System and method of facilitating and evaluating user thinking about an arbitrary problem

• US 7,143,074 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2003
• Issued: 11/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zxibix Inc.
• Original Assignee: Zxibix Inc.
• Inventors: Heidenreich, James R., Higgins, Linda S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Knight, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): Holmes, Michael B.
• Application Number:
  US10/513,900
• Publication Number:
  US 20050154691A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,114 Days
• Field of Search: 706 45- 47
• US Class Current: 706/45
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/00 Computing arrangements using knowledge-based models
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation

Abstract

Preferred embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods of facilitating and evaluating user thinking about an arbitrary problem. The system includes first logic to facilitate user specification of the problem to populate a problem statement structure. It also includes second logic to facilitate user specification of a conclusion, related to the problem specification, to populate a conclusion statement structure. It also includes third logic to facilitate user creation and specification of knowledge, related to at least one of the problem specification and the conclusion specification, to populate a knowledge structure. Certain embodiments include control logic to persuade user interaction with the first through third logic to a sequence of interactions within a predefined set of interaction sequences, wherein the predefined set of interactions define an archetype process for user thinking about the problem. Other embodiments include mode logic to track user interation with the first through third logic to construct a user model structure of user development and population of the user model structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure, and structure analysis logic to analyze the user model structure relative to an archetype model structure. Some embodiments include model logic to track user interaction with the first through third logic to construct a user model structure of user development and population of the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure; and visual feedback logic to depict an archetype problem-solution structure and to depict the user model structure. And other embodiments include tracking logic to monitor user interactions with the first through third logic and to build a corresponding model of such interactions so that the model, and the corresponding user thinking process, may be evaluated. The system may monitor the user'"'"'s process of problem solving and the structure of the user'"'"'s problem solving approach and make suggestions to the user.

Claims

1. A system for facilitating user thinking about an arbitrary problem, comprising:

a processor for executing instructions comprising;

first logic to facilitate user specification of the problem to populate a problem statement structure;

second logic to facilitate user specification of a conclusion, related to the problem specification to populate a conclusion statement structure;

third logic to facilitate user creation and specification of knowledge, related to at least one of the problem specification and the conclusion specification, to populate a knowledge structure;

control logic to persuade user interaction with the first through third logic to a sequence of interactions within a predefined set of interactions sequences, wherein the predefined set of interactions define an archetype process for user thinking for user thinking about the problem; and

visual feedback logic to display or logic to output the resulting user structure.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the user specification of knowledge includes the user specification of data and wherein the knowledge structure is a data structure to hold data.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the user specification of knowledge includes the user specification of information and wherein the knowledge structure is an information stricture to hold information.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the user specification of knowledge includes the user specification of analysis and wherein the knowledge structure is an analysis structure to hold analysis.

5. The system of claim 1 further including fourth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one subtopic statement, related to the problem, to populate a corresponding at least one subtopic statement structure to disaggregate the problem into related subtopics, and wherein the control logic persuades user interactions with the first through fourth logic to a sequence of interactions within a predefined set of interaction sequences.

6. The system of claim 5 further including fifth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one meaning statement, related to a corresponding at least one problem or subtopic statement, to populate a corresponding at least one meaning statement structure, and wherein the control logic persuades user interactions with the first through fifth logic to a sequence of interactions within a predefined set of interaction sequences.

7. The system of claim 2 wherein the specification of knowledge includes text specification.

8. The system of claim 2 wherein the specification of knowledge includes at least one of graphic, image, or drawing specification.

9. The system of claim 3 wherein the specification of information includes text specification.

10. The system of claim 3 wherein the specification of information includes at least one of graphic, image, or drawing specification.

11. The system of claim 4 wherein the specification of analysis includes text specification.

12. The system of claim 4 wherein the specification of analysis includes at least one of graphic, image, or drawing specification.

13. The system of claim 5 wherein the specification of at least one subtopic includes text specification.

14. The system of claim 5 wherein the specification of at least one subtopic includes at least one of graphic, image, or drawing specification.

