EXPERTISE-MATCHED HELP SYSTEMS

• US 20150206063A1
• Filed: 01/18/2014
• Published: 07/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Taljanovic, Nedzad, Santero, Melissa J. G.
• Granted Patent: US 9,716,745 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/00 Computing arrangements using knowledge-based models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A method for tailoring help systems to the expertise of users includes recording data related to a user'"'"'s interaction with a product. The data is then analyzed to ascertain a level of expertise of the user relative to using the product. Upon receiving a request for assistance from the user with respect to the product, a help system may be selected based on the determined level of expertise of the user. The method may automatically provide assistance to the user through a more advanced help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a more advanced level of expertise. Similarly, the method may automatically provide assistance to the user through a less advanced help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a less advanced level of expertise. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for tailoring help systems to the expertise of users, the method comprising:

recording data related to a user'"'"'s interaction with a product;

analyzing the data to ascertain a level of expertise of the user relative to using the product;

receiving a request for assistance from the user with respect to the product;

automatically providing assistance to the user through a first help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a first level of expertise; and

automatically providing assistance to the user through a second help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a second level of expertise different from the first level of expertise.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein recording the data further comprises recording at least one of:

frequency of use of the product, frequency of using advanced tasks of the product, frequency of modifying advanced options of the product, time to complete tasks associated with the product, product version, operating system of the user, and hardware of the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the data comprises using an algorithm to process the data and determine the level of expertise of the user.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein using an algorithm comprises designating different types of data related to the user'"'"'s interaction with the product and designating different weights for the different types of data based on the data'"'"'s importance.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling a user to turn on or off recording of different types of data related to the user'"'"'s interaction with the product.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically providing assistance comprises providing one of a phone number and a website URL to the user.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising referencing a data structure that maps the first level of expertise to the first help system and the second level of expertise to the second help system.

8. A computer program product for tailoring help systems to the expertise of users, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied therein, the computer-usable program code comprising:

computer-usable program code to record data related to a user'"'"'s interaction with a product;

computer-usable program code to analyze the data to ascertain a level of expertise of the user relative to using the product;

computer-usable program code to receive a request for assistance from the user with respect to the product;

computer-usable program code to automatically provide assistance to the user through a first help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a first level of expertise; and

computer-usable program code to automatically provide assistance to the user through a second help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a second level of expertise different from the first level of expertise.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein recording the data further comprises recording at least one of frequency of use of the product, frequency of using advanced tasks of the product, frequency of modifying advanced options of the product, time to complete tasks associated with the product, product version, operating system of the user, and hardware of the user.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein analyzing the data comprises using an algorithm to process the data and determine the level of expertise of the user.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the product is a software application.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein automatically providing assistance comprises providing a phone number to the user.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein automatically providing assistance comprises providing a website URL to the user.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising computer-usable program code to reference a data structure that maps the first level of expertise to the first help system and the second level of expertise to the second help system.

15. An apparatus for tailoring help systems to the expertise of users, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory device coupled to the at least one processor and storing computer instructions to cause the at least one processor to;

record data related to a user'"'"'s interaction with a product;

analyze the data to ascertain a level of expertise of the user relative to using the product;

receive a request for assistance from the user with respect to the product;

automatically provide assistance to the user through a first help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a first level of expertise; and

automatically provide assistance to the user through a second help system in the event the user is ascertained to have a second level of expertise different from the first level of expertise.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein recording the data further comprises recording at least one of frequency of use of the product, frequency of using advanced tasks of the product, frequency of modifying advanced options of the product, time to complete tasks associated with the product, product version, operating system of the user, and hardware of the user.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the product is a software application.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein automatically providing assistance comprises providing a phone number to the user.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein automatically providing assistance comprises providing a website URL to the user.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the computer instructions further cause the at least one processor to reference a data structure that maps the first level of expertise to the first help system and the second level of expertise to the second help system.