Method and apparatus for recommending an application-feature to a user

• US 20080250323A1
• Filed: 04/04/2007
• Published: 10/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Huff, Gerald B.
• Application Number:
  US11/732,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20080250323A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/733
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for recommending an application-feature to a user. During operation, the system receives application-usage information from a client at a recommendation-server, wherein the application-usage information specifies characteristics of a user'"'"'s interaction with an application. Next, the system compares the application-usage information to additional application-usage information from other users to identify a usage-group, which contains users who use the application similarly to the user. The system then identifies an application-feature associated with the usage-group, but which is not associated with the user. Finally, the system sends to the client an application-feature identifier, which identifies the application-feature, to facilitate recommending the application-feature to the user.

Claims

1. A method for recommending an application-feature to a user, the method comprising:

receiving application-usage information from a client at a recommendation-server, wherein the application-usage information specifies characteristics of a user'"'"'s interaction with an application;

comparing the application-usage information to additional application-usage information from other users to identify a usage-group, which contains users who use the application similarly to the user;

identifying an application-feature associated with the usage-group, but that is not associated with the user; and

sending to the client an application-feature identifier, which identifies the application-feature, to facilitate recommending the application-feature to the user.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the application is a web-based application;

and

wherein receiving the application-usage information involves receiving the application-usage information from a web-server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein users who use the application similarly use at least a predetermined number of application-features from a given subset of application-features.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving updated application-usage information from users associated with the usage-group;

determining from the updated application-usage information if the users associated with the usage-group are continuing to use a given application-feature; and

if not, disassociating the given application-feature from the usage-group, which involves removing the given application-feature from the given subset of application-features.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the application-usage information to the additional application-usage information can involve comparing:

application-features used;

techniques used for accessing the application-features;

frequency of accesses to the application-features;

application-data accessed by the application;

metadata associated with the accessed application-data; and

demographic-data associated with the user and the other users.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve:

highlighting the application-feature;

enlarging an icon associated with the application-feature;

shrinking icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

hiding icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

presenting a system-message to the user;

specifying the application-feature in a user-accessible list of recommended application-features;

sending the user an e-mail; and

presenting a dialog-box to the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the application-feature can be included as part of:

the application;

an add-on;

a plug-in;

a free upgrade;

a purchasable upgrade; and

a third-party application.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending to the client an updated toolbar associated with the usage-group to enable the application to format a toolbar associated with the application to match the user'"'"'s application-usage pattern.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve recommending application-data associated with the usage-group.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for recommending an application-feature to a user, the method comprising:

receiving application-usage information from a client at a recommendation-server, wherein the application-usage information specifies characteristics of a user'"'"'s interaction with an application;

comparing the application-usage information to additional application-usage information from other users to identify a usage-group, which contains users who use the application similarly to the user;

identifying an application-feature associated with the usage-group, but that is not associated with the user; and

sending to the client an application-feature identifier, which identifies the application-feature, to facilitate recommending the application-feature to the user.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10,

wherein the application is a web-based application;

and

wherein receiving the application-usage information involves receiving the application-usage information from a web-server.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein users who use the application similarly use at least a predetermined number of application-features from a given subset of application-features.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving updated application-usage information from users associated with the usage-group;

determining from the updated application-usage information if the users associated with the usage-group are continuing to use a given application-feature; and

if not, disassociating the given application-feature from the usage-group, which involves removing the given application-feature from the given subset of application-features.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein comparing the application-usage information to the additional application-usage information can involve comparing:

application-features used;

techniques used for accessing the application-features;

frequency of accesses to the application-features;

application-data accessed by the application;

metadata associated with the accessed application-data; and

demographic-data associated with the user and the other users.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve:

highlighting the application-feature;

enlarging an icon associated with the application-feature;

shrinking icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

hiding icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

presenting a system-message to the user;

specifying the application-feature in a user-accessible list of recommended application-features;

sending the user an e-mail; and

presenting a dialog-box to the user.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the application-feature can be included as part of:

the application;

an add-on;

a plug-in;

a free upgrade;

a purchasable upgrade; and

a third-party application.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises sending to the client an updated toolbar associated with the usage-group to enable the application to format a toolbar associated with the application to match the user'"'"'s application-usage pattern.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve recommending application-data associated with the usage-group.

