Facilitating performance by task performers of language-specific tasks

• US 8,046,250 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cohen, Peter D., Cabrera, Luis Felipe, Smoak, Christopher E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jeanty; Romain
• Assistant Examiner(s): Parker; Brandi P
• Application Number:
  US11/537,552
• Time in Patent Office: 1,852 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

Techniques are described for facilitating interactions between task requesters who have tasks that are available to be performed and task performers who are available to perform tasks, such as by an intermediary electronic marketplace or other task fulfillment facilitator system. In some situations, support is provided in various ways for using multiple human languages when supplying and performing tasks. For example, some tasks may have associated languages, and some tasks may further have multiple task variants that each have a distinct associated language. A user may then request information about tasks in a particular language, and receive information about tasks and/or task variants associated with that language. Furthermore, some tasks and task variants may further be associated with locales that include particular languages and/or various other factors, including geographical areas, and such locales may similarly be used to identify appropriate corresponding users that match the various locale factors.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a task fulfillment system that acts as an intermediary to facilitate performance by human task performers of tasks submitted by distinct task requesters, the method comprising:

for each of multiple users who are available to act as human task performers to perform tasks submitted by other task requesters, receiving information about the user that indicates current qualifications of the user related to performing tasks and that indicates one or more associated human languages for the user in which information about tasks is to be supplied to the user, at least one of the multiple users each having multiple indicated associated human languages in which information about tasks is to be supplied to that user;

receiving information about multiple tasks supplied by one or more task requesters for performance by human task performers, each task having an associated description for use in performing the task and at least some of the tasks indicating one or more human task performer qualifications for performing the task, the received information for each of at least some of the multiple tasks further specifying the associated description of the task in each of multiple distinct human languages such that the task is made available in multiple alternative variants that each include the description in a distinct one of the multiple human languages, the associated descriptions for the tasks other than the at least some tasks each being in a single human language; and

automatically facilitating performance of each of one or more of the multiple tasks, the automatic facilitating of the performance being performed by one or more programmed computing systems of the task fulfillment system and including,

if the task does not have multiple alternative variants with the description of the task in multiple distinct human languages, providing the description of the task only to one or more human task performers who are associated with the single human language for the description and who are qualified to perform the task;

if the task does have multiple alternative variants with the description of the task in multiple distinct human languages, providing the description of the task to one or more human task performers who are associated with any of those multiple human languages and who are qualified to perform the task by, for each of those one or more human task performers, selecting at least one of the variants for the task to make available to the human task performer by matching the one or more associated languages of the human task performer; and

after receiving results of performance of the task from at least one human task performer to whom the description of the task was provided, sending the received performance results to the task requester that supplied the task,

and wherein, for one of the at least some tasks whose associated description is specified in multiple distinct human languages, the one task includes an indicated human language for results of performance of the one task, and wherein the method further comprises receiving results of performance of one of the variants of the one task whose specified human language is distinct from the indicated human language for the results, the results being in the specified human language of the one variant, and automatically translating the received results into the indicated human language for the results before sending the translated received results to the task requester that supplied the one task, so that task performer users may perform tasks using any of multiple human languages.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, for one of the human task performers to whom the description of one of the tasks is provided, and before the providing of the description of the one task to the one human task performer, receiving a request from the one human task performer for information about tasks in a specified human language, and associating the specified human language with the one human task performer for use in selecting tasks whose description is available in that specified human language, the one task being one of the selected tasks.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein, for another one of the human task performers to whom the description of another one of the tasks is provided, the association of the another one human task performer with a language in which the description for the another one task is available is based on a previously specified preference of the another one human task performer for that language.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the facilitating of the performance of the one or more tasks includes, for each of multiple of the human task performers, providing a user interface of the task fulfillment system to the human task performer in a human language specified by that human task performer, such that the multiple human task performers interact with the user interface in multiple distinct human languages.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein, for one of the at least some tasks whose associated description is specified in multiple distinct human languages, the one task further has other associated information to be used as part of performing the one task, wherein each of the multiple variants for the one task has a copy of the other associated information in the specific human language for the variant, and wherein the providing of the description of the one task to a human task performer using a selected variant of the task includes providing the copy of the other associated information for the selected variant to the human task performer.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, for one of the one or more tasks for which the associated description of the one task is in a single human language, and before the providing of the associated description of the one task to one or more human task performers, automatically obtaining copies of the associated description in one or more other human languages and creating alternative variants for the one task for each of the human languages in which the description is available.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the automatic obtaining of the copies of the associated description in the one or more other human languages includes obtaining translation of the associated description in the single human language into each of the other human languages by at least one of performing an automated translation into the other human language and of submitting an additional task for the other human language so that the human task performers perform the translation.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein, for one of the at least some tasks whose associated description is specified in multiple distinct human languages, receiving information indicating an associated locale for each of the multiple alternative variants for the one task, each locale indicating a geographic area for performance of the one task, and wherein providing of the description of the one task to a human task performer by selecting a variant for the task includes selecting a variant whose associated locale has an indicated geographic area that matches a current location of that human task performer.

