activity corresponding to that portion using a dimension of that portion; and

representing, for each of the plurality of portions, a time of that portions prior to a time of the current time segment using an appearance of that portion.

64. The method of claim 36, further comprising displaying at least one two-dimensional graphical representation of the captured visitor activity.

65. The method of claim 36, wherein representing the captured visitor activity using a graphical representation further comprises representing movement of visitors between portions of the node of the distributed network corresponding to the at least one entry point segment and the at least one node section segment displayed in the entry portion and the monitored portion using a plurality of motion indicators.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein:

each of the plurality of motion indicators comprises one of a two-dimensional motion indicator object and a three-dimensional motion indicator object; and

representing movement of visitors using the plurality of motion indicators comprises;

associating each motion indicator object with a source portion of the node and a destination portion of the node, and representing an amount of visitor movement between the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object using one of an appearance and a dimension of that motion indicator object.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein displaying the graphical representation to a user further comprises:

displaying, for each motion indicator object, a corresponding path representation extending between a source segment of the at least one entry point segment and the at least one node section segment displayed in the entry portion and the monitored portion corresponding to the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination segment of the at least one entry point segment and the at least one node section segment displayed in the entry portion and the monitored portion corresponding to the destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object; and

in response to the graphical representation being updated based on visitor activity within a current time period from visitor activity within a previous time period, moving, for each motion indicator object, that motion indicator object along the corresponding path representation.

68. The method of claim 36, wherein representing the captured visitor activity using a graphical representation comprises generating the graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity in substantially real time, such that the graphical representation represents the captured visitor activity as the visitor activity occurs and is captured.

70. The system for visualizing movement of claim 69, wherein each of the plurality of motion indicators comprises one of a two-dimensional motion indicator object and a three-dimensional motion indicator object, each motion indicator object associated with a source portion of the node and a destination portion of the node, one of an appearance and a dimension of that motion indicator object representing an amount of visitor movement between the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object.

71. The system for visualizing movement of claim 70, wherein, for each of the plurality of motion indicator objects, the graphical representation further comprises a path representation extending between a source segment of the node segments corresponding to the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination segment of the node segments corresponding to the destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object.

72. The system for visualizing movement of claim 69, wherein, in response to the graphical representation being updated based on visitor activity within a current time period from visitor activity within a previous time period, each of the plurality of motion indicator objects moves along the path representation for that motion indicator object from the source segment for that motion indicator object to the destination segment for that motion indicator object.

73. The system for visualizing movement of claim 69, wherein the captured visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network comprises at least one event initiated in response to actions by a visitor relative to the node of the distributed network.

74. The system for visualizing movement of claim 69, wherein each at least one event is one of a browsing event, a marketing event, a basket event, a commerce event, an auction event, an inventory event, an order processing event, an error event, a session event, a distribution event, a support event, and a scan event.

75. The system for visualizing movement of claim 69, wherein the activity visualization system generates the graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity in substantially real time, such that the graphical representation represents the captured visitor activity as the visitor activity occurs and is captured.

36. A method for visualizing activity on a node of a distributed network, comprising:

capturing visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network;

representing the captured visitor activity using a graphical representation, comprising;

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network used by visitors to enter the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using an entry point segment; and

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node section segment; and

displaying the graphical representation to a user.

69. A system for visualizing movement of visitors to a node of a distributed network between portions of the node, comprising:

an activity monitoring system usable to capture visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network; and

an activity visualization system that generates a graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity, the graphical representation comprising;

a plurality of node segments, each node section segment representing one of the portions of the node and including a representation of visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network, and a plurality of motion indicators that represent movement of visitors between the portions of the node corresponding to the node segments.

76. A method for visualizing movement of visitors to a node of a distributed network between portions of the node, comprising:

capturing visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network;

representing the captured visitor activity using a graphical representation, comprising;

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node segment; and

representing movement of visitors between the portions of the node corresponding to the node segments using a plurality of motion indicators; and

displaying the graphical representation to a user.

77. The method of claim 76, wherein:

each of the plurality of motion indicators comprises one of a two-dimensional motion indicator object and a three-dimensional motion indicator object; and

representing movement of visitors using the plurality of motion indicators comprises;

associating each motion indicator object with a source portion of the node and a destination portion of the node, and

representing an amount of visitor movement between the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object using one of an appearance and a dimension of that motion indicator object.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein displaying the graphical representation to a user further comprises:

displaying, for each motion indicator object, a corresponding path representation extending between a source segment of the node segments corresponding to the source portion of the node for that motion indicator object and a destination segment of the node segments corresponding to the destination portion of the node for that motion indicator object; and

in response to the graphical representation being updated based on visitor activity within a current time period from visitor activity within a previous time period, moving, for each motion indicator object, that motion indicator object along the corresponding path representation.

