System and method for building applications, such as customized applications for mobile devices

• US 8,589,955 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2009
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Roundtree, Brian, Cole, Rachel M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Puente, Emerson
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, DONG U
• Application Number:
  US12/370,524
• Publication Number:
  US 20090254912A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,741 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons

Abstract

A system and method for building applications, such as applications that cause a mobile device to perform a task, is described. In some examples, the system provides one or more plugins, a framework for the plugins, and configures the plugins to build a customized application for a mobile device. The plugins may include code configured to perform a task, display one or more pages associated with performance of the task, perform a transaction during performance of the task, and so on.

Claims

1. A method for creating an application for execution by a mobile device that responds to a customer support request, the method comprising:

providing two or more plugin modules, wherein the providing includes;

displaying an application building Web page for creating a mobile device application,

receiving user input that modifies portions of the displayed application building Web page without refreshing the application building Web page, and

sending a message that communicates the received user input; and

wherein at least one of the two or more plugin modules include executable code configured to;

receive a request from a user of a mobile device to perform a customer support task via the mobile device,

wherein, for at least one of the two or more plugin modules, the request includes the user placing a phone call to a particular phone number, to a number within a range of particular phone numbers, or to a number within a list of particular phone numbers;

display data via a user interface presented by the mobile device; and

communicate with a server associated with the at least one of the two or more plugin modules to cause the server to perform a transaction that enables the mobile device to perform the requested customer support task;

providing a container module that houses configurable portions of the two or more plugin modules, wherein the container module is configured to;

enable a shared functionality across the two or more plugin modules;

enable a configuration of global settings across the two or more plugin modules; and

enable navigation between the two or more plugin modules;

configuring global settings for the provided two or more plugin modules and for the provided container module; and

generating an application to be executed by the mobile device, wherein the generated application includes at least a portion of each of the provided two or more plugin modules, the provided container module, and the configured global settings.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring global settings for the provided two or more plugin modules and for the provided container module includes identifying settings associated with the mobile device and configuring the global settings based at least in part on the identified settings.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer support task is selected from a group of:

making a payment, requesting a credit, asking for money, viewing a prepaid account balance, adding money to a prepaid account, receiving user account information, taking a tutorial, performing diagnostics on a mobile device, participating in a survey, and verifying a user'"'"'s identity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data displayed via the user interface presented by the mobile device includes one or more displayable pages each associated with a task to be performed.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the performed transaction is of a type associated with the requested task to be performed.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information associated with settings to be applied to the data displayed via the user interface presented by the mobile device; and

updating the provided two or more plugin modules to include executable code associated with the received information.

7. A system for enabling a non-technical user to create a mobile device application in part through a Web browser, the system comprising:

a database of two or more plugins, wherein the two or more plugins include code that when executed, causes a mobile device application running on a mobile device to;

perform a task associated with the mobile device;

wherein, for at least one of the two or more plugin modules, the task includes placing a phone call to a particular phone number, to a number within a range of particular phone numbers, or to a number within a list of particular phone numbers;

generate a page displayable via a user interface of the mobile device; and

cause a transaction to occur in order to perform the task;

a Web browser component configured to interact with a user of the Web browser by;

receiving an application building Web page for creating a mobile device application;

displaying the received application building Web page to the user;

receiving user input that modifies portions of the displayed application building Web page without refreshing the application building Web page, and

sending a message that communicates the received user input to the system,

a logical container,

wherein the logical container receives at least two of the two or more plugins from the database;

wherein the logical container configures settings associated with the received at least two of the two or more plugins based on user input received by the Web browser; and

wherein the user input received by the Web browser includes at least one trigger selected from a list of at least two triggers; and

a plugin manager,

wherein the plugin manager generates a mobile device application using the logical container, the received at least two of the two or more plugins, and the configured settings associated with the received at least two of the two or more plugins, and

wherein the generated application executes based on the selected at least one trigger.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the plugin manager configures settings of the mobile device application based on characteristics of the mobile device.

9. The system of claim 8:

wherein a pixel resolution or dimensions of a display screen of the mobile device is a characteristic of the mobile device upon which the configuration of the mobile device application is based;

wherein the application building Web page includes multiple display elements associated with the generated page displayable via the user interface of the mobile device;

wherein the received user input includes assigning at least two different display priority levels to the different display elements, so that each display element in a first portion of the display elements is assigned a relatively higher display priority level than each display element in a second portion of the display elements; and

wherein the configured settings of the mobile device application cause the mobile device application to;

display the first portion of the display elements on the mobile device; and

refrain from displaying the second portion of the display elements on the mobile device if the second portion of the display elements would not additionally fit on the display screen of the mobile device.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the plugin manager removes code included in at least one of the received at least two of the two or more plugins used to generate the application, wherein the removed code is associated with functionality of the generated mobile device application not selected by a user of the Web browser.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the logical container provides navigation between the received at least two of the two or more plugin modules.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the two or more plugins include code associated with performing multiple discrete tasks associated with the mobile device.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the two or more plugins include code associated with presenting multiple discrete pages displayable via the user interface of the mobile device.

14. The system of claim 7, wherein the two or more plugins include code associated with causing multiple discrete transaction types to occur.

15. The system of claim 7, wherein the Web browser utilizes Asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language (AJAX) in order to avoid refreshing the application building Web page.

