Methods for delivering task-related digital content based on task-oriented user activity

• US 20080177726A1
• Filed: 01/22/2007
• Published: 07/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Mozy, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Dletterich, Thomas G., Forbes, John B., Herlocker, Jonathan L., Maritz, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,524,355 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method for automatically presenting digital content to a user of a computer computes task-related metadata from data which may include i) a most recent event record, ii) a most recent specification received from the user of a task being performed by the user, iii) an automatic prediction of the current task being executed by the user, iii) past event records and associated task identifiers stored in a database and/or iv) content in resources associated with a given task. The task-related metadata is communicated to a digital content service provider. Digital content relevant to the user based on the task-related metadata is then selected, sent to the computer, and presented to the user. Rules and filters control the metadata going out and the content coming in, allowing automatic adaptation based on the current task, characteristics of the content, and other factors.

Claims

1. A method for automatically presenting digital content to a user of a computer, the method comprising:

a) computing task-related metadata from i) a current task being performed by the user as predicted by a task-oriented user activity system, and ii) past event records and associated task identifiers stored in a database of the task-oriented user activity system;

b) communicating the task-related metadata from the computer to a digital content service provider via a data network;

c) determining digital content relevant to the task from the task-related metadata;

d) communicating the digital content to the computer; and

e) presenting the digital content to the user of the computer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a most recent event record representing a current interaction of the user with the computer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a most recent specification received from the user of a task currently being performed by the user.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising filtering the task-related metadata in accordance with an outgoing filter prior to communicating the task-related metadata to the digital content service provider.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising filtering the task-related digital content in accordance with an incoming filter after communicating the digital content to the computer.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising recognizing when the user is likely engaged in a search for a product, determining characteristics of the product being searched for, and adding the characteristics to metadata for a current task.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising predicting from event records when the user is about to purchase a product.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising recognizing when the user has made a purchase and generating an event indicating that a purchase was made.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising creating relationships among tasks that have resulted in purchases.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from information stored in a resource database, wherein the information comprises categorized resources accessed by the user.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata comprises certification information associated with the user.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the digital content to the user of the computer comprises assembling the digital content in a user interface window.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

f) communicating the digital content to a second computer; and

g) presenting the digital content to a user of the second computer.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising prompting the user to specify metadata associated with a task.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying keywords in a user-specified text description of a task, and selecting metadata based on matching the identified keywords with keywords in a database containing predetermined keywords and associated metadata.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the task-related metadata from the computer to the digital content service provider comprises using a set of rules to schedule transmission of specified classes of the task-related metadata.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein determining digital content relevant to the task from the task-related metadata comprises matching the task-related metadata with a set of predetermined user contexts and selecting content associated with matching contexts.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein determining digital content relevant to the task from the task-related metadata comprises predicting the digital content relevant to the task using relationships between tasks.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising replicating task-related metadata across a set of tasks based on relationships between tasks.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the digital content to the user of the computer comprises automatically filtering the digital content based on the current task.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising modifying the contents of a web browser window containing internet search results, wherein the modification is based on the current task.

22. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying to the user a list of purchases associated with the current task.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a user purchase history from purchase events and associated information stored in the database and communicating the user purchase history to the digital content service provider.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a list of products associated with the current task.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the digital content to the user of the computer comprises automatically filtering the digital content based on a list of product items associated with the current task.

26. The method of claim 1 further comprising monitoring and recording responses of the user to the presented digital content.