9. A computer-implemented method for facilitating performance by task performer users of tasks from task requesters, the method comprising:

for each of one or more task requesters, receiving information about one or more tasks supplied by the task requester that are each available to be performed by one or more task performer users, at least one of the supplied tasks from the one or more task requesters each having multiple associated human languages specified by the task requester that supplied the task such that task performer users may obtain at least some information associated with the task in any of the associated human languages;

receiving one or more indications that a first task performer user is associated with a first human language, and that a distinct second task performer user is associated with each of second and third human languages, each of the second and third human languages being distinct from each other and from the first human language;

receiving a first request from the first task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in the first human language, and receiving a second request from the second task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in one or more of the second and third human languages;

responding to the first request by providing information to the first task performer user about multiple tasks that are available to be performed in the first human language, the multiple tasks including a first task that is not available to be performed in either of the second or third human languages and including a second task that is one of the at least one tasks and whose multiple associated human languages include the first human language and the second human language, the multiple tasks not including a third task based at least in part on the third task not being available to be performed in the first language, the responding to the first request being performed by one or more programmed computing systems and including providing information to the first task performer user about the second task in the first human language;

responding to the second request by providing information to the second task performer user about one or more tasks that are available to be performed in one or more of the second and third human languages, the one or more tasks including the second task but not including the first task based on the first task not being available to be performed in either of the second or third human languages, the responding to the second request being performed by the one or more programmed computing systems and including providing information to the second task performer user about the second task in the second human language; and

after receiving results of performance of the second task from one of the first and second task performer users, providing the received results to the task requester that supplied the second task, the providing of the received results being performed by the one or more programmed computing systems.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the third task is available to be performed in the third language, wherein the one or more tasks about which information is provided to the second task performer user include at least the second task and the third task, and wherein the method further comprises selecting the second task for the second task performer user based at least in part on the second task performer user being associated with the second human language and selecting the third task for the second task performer user based at least in part on the second task performer user being associated with the third human language.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the second task has multiple distinct variants that may each be made available to task performer users for use in performing the second task, each of the variants being associated with one of the multiple associated human languages for the second task.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein each of the variants includes a copy of information about the second task in the associated human language for the variant, wherein the providing of the information to the first task performer user about the second task includes providing the copy of the information from one of the variants that is associated with the first human language, and wherein the providing of the information to the second task performer user about the second task includes providing the copy of the information from another one of the variants that is associated with the second human language.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the one variant associated with the first human language is created dynamically in response to the first request from the first task performer user.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the one variant associated with the first human language is created prior to the first request from the first task performer user, and is selected for use in the responding to the first request.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein at least some of the multiple variants for the second task are received from the task requester that supplied the second task.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein one or more of the multiple variants for the second task are each obtained by automatically translating information associated with the second task into the human language associated with the variant.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein one or more of the multiple variants for the second task are each obtained by automatically using a task interaction control type associated with the second task that includes an indication to translate information associated with the second task that is in a first human language into a specified other second human language.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein one or more of the multiple variants for the second task are each obtained by supplying a task that is available to be performed by one or more task performer users, the task including translating information associated with the second task into the human language associated with the variant.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein one or more of the multiple variants for the second task are each obtained from a user who has agreed to perform the second task and has provided the variant as part of obtaining results of performance of the second task from another user by use of the variant.

20. The method of claim 12 wherein the multiple variants for the second task are each further associated with one of multiple locales, each locale being associated with a specified human language, wherein the providing of the copy of the information from the one variant to the first human task performer includes determining that the first human task performer corresponds to the locale associated with the one variant, and wherein the providing of the copy of the information from the another one variant to the second human task performer includes determining that the second human task performer corresponds to the locale associated with the another one variant.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein each locale is further associated with one or more geographic areas, and wherein providing of the copy of the information for a variant to a human task performer includes determining that the human task performer is located within the one or more geographic areas for the locale associated with that variant.

