Presentation and analysis of user interaction data

• US 8,689,108 B1
• Filed: 09/24/2013
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Palantir Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Palantir Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Duffield, Ben, Stowe, Geoff, Shankar, Ankit
• Primary Examiner(s): HAILU, TADESSE
• Application Number:
  US14/035,889
• Time in Patent Office: 189 Days
• Field of Search: 715/737, 715/738, 715/744, 715/745, 709/220, 709/226
• US Class Current: 715/737
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2465 Query processing support for facilitating data mining operations in structured databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An interactive, graph-based user interaction data analysis system is disclosed. The system is configured to provide analysis and graphical visualizations of user interaction data to a system operator. In various embodiments, interactive visualizations and analyzes provided by the system may be based on user interaction data aggregated across particular groups of users, across particular time frames, and/or from particular computer-based platforms and/or applications. According to various embodiments, the system may enable insights into, for example, user interaction patterns and/or ways to optimize for desired user interactions, among others. In an embodiment, the system allows an operator to analyze and investigate user interactions with content provided via one or more computer-based platforms, software applications, and/or software application editions.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store;

one or more software modules including computer executable instructions; and

one or more sets of user interaction data, each of the one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through one or more platforms, the one or more platforms comprising software applications configured to provide the content items to respective users; and

one or more hardware computer processors in communication with the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices and configured to execute the one or more software modules in order to cause the computer system to;

access a particular set of user interaction data associated with a particular platform, the particular set of user interaction data representing interactions of multiple users with respective content items provided through the particular platform; and

generate, based on the accessed particular set of user interaction data, an interactive user interface configured for display on an electronic display of the computer system, the interactive user interface including at least a graph including;

two or more nodes each representing respective content items, and

at least one edge connecting respective nodes as an indication of user transitions between the respective nodes,

wherein locations of the two or more nodes of the graph on the interactive user interface are automatically determined based on at least one of repulsive forces associated with each of the two or more nodes or contractive forces associated with each of the at least one edge.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the two or more nodes and the at least one edge are individually selectable by an operator of the computer system, and wherein, in response to selection of at least one of the two or more nodes or one of the at least one edge, the computer system is further configured to:

update the interactive user interface to further include one or more metrics based on interactions of users represented by the selected at least one of the two or more nodes or the at least one edge.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein accessing the particular set of user interaction data associated with the particular platform further comprises accessing user interaction data associated with a particular timeframe.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the repulsive force associated with each of the two or more nodes is based on a number of users interacting with content items represented by respective nodes.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the repulsive forces associated with the two or more nodes or the contractive forces associated with the at least one edge are adjustable by an operator.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the contractive forces associated with each of the at least one edge is based on a number of user transitions from one content item to another content item represented by each respective edge.

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein each of the two or more nodes represents interactions of users with content items, wherein the content items comprise articles, and wherein the represented interactions include at least a number of user visits to a particular article of the particular platform.

8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the computer system is further configured to:

in response to receiving an input from an operator of the computing system selecting to view an article table, display on the user interface an article table including a list of articles and associated metrics.

9. The computer system of claim 1, wherein each of the two or more nodes represents interactions of users with content items, wherein the content items comprise sections, and wherein the represented interactions include at least user visits to a particular section of the particular platform, wherein the particular section includes one or more pages of the particular platform.

10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more platforms include at least one of a smartphone app, a tablet app, or a web app.

11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein each at least one edge is directional and curved.

12. A computer system comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store;

one or more software modules including computer executable instructions; and

one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through a software application configured to provide the content items to respective users; and

one or more hardware computer processors in communication with the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices and configured to execute the one or more software modules in order to cause the computer system to;

generate, based on a particular set of user interaction data, a user interface including a graph comprising nodes and at least one edge, the nodes representing respective content items, the at least one edge connecting respective nodes and indicating user transitions between the respective nodes;

receive, at the user interface, one or more inputs from an operator of the computer system; and

in response to the one or more inputs, dynamically update the graph such that locations of the nodes of the graph on the interactive user interface are automatically determined based on at least one of repulsive forces associated with each of the nodes or contractive forces associated with each of the at least one edge.

13. The computer system of claim 12, wherein, further in response to the one or more inputs, the computer system is further configured to update the graph by at least one of:

adding nodes and/or edges, removing nodes and/or edges, and adjusting locations of the nodes and/or edges.

14. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is further configured to:

in response to receiving an input from the operator indicating selection of a transition display threshold, determine, for each at least one edge, a number of user transitions represented by that edge; and

in response to the number of user transitions represented by a particular edge being less than the selected transition display threshold, not display the particular edge in the graph.

15. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is further configured to:

in response to receiving an input from the operator indicating selection of an animation option associated with a particular selected node, successively add edges and nodes to the graph in an animated fashion, wherein each successively added node represents a most common user destination from a previously added node.

16. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the graph comprises a force-directed graph, and the graph is configured to automatically and/or fluidly adjust to an optimal view according to a force-directed graph drawing algorithm.

17. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the content items include at least one of news content, textual content, visual content, audio content, or video content.

18. The computer system of claim 12, wherein each node includes a fill color and/or a border color based on one or more user interactions associated with the node.

19. The computer system of claim 12, wherein each node is sized based on one or more user interactions associated with the node.

