System and method for presenting statistics

• US 7,692,653 B1
• Filed: 10/01/2001
• Issued: 04/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Inventors: Shah, Aman H., Swenson, Sahala, Petro, Justin B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Amini; Javid A
• Application Number:
  US09/968,953
• Time in Patent Office: 3,109 Days
• Field of Search: 345/440, 345/441, 345/442, 345/761, 345/762, 345/764, 382/165
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/20 Drawing from basic elements, e.g. lines or circles

Abstract

A plane figure presents statistics relating to data items. The plane figure includes multiple wedges which categorize a set of data items into base subsets of data items. A ring with a ring radius is displayed, and the ring radius represents a measure for at least one base subset. A corresponding wedge has a wedge radius which differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference between the measure for that base subset and a measure for a subsidiary subset of that base subset. For example, the subsidiary subset may relate to data items for a predetermined timeframe. Boundaries, such as dividing lines, may be displayed within one or more wedges to define areas that represent additional subsets of data items. In another embodiment, a presentation space include first, second, and third groups of objects, with lines displayed between certain objects to represent flows of information between those objects.

Claims

1. A method for presenting, in a radial graph, statistics relating to messages, the method comprising:

performing with a computer system;

displaying a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing an average quantity of messages for units of an organization; and

displaying multiple wedges to categorize the messages according to the units and to reflect changes in message quantity for the units over time;

wherein each wedge has a wedge radius that differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference in the message quantity for that wedge for a predetermined timeframe, relative to the average quantity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the predetermined timeframe identifies a portion of a default timeframe;

the ring radius represents the average quantity for the default timeframe; and

the wedge radius for each wedge represents the message quantity for that wedge for the predetermined timeframe.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a first sub-wedge within each wedge to represent a percentage of the messages for that wedge which were sent during the predetermined timeframe;

displaying a second sub-wedge within each wedge to represent a percentage of the messages for that wedge which were received during the predetermined timeframe; and

displaying a set of sections within each of the wedges to categorize the messages for that wedge according to importance.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying a set of sections within each of the wedges comprises displaying multiple radial bands within each wedge to represent different importance values for subsets of the messages for that wedge.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the importance values are based on ages associated with the messages, with older messages deemed less important than more recent messages.

45. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying a ring having a ring radius further comprises displaying a non-solid ring having a ring radius.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein displaying a non-solid ring having a ring radius further comprises displaying a dashed ring having a ring radius.

47. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying a ring having a ring radius further comprises displaying a solid ring having a ring radius.

6. A method for depicting, in a radial graph, statistics for a set of data items, the method comprising:

performing with a computer system;

displaying multiple wedges representing respective base subsets of the set of data items, the number of wedges based on distinct values for a first attribute of the data items; and

displaying a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing a measure for a common base category to which all of the base subsets are referenced;

wherein each wedge has a wedge radius and a radial width;

wherein a subsidiary subset of at least one base subset excludes data items from that base subset based on a second attribute of the data items in that base subset; and

wherein the wedge radius for at least one wedge differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference between the measure for the corresponding base subset and a measure for the subsidiary subset.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the first attribute is a category attribute;

the radial width of the at least one wedge represents an aggregate measure for the associated base subset, in proportion to an aggregate measure for the set of data items;

the ring radius represents a normalized measure for the at least one base subset;

the second attribute is a time attribute;

the subsidiary subset is a temporal subset of the at least one base subset, such that the temporal subset excludes data items from the at least one base subset, based on the time attribute; and

the wedge radius for the at least one wedge differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference between the normalized measure for the at least one base subset and an aggregate measure for the temporal subset.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the temporal subset is based on a predetermined timeframe, such that the temporal subset includes the data items from the associated base subset only if those data items have time values that fall within the predetermined timeframe.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the data items represent e-mail messages of members of an organization; and

the category attribute relates to organizational units of the organization.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the multiple wedges represent a first categorization of the data items;

the data items also have a supplementary attribute; and

the method further comprises displaying multiple sections within at least one of the multiple wedges to represent a second categorization of the data items, the second categorization based on the supplementary attribute.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the supplementary attribute relates to delivery directions for the data items.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein displaying the multiple sections comprises displaying sub-wedges within at least one of the multiple wedges.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the supplementary attribute relates to importance values for the data items.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein displaying the multiple sections comprises displaying multiple radial bands within at least one of the multiple wedges.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying multiple radial bands comprises displaying an inner radial band and an outer redial band, such that data items associated with the outer radial band have less importance, relative to data items associated with the inner radial band.

16. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

displaying a first ordered list of topics in a user interface with the radial graph, the first ordered list derived from the set of data items; and

in response to selection of one of the wedges, replacing the first ordered list of topics with a second ordered list of topics, the second ordered list derived from the base subset associated with the selected wedge.

17. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

displaying a filter option; and

in response to user activation of the filter option, updating the radial graph according to the activated filter option.

18. A method of presenting statistics relating to information flow using a computer system, the method comprising:

performing with the computer system;

displaying first and second groups of objects in respective first and second areas of a presentation space;

in response to activation of a first object in the first group, displaying a first line between the first object and a second object in the second group to represent a flow of information between the first object and the second object; and

in response to activation of the second object;

displaying a third group of objects in a third area of the presentation space generally between the first area and the second area;

displaying a second line between a third object in the third group and the first object; and

displaying a third line between the third object and the second object, such that the third object depicts a characteristic of the flow of information between the first object and the second object.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein displaying a first line between the first object and the second object comprises displaying two or more lines between the first object and two or more objects in the second group to represent two or more flows of information.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising, in response to activation of a fourth object in the first group, displaying a fourth line between the fourth object and a fifth object in the second group, in lieu of the second and third lines, to represent a flow of information between the fourth object and the fifth object.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving user input requesting a radial view and, in response to the user input;

displaying multiple wedges to represent a first categorization of data; and

displaying a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing a normalized measure of each of the multiple wedges;

wherein at least one of the wedges has a wedge radius that differs from the ring radius.

22. A computer readable storage medium for presenting a radial graph that represents statistics for data items, the computer readable storage medium comprising:

computer instructions, encoded in the computer readable storage medium, that are executable by one or more processors to perform operations including;

displaying a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing a predetermined measure for a common base category associated with the data items of respective units; and

displaying multiple slices to categorize the data items according to the units and to reflect changes, over time, in aggregate quantities of data items for the units; and

wherein each slice has a slice radius that differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference from the predetermined measure for that slice for a predetermined timeframe, relative to the predetermined measure.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein:

the predetermined timeframe identifies a portion of a default timeframe;

the ring radius represents the average quantity for the default timeframe; and

the slice radius for each slice represents the message quantity for that slice for the predetermined timeframe.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the computer readable storage medium further encodes computer instructions that are executable by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

displaying a first sub-slice within each slice to represent a percentage of the messages for that slice which were sent during the predetermined timeframe;

displaying a second sub-slice within each slice to represent a percentage of the messages for that slice which were received during the predetermined timeframe; and

displaying a set of sections within each of the slices to categorize the messages for that slice according to importance.

44. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 wherein the predetermined measure represents an average quantity of data items associated with units of an organization.

25. A computer readable storage medium for depicting, in a radial graph, statistics for a set of data items, the computer readable storage medium comprising:

computer instructions, encoded in the computer readable storage medium, that are executable by one or more processors to perform operations including;

displaying multiple wedges representing respective base subsets of the set of data items, the number of wedges based on distinct category attributes of the data items, each wedge having a wedge radius and a radial width, the radial width representing an aggregate measure for the associated base subset in proportion to an aggregate measure for the set of data items; and

displaying a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing a normalized measure for a common base category applicable to all of the base subsets;

wherein a temporal subset of at least one base subset excludes data items from that base subset based on time attributes of the data items in that base subset; and

wherein the wedge radius for at least one wedge differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference between the normalized measure for the corresponding base subset and an aggregate measure for the temporal subset.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the temporal subset is based on a predetermined timeframe, such that the temporal subset includes the data items from the associated base subset only if those data items have time attributes that fall within the predetermined timeframe.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein:

the multiple wedges represent a first categorization of the data items;

each of the data items also has a supplementary attribute; and

the computer readable storage medium further encodes computer instructions that are executable by one or more processors to display multiple sections within at least one of the multiple wedges to represent a second categorization of the data items, the second categorization based on the supplementary attributes.

28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein displaying the multiple sections comprises displaying sub-wedges within at least one of the multiple wedges.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein displaying the multiple sections comprises displaying multiple radial bands within at least one of the multiple wedges.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein displaying multiple radial bands comprises displaying an inner radial band and an outer redial band, such that data items associated with the outer radial band have less importance, relative to data items associated with the inner radial band.

31. The computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the operations performed by the computer instructions further comprise:

displaying a first ordered list of topics in a user interface with the radial graph, the first ordered list derived from the set of data items; and

in response to selection of one of the wedges, replacing the first ordered list of topics with a second ordered list of topics, the second ordered list derived from the base subset associated with the selected wedge.

32. The computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the operations performed by the computer instructions further comprise:

displaying a filter option; and

in response to user activation of the filter option, updating the radial graph according to the activated filter option.

33. A computer readable storage medium for presenting statistics relating to information flow, the computer readable storage medium comprising:

computer instructions, encoded in the computer readable storage medium, that are executable by one or more processors to perform operations including;

displaying first and second groups of objects in respective first and second areas of a presentation space;

in response to activation of a first object in the first group, displaying a first line between the first object and a second object in the second group to represent a flow of information between the first object and the second object; and

in response to activation of the second object;

displaying a third group of objects in a third area of the presentation space generally between the first area and the second area;

displaying a second line between a third object in the third group and the first object; and

displaying a third line between the third object and the second object, such that the third object depicts a characteristic of the flow of information between the first object and the second object.