22. The method of claim 11 wherein the multiple variants for the second task represent alternatives for performing the second task, such that the second task may be performed by a task performer user by using any of the multiple variants.

23. The method of claim 9 wherein the multiple tasks about which information is provided to the first task performer user include a fourth task supplied by a task requester in a human language that is distinct from the first human language, and wherein one or more additional human languages are associated with the fourth task in a manner other than by the task requester, the one or more additional human languages including the first human language.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the one or more programmed computing systems are part of a task fulfillment facilitator system that acts as an intermediary for performing tasks, and wherein associating of the one or more additional human languages with the fourth task is performed automatically by the task fulfillment facilitator system.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein the associating of the first human language with the fourth task is performed in response to a request from the first task performer user to receive information about the fourth task in the first human language.

26. The method of claim 9 wherein the providing of the received results to the task requester that supplied the second task includes automatically translating the results to be provided into a human language indicated by the task requester.

27. The method of claim 9 wherein only one task performer user is allowed to perform the second task, such that the received results are received from only one of the first and second task performer users.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium whose stored contents configure a computing device to facilitate performance by task performer users of tasks from task requesters, by performing a method comprising:

for each of one or more task requesters, receiving information about one or more tasks supplied by the task requester that are each available to be performed by one or more task performer users, at least one of the supplied tasks from the one or more task requesters each having multiple associated human languages specified by the task requester that supplied the task to enable task performer users to obtain at least some information associated with the task in any of the associated human languages;

receiving one or more indications that a first task performer user is associated with only one human language that is a first human language, and that a distinct second task performer user is associated with multiple human languages that include second and third human languages, each of the second and third human languages being distinct from each other and from the first human language;

receiving a first request from the first task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in the one human language associated with the first task performer user, and receiving a second request from the second task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in any of the multiple human languages associated with the second task performer user;

responding to the first request by providing information to the first task performer user about multiple tasks that are all available to be performed in the first human language, the multiple tasks including a first task that is not available to be performed in the second or third human languages and including a second task that is one of the at

least one tasks and whose multiple associated human languages include the first human language and the second human language, the multiple tasks not including a third task based at least in part on the third task not being available to be performed in the first language, the responding to the first request being performed by the configured computing device;

responding to the second request by providing information to the second task performer user about one or more tasks that are each available to be performed in one or more of the second and third human languages, the one or more tasks including the second task but not including the first task based on the first task not being available to be performed in either of the second or third human languages, the responding to the second request being performed by the configured computing device; and

after receiving results of performance of the second task from one of the first and second task performer users, providing the received results to the task requester that supplied the second task, the providing of the received results being performed by the configured computing device.

29. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 28 wherein the providing of the information to the first task performer user about the second task includes providing the information in the first human language, and wherein the providing of the information to the second task performer user about the second task includes providing the information in the second human language.

30. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 28 wherein the second task has multiple distinct variants that are each available to task performer users for use in performing the second task, each of the variants being associated with one of the multiple associated human languages for the second task.

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 30 wherein each of the variants includes a copy of information about the second task in the associated human language for the variant, wherein the providing of the information to the first task performer user about the second task includes providing the copy of the information from one of the variants that is associated with the first human language, and wherein the providing of the information to the second task performer user about the second task includes providing the copy of the information from another one of the variants that is associated with the second human language.

32. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 31 wherein the multiple variants for the second task are each further associated with one of multiple geographical locales, each locale being associated with a specified human language, wherein the providing of the copy of the information from the one variant to the first human task performer includes determining that the first human task performer corresponds to the locale associated with the one variant, and wherein the providing of the copy of the information from the another one variant to the second human task performer includes determining that the second human task performer corresponds to the locale associated with the another one variant.

33. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 32 wherein the configured computing device provides a task fulfillment facilitator system that acts as an intermediary for performing tasks, wherein the multiple tasks about which information is provided to the first task performer user include a fourth task supplied by a task requester in a human language that is distinct from the first human language, and wherein one or more additional human languages are automatically associated with the fourth task by the task fulfillment facilitator system, the one or more additional human languages including the first human language.

34. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 28 wherein the third task is available to be performed in the third language, wherein the one or more tasks about which information is provided to the second task performer user include at least the second task and the third task, wherein the method further comprises selecting the second task for the second task performer user based at least in part on the second task performer user being associated with the second human language and selecting the third task for the second task performer user based at least in part on the second task performer user being associated with the third human language, wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the computing device, and wherein the contents are instructions that when executed program the computing device to perform the method.

