MINIMIZING UNDESIRABLE USER RESPONSES IN AUTOMATED BUSINESS PROCESSES

• US 20150339614A1
• Filed: 07/16/2014
• Published: 11/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Byron, Donna K., Chang, Duke, Pikovsky, Alexander, Winkler, Timothy
• Application Number:
  US14/332,609
• Publication Number:
  US 20150339614A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work

Abstract

A method for minimizing undesirable user responses in automated business processes design is provided in the illustrative embodiments. A user response is identified in an interaction between a user and an automated business process. Using sentiment analysis, a determination is made that the user response comprises an undesirable response based on an undesirable emotional state of the user. A modification is selected, wherein the modification causes a change in the interaction to minimize the undesirable response. The modification is applied to the automated business process to cause the change in a future portion of the interaction.

Claims

1. A method for minimizing undesirable user responses in automated business processes, the method comprising:

identifying, using a processor and a memory, a user response in an interaction between a user and an automated business process;

determining, using sentiment analysis, that the user response comprises an undesirable response based on an undesirable emotional state of the user;

selecting a modification, wherein the modification causes a change in the interaction to minimize the undesirable response; and

applying the modification to the automated business process to cause the change in a future portion of the interaction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimizing the undesirable response comprises minimizing an effect of the undesirable response on a business objective of the automated business process.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the modification in the automated business process such that a future user response in a future interaction between a second user and the automated business process is not of a type of the undesirable response.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the modification in the future portion comprises including a human actor in the future portion.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the interaction is at a first state at a time of the identifying the user response, and wherein the user response is likely to occur at a second state in the future portion of the interaction.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the applying causes a workflow change such that the second state is modified to a third state in the future portion.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the interaction is part of a corpus stored in a repository, and wherein the corpus comprises a combination of textual data, verbal communication data, and system interaction data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a heuristic, wherein the determining is further responsive to a heuristic.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

constructing the heuristic, wherein the heuristic specifies a manner of detecting the undesirable response based on a plurality of users providing a plurality of responses in a plurality of interactions with the automated business process, and wherein the plurality of responses exceeds a threshold amount of responses and comprise undesirable responses of at least one type.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold amount is a cumulative amount of time in a timeline, wherein the timeline comprises a sequence of events over a period.