16. At least one non-transitory computer-readable memory storing a program to cause a computing system, having a processor, to create an application for execution by a mobile device that responds to a customer support request, comprising:

providing two or more plugin modules, wherein the providing includes;

displaying an application building Web page for creating a mobile device application,

receiving user input that modifies portions of the displayed application building Web page without refreshing the application building Web page, and

sending a message that communicates the received user input; and

wherein at least one of the two or more plugin modules includes executable code configured to;

receive a request from a user of a mobile device to perform a customer support task via the mobile device,

wherein, for at least one of the two or more plugin modules, the request includes the user placing a phone call to a particular phone number, to a number within a range of particular phone numbers, or to a number within a list of particular phone numbers;

display data via a user interface presented by the mobile device; and

communicate with a server associated with the at least one of the two or more plugin modules to cause the server to perform a transaction that enables the mobile device to perform the requested customer support task;

providing a container module that houses configurable portions of the two or more plugin modules, wherein the container module is configured to;

enable a shared functionality across the two or more plugin modules;

enable a configuration of global settings across the two or more plugin modules; and

enable navigation between the two or more plugin modules;

configuring global settings for the provided two or more plugin modules and for the provided container module; and

generating an application to be executed by the mobile device, wherein the generated application includes at least a portion of each of the provided two or more plugin modules, the provided container module, and the configured global settings.

17. The computer-readable memory of claim 16, wherein configuring global settings for the provided two or more plugin modules and for the provided container module includes identifying settings associated with the mobile device and configuring the global settings based at least in part on the identified settings.

18. The computer-readable memory of claim 16, wherein the customer support task is selected from a group of:

making a payment, requesting a credit, asking for money, viewing a prepaid account balance, adding money to a prepaid account, receiving user account information, taking a tutorial, performing diagnostics on a mobile device, participating in a survey, and verifying a user'"'"'s identity.

19. The computer-readable memory of claim 16, wherein the data displayed via the user interface presented by the mobile device includes one or more displayable pages each associated with a task to be performed.

20. The computer-readable memory of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving information associated with settings to be applied to the data displayed via the user interface presented by the mobile device; and

updating the provided two or more plugin modules to include executable code associated with the received information.

21. A method for enabling a non-technical user to create a mobile device application in part through a Web browser, the method comprising:

providing a database of two or more plugins, wherein the two or more plugins include code that when executed, causes a mobile device application running on a mobile device to;

perform a task associated with the mobile device;

wherein, for at least one of the two or more plugins, the task includes placing a phone call to a particular phone number, to a number within a range of particular phone numbers, or to a number within a list of particular phone numbers;

generate a page displayable via a user interface of the mobile device; and

cause a transaction to occur in order to perform the task;

providing a Web browser component configured to interact with a user of the Web browser by;

receiving an application building Web page for creating a mobile device application;

displaying the received application building Web page to the user;

receiving user input that modifies portions of the displayed application building Web page without refreshing the application building Web page, and

sending a message that communicates the received user input to the system,

providing a logical container,

wherein the logical container receives at least two of the two or more plugins from the database;

wherein the logical container configures settings associated with the received at least two of the two or more plugins based on user input received by the Web browser; and

wherein the user input received by the Web browser includes at least one trigger selected from a list of at least two triggers; and

providing a plugin manager,

wherein the plugin manager generates a mobile device application using the logical container, the received at least two of the two or more plugins, and the configured settings associated with the received at least two of the two or more plugins, and

wherein the generated application executes based on the selected at least one trigger.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the plugin manager configures settings of the mobile device application based on characteristics of the mobile device.

23. The method of claim 22:

wherein a pixel resolution or dimensions of a display screen of the mobile device is a characteristic of the mobile device upon which the configuration of the mobile device application is based;

wherein the application building Web page includes multiple display elements associated with the generated page displayable via the user interface of the mobile device;

wherein the received user input includes assigning at least two different display priority levels to the different display elements, so that each display element in a first portion of the display elements is assigned a relatively higher display priority level than each display element in a second portion of the display elements; and

wherein the configured settings of the mobile device application cause the mobile device application to;

display the first portion of the display elements on the mobile device; and

refrain from displaying the second portion of the display elements on the mobile device if the second portion of the display elements would not additionally fit on the display screen of the mobile device.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the plugin manager removes code included in at least one of the received at least two of the two or more plugins used to generate the application, wherein the removed code is associated with functionality of the generated mobile device application not selected by a user of the Web browser.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the logical container provides navigation between the two or more plugin modules.

26. A system for creating an application for execution by a mobile device that responds to a customer support request, the system comprising:

a component configured to provide two or more plugin modules,

wherein the providing includes;

displaying an application building Web page for creating a mobile device application,

receiving user input that modifies portions of the displayed application building Web page without refreshing the application building Web page, and

sending a message that communicates the received user input; and

wherein at least one of the two or more plugin modules includes executable code configured to;

receive a request from a user of a mobile device to perform a customer support task via the mobile device,

wherein, for at least one of the two or more plugin modules, the request includes the user placing a phone call to a particular phone number, to a number within a range of particular phone numbers, or to a number within a list of particular phone numbers;

display data via a user interface presented by the mobile device; and

communicate with a server associated with the at least one of the two or more plugin modules to cause the server to perform a transaction that enables the mobile device to perform the requested customer support task;

a component configured to provide a container module that houses configurable portions of the two or more plugin modules, wherein the container module is configured to;

enable a shared functionality across the two or more plugin modules;

enable a configuration of global settings across the two or more plugin modules; and

enable navigation between the two or more plugin modules;

a component configured to configure global settings for the provided two or more plugin modules and for the provided container module; and

a component configured to generate an application to be executed by the mobile device, wherein the generated application includes at least a portion of each of the provided two or more plugin modules, the provided container module, and the configured global settings.