19. An apparatus that recommends an application-feature to a user, comprising:

a receiving mechanism configured to receive application-usage information from a client at a recommendation-server, wherein the application-usage information specifies characteristics of a user'"'"'s interaction with an application;

a comparison mechanism configured to compare the application-usage information to additional application-usage information from other users to identify a usage-group, which contains users who use the application similarly to the user;

an identification mechanism configured to identify an application-feature associated with the usage-group, but that is not associated with the user; and

a sending mechanism configured to send to the client an application-feature identifier, which identifies the application-feature, to facilitate recommending the application-feature to the user.

20. The apparatus of claim 19,

wherein the application is a web-based application;

and

wherein the receiving mechanism is further configured to receive the application-usage from a web-server.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the receiving mechanism is further configured to receive updated application-usage information from users associated with the usage-group, and further comprising:

a determination mechanism configured to determine from the updated application-usage information if the users associated with the usage-group are continuing to use a given application-feature; and

a disassociation mechanism configured to disassociate the given application-feature from the usage-group, which involves removing the given application-feature from a given subset of application-features.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the comparison mechanism is further configured to compare:

application-features used;

techniques used for accessing the application-features;

frequency of accesses to the application-features;

application-data accessed by the application;

metadata associated with the accessed application-data; and

demographic-data associated with the user and the other users.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a recommendation mechanism configured to recommend the application-feature by:

highlighting the application-feature;

enlarging an icon associated with the application-feature;

shrinking icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

hiding icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

presenting a system-message to the user;

specifying the application-feature in a user-accessible list of recommended application-features;

sending the user an e-mail; and

presenting a dialog-box to the user.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the sending mechanism is further configured to send to the client an updated toolbar associated with the usage-group to enable the application to format a toolbar associated with the application to match the user'"'"'s application-usage pattern.

25. A method for recommending an application-feature to a user, the method comprising:

sending application-usage information from a client to a recommendation-server, wherein the application-usage information specifies characteristics of a user'"'"'s interaction with an application and facilitates in identifying a usage-group and identifying an application-feature associated with the usage-group;

receiving at the client an application-feature identifier; and

recommending the application-feature identified by the application-feature identifier to the user.

26. The method of claim 25:

wherein the application is a web-based application; and

wherein receiving the application-usage information involves receiving the application-usage information from a web-server.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein users who use the application similarly use at least a predetermined number of application-features from a given subset of application-features.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve:

highlighting the application-feature;

enlarging an icon associated with the application-feature;

shrinking icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

hiding icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

presenting a system-message to the user;

specifying the application-feature in a user-accessible list of recommended application-features;

sending the user an e-mail; and

presenting a dialog-box to the user.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the application-feature can be included as part of:

the application;

an add-on;

a plug-in;

a free upgrade;

a purchasable upgrade; and

a third-party application.

30. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

receiving at the client an updated toolbar format associated with the usage-group; and

formatting a toolbar associated with the application to match the updated toolbar format.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve recommending application-data associated with the usage-group.

32. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for recommending an application-feature to a user, the method comprising:

sending application-usage information from a client to a recommendation-server, wherein the application-usage information specifies characteristics of a user'"'"'s interaction with an application and facilitates in identifying a usage-group and identifying an application-feature associated with the usage-group;

receiving at the client an application-feature identifier; and

recommending the application-feature identified by the application-feature identifier to the user.

33. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32:

wherein the application is a web-based application; and

wherein receiving the application-usage information involves receiving the application-usage information from a web-server.

34. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein users who use the application similarly use at least a predetermined number of application-features from a given subset of application-features.

35. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve:

highlighting the application-feature;

enlarging an icon associated with the application-feature;

shrinking icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

hiding icons not associated with the application-feature to emphasize the icon associated with the application-feature;

presenting a system-message to the user;

specifying the application-feature in a user-accessible list of recommended application-features;

sending the user an e-mail; and

presenting a dialog-box to the user.

36. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein the application-feature can be included as part of:

the application;

an add-on;

a plug-in;

a free upgrade;

a purchasable upgrade; and

a third-party application.

37. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the client an updated toolbar format associated with the usage-group; and

formatting a toolbar associated with the application to match the updated toolbar format.

38. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein recommending the application-feature can involve recommending application-data associated with the usage-group.