35. A computing system configured to facilitate performance by task performer users of tasks from task requesters, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a task fulfillment facilitator system configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors;

for each of one or more task requesters, receive information about one or more tasks supplied by the task requester that are each available to be performed by one or more task performer users, at least one of the supplied tasks from the one or more task requesters each having multiple associated human languages specified by the task requester that supplied the task to enable task performer users to obtain at least some information associated with the task in any of the associated human languages;

receive first information about a first task performer user, the first information including an indication that the first task performer user is associated with a first human language but is not associated with any other human languages;

receive second information about a distinct second task performer user, the second information including an indication that the second task performer user is associated with multiple human languages that include second and third human languages, each of the second and third human languages being distinct from each other and from the first human language;

receive a first request from the first task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in the first human language, and receive a second request from the second task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in one or more of the second and third human languages;

respond to the first request by providing information to the first task performer user about multiple tasks that are all available to be performed in the first human language, the multiple tasks including a first task that is not available to be performed in either of the second or third human languages and including a second task that is one of the at least one tasks and whose multiple associated human languages include the first human language and the second human language;

respond to the second request by providing information to the second task performer user about one or more tasks that are available to be performed in one or more of the second and third human languages, the one or more tasks including the second task but not including the first task based on the first task not being available to be performed in either of the second or third human languages; and

after receiving results of performance of the second task from one of the first and second task performer users, provide the received results to the task requester that supplied the second task.

36. The computing system of claim 35 wherein the providing of the information to the first task performer user about the second task includes providing the information in the first human language, and wherein the providing of the information to the second task performer user about the second task includes providing the information in the second human language.

37. The computing system of claim 35 wherein the second task has multiple distinct variants that are each available to task performer users for use in performing the second task, each of the variants being associated with one of the multiple associated human languages for the second task.

38. The computing system of claim 37 wherein each of the variants includes a copy of information about the second task in the associated human language for the variant, wherein the providing of the information to the first task performer user about the second task includes providing the copy of the information from one of the variants that is associated with the first human language, and wherein the providing of the information to the second task performer user about the second task includes providing the copy of the information from another one of the variants that is associated with the second human language.

39. The computing system of claim 38 wherein the multiple variants for the second task are each further associated with one of multiple geographical locales, each locale being associated with a specified human language, wherein the providing of the copy of the information from the one variant to the first human task performer includes determining that the first human task performer corresponds to the locale associated with the one variant, and wherein the providing of the copy of the information from the another one variant to the second human task performer includes determining that the second human task performer corresponds to the locale associated with the another one variant.

40. The computing system of claim 35 wherein the task fulfillment facilitator system acts as an intermediary for performing tasks, wherein the multiple tasks about which information is provided to the first task performer user include a third task supplied by a task requester in a human language that is distinct from the first human language, and wherein one or more additional human languages are automatically associated with the third task by the task fulfillment facilitator system, the one or more additional human languages including the first human language.

41. The computing system of claim 35 wherein a third task is available to be performed in the third language but not in the first language, wherein the responding to the first request includes excluding the third task from the multiple tasks about which information is provided to the first task performer user based on the third task not being available to be performed in the first language, wherein the one or more tasks about which information is provided to the second task performer user include at least the second task and the third task, wherein the responding to the second request includes selecting the second task for the second task performer user based at least in part on the second task performer user being associated with the second human language and includes selecting the third task for the second task performer user based at least in part on the second task performer user being associated with the third human language, and wherein the task fulfillment facilitator system includes instructions for execution by the one or more processors.

42. The computing system of claim 35 wherein the task fulfillment facilitator system consists of a means for,

for each of one or more task requesters, receiving information about one or more tasks supplied by the task requester that are each available to be performed by one or more task performer users, at least one of the supplied tasks from the one or more task requesters each having multiple associated human languages specified by the task requester that supplied the task to enable task performer users to obtain at least some information associated with the task in any of the associated human languages;

receiving a first request from a first task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in a first human language, and receiving a second request from a distinct second task performer user for information about tasks that are available to be performed in a distinct second human language;

responding to the first request by providing information to the first task performer user about multiple tasks that are available to be performed in the first human language, the multiple tasks including a first task that is not available to be performed in the second human language and including a second task that is one of the at least one tasks and whose multiple associated human languages include the first human language and the second human language;

responding to the second request by providing information to the second task performer user about one or more tasks that are available to be performed in the second human language, the one or more tasks including the second task but not including the first task; and

after receiving results of performance of the second task from one of the first and second task performer users, providing the received results to the task requester that supplied the second task.