VISUALIZING RANKING FACTORS FOR ITEMS IN A SEARCH RESULT LIST

• US 20140280080A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Solheim, Helge Grenager, Djurhuus, Rune, Fagerhaug, Anders, Toews, John Hartley, Brodwall, Sarah, Shaporenkov, Dmitry, Larsson, Morgan, Baciu, Lucian
• Granted Patent: US 9,514,191 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

A method, system, and one or more computer-readable storage media for visualizing ranking factors for items in a search result list are provided herein. The method includes generating a search result list for a query and generating a visualization of one or more ranking factors for each of a number of items in the search result list.

Claims

1. A method for visualizing ranking factors for items in a search result list, comprising:

generating a search result list for a query; and

generating a visualization of one or more ranking factors for each of a plurality of items in the search result list.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising determining the one or more ranking factors to include within the visualization from a plurality of ranking factors based on a visibility threshold for each of the plurality of ranking factors.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising tuning the visibility threshold for any of the plurality of ranking factors in response to input by a user.

4. The method of claim 2, comprising highlighting the one or more ranking factors within the visualization based on the visibility threshold for each of the one or more ranking factors.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the search result list comprises performing ranking calculations based on a weight of each of the one or more ranking factors to determine the plurality of items to be shown in the search result list and an ordering of the plurality of items.

6. The method of claim 5, comprising:

modifying the weight of any of the one or more ranking factors in response to input by a user; and

re-performing the ranking calculations to determine the plurality of items to be shown in the search result list and the ordering of the plurality of items based on the modification of the weight of any of the one or more ranking factors.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the visualization comprises displaying a graphical symbol corresponding to each of the one or more ranking factors for each of the plurality of items.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the visualization comprises displaying a label corresponding to each of the one or more ranking factors for each of the plurality of items.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the visualization comprises displaying a graph corresponding to the one or more ranking factors for each of the plurality of items.

10. A computing system for visualizing ranking factors for items in a search result list, comprising:

a processor that is adapted to execute stored instructions;

a display device; and

a system memory, wherein the system memory comprises code configured to;

generate a search result list in response to an input of a query by a user;

generate a visualization of one or more ranking factors for each of a plurality of items in the search result list; and

display the visualization to the user via the display device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the system memory comprises code configured to determine the one or more ranking factors to include within the visualization from a plurality of ranking factors based on a tunable visibility threshold for each of the plurality of ranking factors.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the system memory comprises code configured to generate the search result list by performing ranking calculations based on a weight of each of the one or more ranking factors to determine the plurality of items to be shown in the search result list and an ordering of the plurality of items.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the system memory comprises code configured to:

modify the weight of any of the one or more ranking factors in response to input by the user; and

re-perform the ranking calculations based on the modification of the weight of any of the one or more ranking factors.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the visualization comprises an icon a graphical symbol corresponding to each of the one or more ranking factors for each of the plurality of items.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the visualization comprises a label corresponding to each of the one or more ranking factors for each of the plurality of items.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the visualization comprises a graph corresponding to the one or more ranking factors for each of the plurality of items.

17. One or more computer-readable storage media for storing computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions providing a system for visualizing ranking factors for items in a search result list when executed by one or more processing devices, the computer-readable instructions comprising code configured to:

generate a search result list for a query, wherein the search result comprises a plurality of items that are ordered based on a weight of one or more ranking factors corresponding to each of the plurality of items; and

generate a visualization of the one or more ranking factors for each of the plurality of items in the search result list based on a visibility threshold for each of the one or more ranking factors.

18. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable instructions comprise code configured to tune the visibility threshold for any of the one or more ranking factors.

19. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable instructions comprise code configured to;

modify the weight of any of the one or more ranking factors; and

reorder the plurality of items in the search result list based on the modification of the weight of any of the one or more ranking factors.

20. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable instructions comprise code configured to highlight the one or more ranking factors within the visualization based on the visibility threshold for each of the one or more ranking factors.