15. The system of claim 6 wherein the specification of at least one meaning statement includes text specification.

16. The system of claim 6 wherein the specification of at least one meaning statement includes at least one of graphic, image, or drawing specification.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the control logic includes logic to cause a presentation to the user, including depiction of suggested next steps for the user.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the control logic includes logic to cause a view presentation to the user, wherein the view presentation includes a subset of the problem specification, conclusion specification, and knowledge specification, and includes a depiction of relationships therebetween.

19. The system of claim 6 wherein the control logic includes logic to cause a view presentation to the user, wherein the view presentation includes a subset of the problem specification, conclusion specification, knowledge specification, at least one subtopic statement specification, and meaning statement specification, and includes a depiction of relationships therebetween.

20. The system of claim 1 further including logic to present to the user at least a subset of content of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the logic to present includes logic to depict relationships among content of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the logic to depict relationships includes logic to depict hierarchical relationships.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein the logic to present depicts all relationships among the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to create at least one new problem statement structure, conclusion statement structure, or knowledge structure.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to modify at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

26. The system of claim 20 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present structures all of similar type.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to modify or create at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

28. The system of claim 20 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present an individual structure only.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to modify or create at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

30. The system of claim 1 wherein the control logic includes logic to provide suggestion feedback to the user of next steps for a user to take, wherein the logic to provide is responsive to prior user interactions.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the logic to provide suggestion feedback includes logic to perform gap analysis on the at least a subset of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, the knowledge structure, and the relations therebetween to suggest next steps for the user to create or populate structures identified from the gap analysis.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the logic to perform gap analysis includes logic to analyze linkages among the at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure to detect gaps.

33. The system of claim 30 wherein the logic to provide suggestion feedback includes filtering logic to determine whether to provide suggestion feedback based on the state of development of the user interactions.

34. The system of claim 30 wherein the logic to provide suggestions includes content analysis logic to analyze content entered by the user to determine relevant suggestions for next steps to the user.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the content analysis logic parses user entry to determine if the entry corresponds to a predefined set of phrases.

36. The system of claim 30 wherein the logic to provide suggestions includes relationship analysis logic to identify suggestions of next steps according to predefined relationship criteria.

37. The system of claim 30 wherein the logic to provide suggestions includes logic to present suggestions for next steps to the user in a visually distinctive manner.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein the logic to present suggestions for next steps to the user presents user controls in emphasis.

39. The system of claim 37 wherein the logic to present suggestions for next steps to the user presents workspace controls to activate a workspace corresponding to suggested next steps in proximity to a current workspace.

40. The system of claim 30 wherein the logic to provide suggestion feedback includes logic to provide content analysis of at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

41. The system of claim 1 wherein the archetype model structure is specified in a set of rules specifying relationships among the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure.

42. A system for facilitating user thinking about an arbitrary problem, comprising:

a processor for executing instructions comprising;

first logic to facilitate user specification of the problem to populate a problem statement structure;

second logic to facilitate user specification of a conclusion statement, related to the problem statement to populate a conclusion statement structure;

third logic to facilitate user creation and specification of knowledge, related to at least one of the problem statement and the conclusion statement, to populate a knowledge structure;

model logic to track user interaction with the first through third logic to construct a user model structure of user development and population of the user model structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure;

structure analysis logic to analyze the user model structure relative to an archetype model structure; and

visual feedback logic to display or logic to output the resulting user structure.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein the archetype model structure is a dynamic structure that changes in response to the user model structure.

44. The system of claim 42 wherein the archetype model structure is specified in a set of rules specifying relationships among the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure.

45. The system of claim 42 wherein the user specification of knowledge includes the user specification of data and wherein the knowledge structure is a data structure to hold data.

46. The system of claim 42 wherein the user specification of knowledge includes the user specification of information and wherein the knowledge structure is an information structure to hold information.

47. The system of claim 42 wherein the user specification of knowledge includes the user specification of analysis and wherein the knowledge structure is an analysis structure to hold analysis.

