Method and system for visualization of threaded email conversations

• US 7,506,263 B1
• Filed: 02/05/2008
• Issued: 03/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kratky, Jan Joseph, Johnston, Simon Kurt, Speicher, Steven Keith, Kelly, Kevin Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Theriault; Steven B
• Application Number:
  US12/026,011
• Time in Patent Office: 406 Days
• Field of Search: 715/751, 715/752, 715/754, 715/759, 709/206
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads

Abstract

An embodiment of the invention uses the message sequence chart (MSC) and various visual cues to provide an interactive visualization of threaded electronic conversations (e.g., in email, bulletin board, instant message, or social network) by presenting to users various information about a particular conversation or the conjunction of separate conversations, such as sequences of messages, conversation participants, time in transit, time send/received, and other message attributes.

Claims

1. A method for visualization of threaded emails, said method comprising:

receiving email threads from a sequence of emails between multiple users;

using a message sequence chart notation to represent said email threads;

representing time on a first vertical axis and displaying time bars along said first vertical axis in a display;

Displaying an icon and a vertical line for each user of said multiple users, wherein said icon is displayed on top of said display and said vertical line is displayed under said icon parallel to said first vertical axis;

Displaying an arrow to indicate a direction of an email between a first sender among said multiple users and a first receiver among said multiple users, wherein a beginning of said arrow is on a first vertical line corresponding to said first sender and an ending of said arrow is on a second vertical line corresponding to said first receiver, and said beginning of said arrow indicates when said email was sent from said first sender and said ending of said arrow indicates when said email was received by said first receiver, based on said first vertical axis;

Displaying each of reply, send, forward, system, urgent, and attachment messages using different unique shapes, thickness, and symbols on said arrow;

wherein a slope of said arrow indicates a time interval taken to deliver said email from said first sender to said first receiver;

Displaying a thick vertical bar on said second vertical line immediately below said ending of said arrow to represent a time that said email sat in said first receiver'"'"'s inbox;

one of said multiple users selecting one or more emails from said sequence of emails, to use as a context;

a mail agent searching a mail storage for a related message, with respect to said selected one or more emails from said sequence of emails;

in case said related message is found, prompting said one of said multiple users to decide to include or not include said related message;

parsing messages to find embedded responses;

providing icons for visualization purpose from a user store or a directory server;

hovering over said arrow to display TO-list, CC-list, and other information from its corresponding message;

displaying an incomplete view, wherein if said time interval taken to deliver said email from said first sender to said first receiver is not known, then said slope of said arrow is zero;

displaying an out-of-sequence view;

displaying related messages and threads;

using all of colors, shadings, symbols, dotted lines, arrows, different sizes, and different thicknesses, to indicate relationships between said related messages and threads, context, topic, and subject;

displaying delivery-receipt, read-receipt, out-of-office, addendum, continuation, approval, counter-argument, and message cancellation;

tagging said messages;

filtering said messages;

hiding said messages;

removing said messages; and

aggregating, tabulating, and summarizing details of said messages.