Using scenario-related information to customize user experiences

• US 7,818,341 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2007
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Jackson, Steven E., Field, Scott A., Kurien, Thekkthalackal Varugis
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali; Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOLLAND, SHERYL L
• Application Number:
  US11/688,002
• Publication Number:
  US 20080235206A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,310 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 10, 707/769, 707/776
• US Class Current: 707/776
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3323 using document space presentation or visualization, e.g. category, hierarchy or range presentation and selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Abstract

Methods for using scenario solution-related information to generate customized user experiences are provided. Upon receiving a user query, a plurality of results is returned, each result being representative of a scenario solution which may be utilized to address a particular issue relevant to the received query. At the time of authoring, each scenario solution is organized based upon one or more keywords and/or one or more categories (i.e., namespaces). Data associated with a namespace/keyword corresponding to a returned search result may be mined to determine information beyond basic scenario solution search results that may be of interest to the user. As the namespace(s)/keyword(s) in association with which to organize a particular executable scenario solution is determined by the author of the scenario solution, other information associated with the same namespace/keyword (and/or a namespace/keyword having a relationship thereto) is likely to be more relevant than information organized based upon keywords alone.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method for using scenario-solution related information to generate a customized user experience, the method comprising:

receiving at a search engine a scenario-related query that is related to a specific problem that a user wishes to solve, wherein the scenario-related query is received from an end-user device, and further receiving metadata that corresponds to the user associated with said end-user device;

mining solution-related information associated with at least one namespace or keyword to identify at least one user-executable scenario solution and metadata that corresponds to one or more users and one or more enablers that is relevant to the scenario-related query, wherein the at least one user-executable scenario solution represents a particular solution comprising a series of steps implemented by a workflow that corresponds with the specific problem the user wishes to solve, and further mining metadata that corresponds to at least one user group to determine if the user is a member of the at least one user group and to identify metadata associated with at least one additional member of the at least one user group;

transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the scenario solution-related information determined to be relevant to the scenario-related query for presentation in association with the end-user device and further transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the metadata associated with the at least one additional member of the at least one user group for presentation in association with the end user device, if it is determined that the user is a member of the at least one user group; and

storing at least one transmitted suggestion in association with the at least one namespace or keyword in association with the at least one user-executable scenario solution for mining in response to future queries.

2. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein utilizing the at least one user-executable scenario solution instance or metadata in association therewith that corresponds with the one of the at least one namespace and keyword to generate a user experience comprises:

determining at least one enabler required for completing the at least one executable scenario solution that is relevant to the scenario-related query;

mining metadata associated with the at least one namespace and keyword to determine at least one other executable scenario solution associated with the at least one enabler; and

transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the metadata associated with the at least one other executable scenario solution for presentation.

3. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one user-executable scenario solution instance or metadata in association therewith that corresponds with the one of the at least one namespace and keyword to generate a user experience comprises:

receiving user information;

comparing the user information to metadata stored in association with the at least one namespace and keyword, to determine if at least one additional user is associated with the at least one namespace and keyword; and

if it is determined that at least one additional user is associated with the at least one namespace and keyword, transmitting at least one suggestion based upon metadata associated with the at least one additional user for presentation.

4. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving user selection of one of the at least one user-executable scenario solution that is relevant to the scenario-related query; and

storing metadata that corresponds to the user selection in association with the namespace and keyword.

5. A method for using scenario solution-related metadata to generate a user experience, the method comprising:

storing scenario solution-related information in association with a namespace and a keyword, the scenario solution-related information including at least one user-executable scenario solution instance and metadata that corresponds to one or more users and one or more enablers, wherein the at least one user-executable scenario solution instance represents a particular solution comprising a series of steps implemented by a workflow that corresponds with a specific problem a user wishes to solve, the namespace defines a schema for restricting search;

receiving at a search engine a scenario-related query that is related to the specific problem that the user wishes to solve, and further receiving metadata that corresponds to the user associated with the end-user device;

utilizing the scenario solution-related information to generate a user experience relevant to the received scenario-related query comprising;

mining by the data mining module the scenario-related information associated with at least one namespace or keyword to identify at least one user-executable scenario solution instance and metadata that corresponds to one or more users that is relevant to the scenario-related query and further to identify at least one enabler required for completing a solution associated with the at least one user-executable scenario solution instance to determine if at least one other user-executable scenario solution instance associated with the at least one of the namespace and keyword is also associated with the at least one enabler, wherein the data mining module is further configured for mining metadata that corresponds to at least one user group to determine if the user is a member of the at least one user group and to identify metadata associated with at least one additional member of the at least one user group; and

if it is determined that at least one other user-executable scenario solution instance associated with the at least one of the namespace and keyword is also associated with the at least one enabler, transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the at least one other user-executable scenario solution for presentation, and further transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the metadata associated with the at least one additional member of the at least one user group for presentation in association with the end-user device, if it is determined that the user is a member of the at least one user group; and

storing the at least one transmitted suggestion in association with the at least one namespace or keyword in association with the at least one user-executable scenario solution instance for mining in response to future queries.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein utilizing the scenario solution-related information to generate a user experience relevant to the received scenario-related query further comprises:

receiving user information;

comparing the user information to the metadata stored in association with the namespace and keyword to locate metadata that corresponds to at least one additional user; and

transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the located additional-user metadata for presentation.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises storing metadata that corresponds to the scenario-related query in association with the namespace and keyword.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying at least one user-executable scenario solution instance that is relevant to the scenario-related query;

receiving user selection of the identified at least one user-executable scenario solution instance; and

storing metadata that corresponds to the user selection in association with the namespace and keyword.

9. A computerized system for utilizing scenario solution-related information to generate a customized user experience, the system comprising:

an end-user device configured for receiving a scenario-related query that is related to a specific problem that a user wishes to solve; and

a server configured for receiving the scenario-related query from the end-user device and generating a customized user experience related thereto, wherein the end-user device and the server are in communication with one another via a network, the server comprising;

a receiving module configured for receiving at a search engine the scenario-related query from the end-user device, wherein the receiving module is further configured for receiving metadata that corresponds to the user associated with the end-user device;

a data mining module configured for mining scenario solution-related information associated with at least one namespace or keyword to determine one or more of at least one user-executable scenario solution instance and metadata that corresponds to one or more users and one or more enablers that is relevant to the scenario-related query, wherein the at least one executable scenario solution instance represents a particular solution comprising a series of steps implemented by a workflow that corresponds with the specific problem the user wishes to solve, wherein the data mining module is further configured for mining metadata that corresponds to at least one user group to determine if the user is a member of the at least one user group and to identify metadata associated with at least one additional member of the at least one user group;

a transmitting module configured for transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the scenario solution-related information determined to be relevant to the scenario-related query for presentation in association with the end-user device, wherein the transmitting module is further configured for transmitting at least one suggestion based upon the metadata associated with the at least one additional member of the at least one user group for presentation in association with the end-user device, if it is determined that the user is a member of the at least one user group; and

a storage module configured for storing the at least one transmitted suggestion and a user response thereto in association with at least one namespace or keyword in association with the at least one executable scenario solution instance for mining in response to future queries.