48. The system of claim 42 further including fourth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one subtopic statement, related to the problem, to populate a corresponding at least one subtopic statement structure to disaggregate the problem into related subtopics, and wherein the model logic tracks user interaction with the first through fourth logic to construct a user model structure of user development and population of the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, knowledge structure, and the at least one subtopic statement structure.

49. The system of claim 48 further including fifth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one meaning statement, related to a corresponding at least one problem or subtopic statement, to populate a corresponding at least one meaning statement structure, and wherein the model logic tracks user interaction with the first through fifth logic to construct a user model structure of user development and population of the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, knowledge structure, the at least one subtopic statement structure, and the at least one meaning statement structure.

50. The system of claim 42 further including logic to cause a presentation to the user, including depiction of suggested next steps for the user.

51. The system of claim 42 further including logic to present to the user at least a subset of content of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein the logic to present includes logic to depict relationships among content of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

53. The system of claim 52 wherein the logic to depict relationships includes logic to depict hierarchical relationships.

54. The system of claim 52 wherein the logic to present depicts all relationships among the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

55. The system of claim 51 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to create at least one new problem statement structure, conclusion statement structure, or knowledge structure.

56. The system of claim 51 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to modify at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

57. The system of claim 51 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present structures all of similar type.

58. The system of claim 57 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to modify or create at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

59. The system of claim 51 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present an individual structure only.

60. The system of claim 59 wherein the logic to present includes logic to present user controls to modify or create at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

61. The system of claim 42 wherein the control logic includes logic to provide suggestion feedback to the user of next steps for a user to take, wherein the logic to provide suggestion feedback is responsive to prior user interactions.

62. The system of claim 61 wherein the logic to provide suggestion feedback includes logic to perform gap analysis on the at least a subset of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, the knowledge structure, and the relations therebetween to suggest next steps for the user to create or populate structures identified from the gap analysis.

63. The system of claim 62 wherein the logic to perform gap analysis includes logic to analyze linkages among the at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure to detect gaps.

64. The system of claim 61 wherein the logic to provide suggestion feedback includes filtering logic to determine whether to provide suggestion feedback based on the state of development of the user interactions.

65. The system of claim 61 wherein the logic to provide suggestions includes content analysis logic to analyze content entered by the user to determine relevant suggestions for next steps to the user.

66. The system of claim 65 wherein the content analysis logic parses user entry to determine if the entry corresponds to a predefined set of phrases.

67. The system of claim 61 wherein the logic to provide suggestions includes relationship analysis logic to identify suggestions of next steps according to predefined relationship criteria.

68. The system of claim 61 wherein the logic to provide suggestions includes logic to present suggestions for next steps to the user in a visually distinctive manner.

69. The system of claim 68 wherein the logic to present suggestions for next steps to the user presents user controls in emphasis.

70. The system of claim 68 wherein the logic to present suggestions for next steps to the user presents workspace controls to activate a workspace corresponding to suggested next steps in proximity to a current workspace.

71. The system of claim 61 wherein the logic to provide suggestion feedback includes logic to provide content analysis of at least one of the problem statement structure, the conclusion statement structure, and the knowledge structure.

72. A system for facilitating user thinking about an arbitrary problem, comprising:

a processor for executing instructions comprising;

first logic to facilitate user specification of the problem to populate a problem statement structure;

second logic to facilitate user specification of a conclusion statement, related to the problem statement to populate a conclusion statement structure;

third logic to facilitate user creation and specification of knowledge, related to at least one of the problem statement and the conclusion statement, to populate a knowledge structure;

model logic to track user interaction with the first through third logic to construct a user model structure of user development and population of the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure; and

visual feedback logic depiction of an archetype problem-solution structure and to depict the user model structure.

73. The system of claim 72 wherein the model logic builds a three-dimensional graphic to represent the user model structure and the archetype problem-solution structure and wherein the three dimensional graphic includes a distinct graphical feature for each of the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure.

74. The system of claim 73 wherein the three-dimensional graphic is an object with faces defining the surface of the object and wherein each distinct graphical feature for each of the problem structure conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure is a facet of the object.