34. The computer readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein displaying a first line between the first object and the second object comprises displaying two or more lines between the first object and two or more objects in the second group to represent two or more flows of information.

35. The computer readable storage medium of claim 33, wherein the operations performed by the computer instructions further comprise responding to activation of a fourth object in the first group by displaying a fourth line between the fourth object and a fifth object in the second group, in lieu of the second and third lines, to represent a flow of information between the fourth object and the fifth object.

36. A data processing system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, coupled to the processor, having code stored therein to cause the processor to generate data for displaying a radial graph depicting statistics for a set of data items, each data item having a category attribute and a time attribute, the radial graph comprising;

multiple wedges representing respective base subsets of the set of data items, the number of wedges based on distinct category attributes of the data items, each wedge having a radial width representing an aggregate measure for the associated base subset in proportion to an aggregate measure for the set of data items; and

a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing a normalized measure for a common base category to which all of the base subsets are referenced;

wherein a temporal subset of at least one base subset excludes data items from that base subset based on the time attributes of the data items in that base subset; and

wherein one wedge among the multiple wedges represents the temporal subset, the one wedge having a wedge radius that differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference between the normalized measure for the corresponding base subset and an aggregate measure for the temporal subset.

37. A data processing system for presenting a radial graph that represents statistics for data items, the data processing system comprising:

a presentation manager that;

displays a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing a predetermined measure for a common base category associated with the data items of respective units; and

displays multiple wedges to categorize the data items according to the units and to reflect changes, over time, in a measurement of data items for the units;

wherein each wedge has a wedge radius that differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference in the measurement of data items for that wedge for a predetermined timeframe, relative to the predetermined measure.

38. A data processing system for presenting statistics relating to information flow, the data processing system comprising:

a presentation manager that;

displays first and second groups of objects in respective first and second areas of a presentation space;

in response to activation of a first object in the first group, displays a first line between the first object and a second object in the second group to represent a flow of information between the first object and the second object; and

in response to activation of the second object;

displays a third group of objects in a third area of the presentation space generally between the first area and the second area;

displays a second line between a third object in the third group and the first object; and

displays a third line between the third object and the second object, such that the third object depicts a characteristic of the flow of information between the first object and the second object.

39. A method for presenting, in a radial graph, statistics relating to data items, the method comprising:

performing with a computer system;

displaying multiple wedges to categorize a set of data items into subsets of data items; and

displaying a ring having a ring radius, the ring radius representing a predetermined measure for a common base category for at least two wedges among the multiple wedges;

wherein the at least one wedge has a wedge radius that differs from the ring radius in proportion to a difference in a measurement of data items for the at least two wedges for a predetermined timeframe, relative to the predetermined measure.

40. A method for presenting, in a plane figure, statistics, the method comprising:

performing with a computer system;

displaying multiple wedges to categorize a set of data items into base subsets of data items, such that at least two of the wedges correspond to respective base subsets; and

displaying a continuous boundary that surrounds at least a portion of each of the wedges, wherein the boundary is disposed from a center point, the disposition representing a measure for a common base category for the base subsets corresponding to the at least two wedges;

wherein each wedge has a wedge outer boundary, wherein the wedge outer boundary opposes the center point; and

wherein the distance along the continuous boundary that separates the continuous boundary from the center point differs from the wedge outer boundary in proportion to a difference between the measure for the at least one base subset and a measure for a subsidiary subset of that base subset.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein:

the data items comprises documents;

the distance separating the boundary from the center point represents an average quantity of documents in the at least one base subset;

the subsidiary subset only includes documents with values for a time attribute that fall within a predetermined timeframe; and

the distance separating the continuous boundary from the center point differs from the wedge outer boundary in proportion to a difference between the average quantity of documents in the at least one base subset and an aggregate quantity of documents in the subsidiary subset.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein:

the at least one wedge surrounds an interior volume; and

the method further comprises displaying at least one dividing boundary within the at least one wedge to separate the interior volume into at least first and second areas, such that the at least first and second areas represent respective first and second subsets of the at least one base subset.

48. The method of claim 40 wherein displaying a continuous boundary further comprises displaying a non-solid continuous boundary.

49. The method of claim 40 wherein displaying a continuous boundary further comprises displaying a solid continuous boundary.

43. A system for presenting a radial graph that represents statistics for data items, the system comprising:

means for displaying in a computer system a categorization of data in a radial graph;

means for reflecting changes in values of the data over time using wedges in the radial graph; and

means for visually surrounding at least a portion of each wedge in the radial graph with a boundary that represents a predetermined measure for a common base category relative to each respective categorization of data of each wedge.