20. A computer system comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store;

one or more software modules including computer executable instructions; and

one or more sets of user interaction data, each of the one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through one or more platforms, the one or more platforms comprising software applications configured to provide the content items to respective users; and

one or more hardware computer processors in communication with the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices and configured to execute the one or more software modules in order to cause the computer system to;

generate, based on at least one of the one or more sets of user interaction data, a user interface including at least one graph comprising nodes and at least one edge, the nodes representing respective content items, the at least one edge connecting respective nodes and indicating user transitions between the respective nodes, the at least one graph comprising a force-directed graph configured to automatically and/or fluidly adjust to an optimal view according to a force-directed graph drawing algorithm,

wherein an operator of the computer system may interact with the at least one graph in order to determine one or more user interaction patterns associated with the one or more platforms.

21. The computer system of claim 20, wherein each of the nodes includes a fill color and/or a border color based on one or more user interactions associated with the node.

22. The computer system of claim 20, wherein each of the nodes is sized based on one or more user interactions associated with the node.

23. A computer-implemented method comprising:

communicating, by a computer system including one or more hardware computer processors configured to execute one or more software modules, with one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store one or more sets of user interaction data, each of the one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through one or more platforms, the one or more platforms comprising software applications configured to provide the content items to respective users;

accessing, by the computer system, a particular set of user interaction data associated with a particular platform, the particular set of user interaction data representing interactions of multiple users with respective content items provided through the particular platform; and

generating, by the computer system, based on the accessed particular set of user interaction data, an interactive user interface configured for display on an electronic display of the computer system, the interactive user interface including at least a graph including;

two or more nodes each representing respective content items, and

at least one edge connecting respective nodes as an indication of user transitions between the respective nodes,

wherein locations of the two or more nodes of the graph on the interactive user interface are automatically determined based on at least one of repulsive forces associated with each of the two or more nodes or contractive forces associated with each of the at least one edge.

24. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions configured for execution by one or more hardware processors of a computer system to cause the computer system to:

communicate with one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store one or more sets of user interaction data, each of the one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through one or more platforms, the one or more platforms comprising software applications configured to provide the content items to respective users;

access a particular set of user interaction data associated with a particular platform, the particular set of user interaction data representing interactions of multiple users with respective content items provided through the particular platform; and

generate, based on the accessed particular set of user interaction data, an interactive user interface configured for display on an electronic display of the computer system, the interactive user interface including at least a graph including;

two or more nodes each representing respective content items, and

at least one edge connecting respective nodes as an indication of user transitions between the respective nodes,

wherein locations of the two or more nodes of the graph on the interactive user interface are automatically determined based on at least one of repulsive forces associated with each of the two or more nodes or contractive forces associated with each of the at least one edge.

25. A computer-implemented method comprising:

communicating, by a computer system including one or more hardware computer processors configured to execute one or more software modules, with one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through a software application configured to provide the content items to respective users;

generating, by the computer system and based on a particular set of user interaction data, a user interface including a graph comprising nodes and at least one edge, the nodes representing respective content items, the at least one edge connecting respective nodes and indicating user transitions between the respective nodes;

receiving, by the computer system and at the user interface, one or more inputs from an operator of the computer system; and

in response to the one or more inputs and by the computer system, dynamically updating the graph such that locations of the nodes of the graph on the interactive user interface are automatically determined based on at least one of repulsive forces associated with each of the nodes or contractive forces associated with each of the at least one edge.

26. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions configured for execution by one or more hardware processors of a computer system to cause the computer system to:

communicate with one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through a software application configured to provide the content items to respective users;

generate, based on a particular set of user interaction data, a user interface including a graph comprising nodes and at least one edge, the nodes representing respective content items, the at least one edge connecting respective nodes and indicating user transitions between the respective nodes;

receive, at the user interface, one or more inputs from an operator of the computer system; and

in response to the one or more inputs, dynamically update the graph such that locations of the nodes of the graph on the interactive user interface are automatically determined based on at least one of repulsive forces associated with each of the nodes or contractive forces associated with each of the at least one edge.

27. A computer-implemented method comprising:

communicating, by a computer system including one or more hardware computer processors configured to execute one or more software modules, with one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store one or more sets of user interaction data, each of the one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through one or more platforms, the one or more platforms comprising software applications configured to provide the content items to respective users; and

generating, by the computer system and based on at least one of the one or more sets of user interaction data, a user interface including at least one graph comprising nodes and at least one edge, the nodes representing respective content items, the at least one edge connecting respective nodes and indicating user transitions between the respective nodes, the at least one graph comprising a force-directed graph configured to automatically and/or fluidly adjust to an optimal view according to a force-directed graph drawing algorithm,

wherein an operator of the computer system may interact with the at least one graph in order to determine one or more user interaction patterns associated with the one or more platforms.

28. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions configured for execution by one or more hardware processors of a computer system to cause the computer system to:

communicate with one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices configured to store one or more sets of user interaction data, each of the one or more sets of user interaction data collected from interactions of users with respective content items provided through one or more platforms, the one or more platforms comprising software applications configured to provide the content items to respective users; and

generate, based on at least one of the one or more sets of user interaction data, a user interface including at least one graph comprising nodes and at least one edge, the nodes representing respective content items, the at least one edge connecting respective nodes and indicating user transitions between the respective nodes, the at least one graph comprising a force-directed graph configured to automatically and/or fluidly adjust to an optimal view according to a force-directed graph drawing algorithm,

wherein an operator of the computer system may interact with the at least one graph in order to determine one or more user interaction patterns associated with the one or more platforms.