Systems and Methods for Enabling and Configuring Tracking of User Interactions on Computer Applications

• US 20140250425A1
• Filed: 12/22/2008
• Published: 09/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Krishnaiyer, Ramanarayanan, Kumar, Rani
• Granted Patent: US 9,378,472 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/121
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3003 Monitoring arrangements specially adapted to the computing system or computing system component being monitored
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3072 where the reporting involves data filtering, e.g. pattern matching, time or event triggered, adaptive or policy-based reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/865 Monitoring of software
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Methods and systems for tracking user interactions with a computer application. As a computer application is used, it keeps track of user interactions, for example, for use on an analytics server. An interaction tracking configuration may specify which events are tracked, under what conditions the events are tracked, and identify what information is recorded. This configuration may be separated from the application. For example, the configuration may be stored in a configuration file at a location specified within and used by an application. The configuration may then be changed without changing a deployed application. Certain embodiments provide a tracking configuration tool to facilitate the creation of such a configuration. The tool may use a running application to identify events for tracking. Identifying events in this way can simplify the task of configuring interaction tracking by reducing the need for understanding or accessing of the actual code of the application.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

providing an application comprising an indication of a location of a configuration file, wherein the configuration file specifies user interactions to be tracked by the application when the application is executed;

providing the configuration file at the location indicated in the application,. wherein, when executed, the application determines how to track user interactions by accessing the configuration file at the location, the configuration file separate from the executing application; and

receiving a revision to the configuration file and replacing the configuration file with a revised configuration file at the location, wherein, replacing the revised configuration file at the location, changes the user interactions to be tracked by the application, the application tracking user interactions according to the revised configuration file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application uses a library that provides functional commands to implement user interaction tracking according to the configuration file.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the library provides functions that are called in response to user interactions occurring on the application when the application is executed on a computing platform.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein a function utilizes information from the configuration file as a parameter to implement user interaction tracking

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a function from the library executes when a user interaction occurs in the executing application using one or more parameters retrieved from the configuration file indicating that the user interaction is tracked.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more parameters indicate whether the function will track information about the user interaction.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more parameters indicate whether the function will send the information about the user interaction to an analytics server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more parameters indicate a location of the analytics server.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the location comprises a network address of the configuration file.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising monitoring user interactions tracked by the application and determining whether a change is required.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a revision to the configuration file comprises receiving a new configuration file.

5. (canceled)

13. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a first application, an identification of user interaction occurring during execution of a second application on a computing platform;

providing details of the user interaction for display in the first application;

receiving an indication of whether to track the user interaction, the indication of whether to track the user interaction received in the first application; and

providing a configuration for use by the second application in tracking occurrence of the user interaction of when the second application is executed, wherein tracking the user interaction is based at least in part on the configuration, the configuration separate from the executing second application, and wherein the configuration includes an indication to track different user interactions.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising receiving, at the first application, configuration details associated with tracking the user interaction.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the configuration details filter user interaction tracking based on conditions associated with the user interaction tracked.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the configuration details filter user interaction tracking based on a value within the second application.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the configuration details specify that the user interaction is tracked regardless of which object of the second application is associated with the user interaction.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the configuration details comprise a sibling configuration.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the user interaction is tracked by the second application, and wherein, in response to the user interaction, the second application sends information about the user interaction to the first application.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the second application is executing in a configuration mode, the configuration mode providing a mode for setting user interactions to be tracked, the configuration mode different from a user interaction tracking mode in which the second application tracks information according to the configuration.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein providing details of the user interaction for display in the first application comprises displaying information about an application object associated with the user interaction, a type of object, a type of user interaction, or a parent of the object associated with the user interaction.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration comprises one or more terminology revisions.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein the second application and the first application execute concurrently on a single computing device.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein the second application executes within the first application.

25. The method of claim 13 further comprising, if another user interaction is to be configured for tracking, receiving an additional identification of the another user interaction from a next interaction with the second application.

26. The method of claim 13, wherein providing the configuration comprises providing a configuration file.

27. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor, providing steps comprising;

providing an application comprising an indication of a location of a configuration file, wherein the configuration file specifies user interactions to be tracked by the application when the application is executed;

providing the configuration file at the location indicated in the application,. wherein, when executed, the application determines how to track user interactions by accessing the configuration file at the location, the configuration file separate from the executing application; and

receiving a revision to the configuration file and replacing the configuration file with a revised configuration file at the location, wherein replacing the revised configuration file at the location changes the user interactions to be tracked by the application, the application tracking user interactions according to the revised configuration file.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on

which is encoded program code, the program code comprising:

program code for providing an application comprising an indication of a location of a configuration file, wherein the configuration file specifies user interactions to be tracked by the application when the application is executed;

program code for providing the configuration file at the location indicated in the application, wherein, when executed, the application determines how to track user interactions by accessing the configuration file at the location, the configuration file separate from the executing application; and

program code for receiving a revision to the configuration file and replacing the configuration file with a revised configuration file at the location, wherein, replacing the revised configuration file at the location changes the user interactions to be tracked by the application, the application tracking user interactions according to the revised configuration file.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on

which is encoded program code, the program code comprising:

program code for receiving, at a user tracking configuration tool, an identification of a first user interaction occurring during execution of an application, on a computing platform, wherein the application is executed on a separate server from the tracking configuration tool;

program code for providing details of the user interaction for display in the user tracking configuration tool;

program code for receiving an indication of whether to track the user interaction, the indication of whether to track the user interaction received in the user tracking configuration tool; and

program code for providing a user interaction tracking configuration for use by the application in tracking occurrence of the user interaction during execution of the application, the user interaction tracking configuration separate from the executing application, wherein tracking of the user interaction is based at least in part on the user interaction tracking configuration.

30. A method comprising:

executing instructions on a computing platform to provide an application, the application comprising binary digital electronic signals representing a functioning application with which user interaction is available and an indication of a location of a configuration file stored separately from the binary digital electronic signals representing the application, the application using a library to implement user interaction tracking according to the configuration file;

executing instructions on the computing platform to provide binary digital electronic signals representing the configuration file at the location indicated in the application;

executing instructions on the computing platform causing a revision to the configuration file to be received; and

executing instructions on the computing platform replacing the configuration file with a revised configuration file at the location, wherein when the application is executed, the application determines how to track user interactions by accessing the revised configuration file at the location, the revised configuration file separate from the executing application.