SYSTEM FOR CUSTOM USER-GENERATED ACHIEVEMENT BADGES BASED ON ACTIVITY FEEDS

• US 20130086484A1
• Filed: 10/04/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Churchill, Elizabeth F., Shamma, David Ayman, Antin, Judd, de Sa, Marco
• Granted Patent: US 9,208,470 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/751
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for generating and awarding user-generated badges. In one embodiment, a user-generated badge may be generated in response to input received via a graphical user interface. The user-generated badge may be represented by a media token and have associated therewith a set of rules defining one or more activities to be completed. Activity data may be monitored via one or more data sources based upon the set of rules. An instance of the user-generated badge may be automatically awarded to individuals satisfying the set of rules.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

creating a user-generated badge in response to input received via a graphical user interface, the user-generated badge being represented by a media token and having a set of rules defining one or more activities to be completed;

automatically monitoring activity data via one or more data sources based upon the set of rules; and

automatically awarding an instance of the user-generated badge to individuals satisfying the set of rules.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

sending an invitation to one or more individuals that indicates that the user-generated badge is available to the one or more individuals.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein automatically awarding an instance of the user-generated badge to individuals satisfying the set of rules comprises:

automatically notifying each of the individuals satisfying the set of rules that the individual has been awarded an instance of the badge represented by the media token.

4. A method, comprising:

providing at least one graphical user interface supporting generation of a custom badge having a set of rules and represented by a media token;

generating the set of rules according to a rule generation template in response to first input received via the at least one graphical user interface;

identifying the media token that has been received or selected via the at least one graphical user interface in response to second input; and

creating and storing a badge having the set of rules and represented by the media token;

wherein an instance of the badge represented by the media token is automatically awarded to individuals satisfying the set of rules, wherein each of the set of rules identifies one or more actions to be completed.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the first input and the second input are received from an individual associated with a business.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the set of rules pertain to the business.

7. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein individuals awarded an instance of the badge are eligible for benefits pertaining to the business.

8. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

obtaining activity data for a plurality of individuals; and

automatically awarding an instance of the badge represented by the media token to each of the plurality of individuals satisfying the set of rules based upon the activity data.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the activity data pertains to communications transmitted by the plurality of individuals.

10. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

storing data pertaining to each one of a set of individuals that have earned an instance of the badge.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising:

presenting data pertaining to at least one of the set of individuals that have earned an instance of the badge.

12. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the actions include one or more of the following:

uploads, reviews, comments, check-ins, or Tweets.

13. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the actions pertain to one or more web sites or social contexts, wherein the web sites or social contexts are selected by the user from a plurality of web sites or social contexts.

14. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein providing at least one graphical user interface comprises presenting the rule generation template, the rule generation template including a plurality of rule options;

wherein obtaining the set of rules according to the rule generation template in response to first input received via the at least one graphical user interface comprises receiving a selection of one or more of the plurality of rule options and generating a set of rules from the selected one or more of the plurality of rule options.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the plurality of rule options include a plurality of activity characteristics.

16. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

awarding an instance of the badge to an individual satisfying the set of rules such that the media token is provided or otherwise made available to the individual.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, at least one of the processor or the memory being adapted for;

presenting a badge generation template, the badge generation template including a plurality of rule options;

receiving a selection of one or more of the plurality of rule options;

generating a set of rules from the selected one or more of the plurality of rule options; and

associating the set of rules with a media token to generate a badge represented by the media token;

wherein an instance of the badge represented by the media token is automatically awarded to individuals satisfying the set of rules, wherein each of the set of rules identifies one or more actions to be completed.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 17, at least one of the processor or the memory being further adapted for:

providing a graphical user interface for receiving a selection of one of a plurality of media token options.

19. The apparatus as recited in claim 17, at least one of the processor or the memory being further adapted for:

receiving the media token in response to user input.

20. A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions, comprising:

instructions for presenting a plurality of rule options, the plurality of rule options including a plurality of activities;

instructions for receiving a selection of one or more of the plurality of rule options such that one or more of the plurality of activities is selected; and

instructions for storing a set of rules defined by the selected one or more of the plurality of rule options such that the set of rules is associated with a media token;

wherein an instance of a badge represented by the media token is automatically awarded to individuals satisfying the set of rules, wherein the set of rules identifies the one or more of the plurality of activities to be completed.

21. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the plurality of rule options include a plurality of sources, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

instructions for presenting the plurality of sources; and

instructions for obtaining a selection of one of the plurality of sources via which one of the plurality of activities is to be monitored.

22. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 21, wherein each of the plurality of sources has associated therewith a set of one or more of the plurality of activities, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

instructions for presenting a set of one or more of the plurality of activities in response to the selection of the one of the plurality of sources; and

instructions for obtaining a selection of one of the set of one or more of the plurality of activities.

23. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, further comprising:

instructions for receiving information pertaining to one or more characteristics of the selected activity in response to the selection of the one of the set of one or more of the plurality of activities;

wherein the set of one or more rules associate the information pertaining to the one or more characteristics with the selected activity.

24. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

instructions for offering the badge represented by the media token to a particular set of individuals.

25. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

instructions for automatically awarding an instance of the badge to individuals satisfying the set of rules.

26. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

instructions for automatically notifying each of the individuals satisfying the set of rules that the individual has been awarded an instance of the badge represented by the media token.