79. The method of claim 76, wherein the captured visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network comprises at least one event initiated in response to actions by a visitor relative to the node of the distributed network.

80. The method of claim 79, wherein each at least one event is one of a browsing event, a marketing event, a basket event, a commerce event, an auction event, an inventory event, an order processing event, an error event, a session event, a distribution event, a support event, and a scan event.

81. The method of claim 76, wherein representing the captured visitor activity using a graphical representation comprises generating the graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity in substantially real time, such that the graphical representation represents the captured visitor activity as the visitor activity occurs and is captured.

82. A system for visualizing historical trends of activity on a node of a distributed network, comprising:

an activity monitoring system usable to capture visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network; and

an activity visualization system that generates a graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity, the graphical representation comprising;

a plurality of node segments, each node section segment representing one of the portions of the node; and

for each of the plurality of node segments, a representation of visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network, comprising;

a current time segment visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a current time period; and

a previous time segments visitor activity representation that represents visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a plurality of preceding time segments.

83. The system for visualizing historical trends of claim 82, wherein the current time segment visitor activity representation is one of a two-dimensional object and a three-dimensional object, one of an appearance and a dimension of the current time segment visitor activity representation representing the visitor activity for the current time segment.

84. The system for visualizing historical trends of claim 82, wherein the previous time segment visitor activity representation is a two-dimensional object having a plurality of portions, each portion corresponding to one of the plurality of preceding time segments, one of an appearance and a dimension of that portion representing the visitor activity for the corresponding one the plurality of preceding time segments.

85. The system for visualizing historical trends of claim 84, wherein, for each portion of the previous time segment visitor activity representation, a dimension of that portion represents the visitor activity for the corresponding one the plurality of preceding time segments, and an appearance of that portion corresponds to a time of the corresponding one of the previous time segments prior to a time of the current time segment.

86. The system for visualizing historical trends of claim 82, wherein the captured visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network comprises at least one event initiated in response to actions by a visitor relative to the node of the distributed network.

87. The system for visualizing historical trends of claim 82, wherein each at least one event is one of a browsing event, a marketing event, a basket event, a commerce event, an auction event, an inventory event, an order processing event, an error event, a session event, a distribution event, a support event, and a scan event.

88. The system for visualizing historical trends of claim 82, wherein the activity visualization system generates the graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity in substantially real time, such that the graphical representation represents the captured visitor activity as the visitor activity occurs and is captured.

90. The method of claim 89, wherein:

the current time segment visitor activity representation comprises one of a two-dimensional object and a three-dimensional object; and

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the current time period using the current time segment visitor activity representation comprises representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the current time period using one of an appearance and a dimension of the one of the two-dimensional object and the three-dimensional object.

91. The method of claim 89, wherein:

the previous time segment visitor activity representation comprises a two-dimensional object having a plurality of portions; and

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the plurality of preceding time segments using the previous time segments visitor activity representation comprises representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the plurality of preceding time segments using one of an appearance and a dimension of the two-dimensional object.

92. The method of claim 91, wherein representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for the plurality of preceding time segments using one of an appearance and a dimension of the two-dimensional object comprises:

representing, for each of the plurality of portions, the visitor activity corresponding to that portion using a dimension of that portion; and

representing, for each of the plurality of portions, a time of that portions prior to a time of the current time segment using an appearance of that portion.

93. The method of claim 89, wherein the captured visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network comprises at least one event initiated in response to actions by a visitor relative to the node of the distributed network.

94. The method of claim 93, wherein each at least one event is one of a browsing event, a marketing event, a basket event, a commerce event, an auction event, an inventory event, an order processing event, an error event, a session event, a distribution event, a support event, and a scan event.

95. The method of claim 89, wherein representing the captured visitor activity using a graphical representation comprises generating the graphical representation based on the captured visitor activity in substantially real time, such that the graphical representation represents the captured visitor activity as the visitor activity occurs and is captured.

89. A method for visualizing historical trends of activity on a node of a distributed network, comprising:

capturing visitor activity relative to the node of the distributed network;

representing each of at least one portion of the node of the distributed network and captured visitor activity relative to that portion of the node of the distributed network using a node segment, comprising;

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a current time period using a current time segment visitor activity representation, and

representing visitor activity relative to the represented portion of the node for a plurality of preceding time segments using a previous time segments visitor activity representation;

displaying the node segments for the at least one portion of the node to a user; and

displaying, within each node segment, the current time segment visitor activity representation and the previous time segments visitor activity representation for the portion of the node represented by that node segment.