75. The system of claim 73 wherein the appearance of the three-dimensional graphic is representative of the development of the user thinking of the arbitrary problem.

76. The system of claim 73 wherein the distinct graphical feature is displayed to suggest the relative development of the corresponding problem structure, conclusion statement structure, or knowledge structure.

77. The system of claim 76 wherein the distinct graphical feature is displayed to suggest whether a corresponding problem structure, conclusion statement structure, or knowledge structure is lacking in user-provided content.

78. The system of claim 72 wherein the archetype problem-solution structure is a dynamic structure that changes in response to the user model structure.

79. The system of claim 77 wherein the archetype problem-solution structure is a dynamic structure that changes in response to the user model structure and wherein the three-dimensional graphic depiction of the archetype problem-solution structure includes a depiction to suggest a corresponding problem structure, conclusion statement structure, or knowledge structure is lacking in user-provided content and said depiction is a suggestion of a next step for the user in thinking about the arbitrary problem.

80. The system of claim 73 wherein user-activation of a graphical feature launches a corresponding workspace for the user to develop the corresponding problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure.

81. The system of claim 80 wherein a workspace presents content populating the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure and includes user controls to develop content and relationships of the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure.

82. The system of claim 81 wherein the workspace further includes user controls to suggest next steps for the user.

83. The system of claim 82 wherein the model logic arranges facets on the surface in an older to suggest next steps to the user.

84. The system of claim 83 wherein a first facet and second facet are arranged adjacent to suggest activation of the second facet as a next step to the user.

85. The system of claim 83 wherein the order is based on relative amount of development for corresponding problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure.

86. The system of claim 83 wherein the order is based on relationships among corresponding problem structure, conclusion statement structure, and knowledge structure.

87. The system of claim 72 wherein the user derivation and specification of knowledge includes the user specification of data and wherein the knowledge structure is a data structure to hold data.

88. The system of claim 72 wherein the user derivation and specification of knowledge includes the user derivation and specification of information and wherein the knowledge structure is an information structure to hold information.

89. The system of claim 72 wherein the user derivation and specification of knowledge includes the user derivation and specification of analysis and wherein the knowledge structure is an analysis structure to hold analysis.

90. The system of claim 72 further including fourth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one subtopic statement, related to the problem, to populate a corresponding at least one subtopic statement structure to disaggregate the problem into related subtopics, and further including fifth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one meaning statement, related to a corresponding at least one problem or subtopic statement, to populate a corresponding at least one meaning statement structure, and wherein the model logic tracks user interaction with the first through fifth logic to construct a user model structure of user development and population of the problem structure, conclusion statement structure, knowledge structure, at least one subtopic statement and the at least one meaning statement.

91. A system for evaluating user thinking about an arbitrary problem, comprising:

a processor for executing instructions comprising;

first logic to facilitate user specification of the problem to populate a problem statement structure;

second logic to facilitate user specification of a conclusion statement, related to the problem statement to populate a conclusion statement structure;

third logic to facilitate user derivation and specification of knowledge, related to the problem statement and the conclusion statement, to populate a knowledge structure;

tracking logic to monitor user interactions with the first through third logic and to build a corresponding model of such interactions so that the model, and the corresponding user thinking process, may be evaluated; and

visual feedback logic to display or logic to output the resulting user model.

92. The system of claim 91 further including fourth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one subtopic statement, related to the problem, to populate a corresponding at least one subtopic statement structure to disaggregate the problem into related subtopics, and further including fifth logic to facilitate user specification of at least one meaning statement, related to a corresponding at least one problem or subtopic statement, to populate a corresponding at least one meaning statement structure, and wherein the tracking logic further monitors user interactions with the fourth and fifth logic to build the model.

93. The system of claim 92 wherein the model depicts a problem-solution structure utilized by the user during the thinking process, and wherein the model may be analyzed to evaluate the problem-solution structure of the user.

94. The system of claim 93 wherein the model may be compared to an archetype problem-solution structure.