System and method for forming multi-user collaborations

• US 8,819,536 B1
• Filed: 09/07/2011
• Issued: 08/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Lucovsky, Mark, Sjogreen, Carl P., Bosworth, Adam, Kamangar, Salar A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton, Jr., Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): AMIN, MUSTAFA A
• Application Number:
  US13/227,417
• Time in Patent Office: 1,084 Days
• Field of Search: 715/205
• US Class Current: 715/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A method of forming a multi-user online collaboration includes automatically receiving and processing a plurality of communications, including comparing the plurality of communications with collaboration launch criteria. When a received communication meets the collaboration launch criteria, a participant in the communication is invited to generate a multi-user online collaboration. In some embodiments, the method includes identifying a group of communications, comparing the group of communications with the collaboration launch criteria to produce a comparison result, and generating a collaborative metric in accordance with the comparison result.

Claims

1. A method of forming a multi-user online collaboration, comprising:

at a server system having one or more processors and memory storing programs executed by the one or more processors;

receiving and processing a plurality of communications by a plurality of participants, including comparing the plurality of communications with collaboration launch criteria, the collaboration launch criteria including a threshold number of related communications consistent with a topic, the related communications being shared between the plurality of participants;

when a received communication meets the collaboration launch criteria, inviting a respective participant in the received communication to generate the multi-user online collaboration; and

generating the multi-user online collaboration upon receipt of a positive response from the respective participant, including initializing the multi-user online collaboration with one or more content items by;

deriving the topic for the online collaboration from the plurality of communications by the plurality of participants;

determining a configuration including page layout of the multi-user online collaboration in accordance with the topic for the online collaboration;

retrieving at least one dynamic content item from a resource in accordance with the topic of the online collaboration, wherein the resource is distinct from the server system;

incorporating the at least one dynamic content item into the multi-user online collaboration;

extracting information from communications that occur as part of the multi-user online collaboration; and

adding an event to a calendar based on the information extracted from the communications.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and processing includes:

identifying a group of communications;

comparing the group of communications with the collaboration launch criteria; and

generating a collaborative metric in accordance with a comparison result.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and processing includes:

identifying a group of communications;

identifying a plurality of topic-characterizing terms from the group of communications;

comparing the plurality of topic-characterizing terms with the collaboration launch criteria to produce a comparison result; and

generating a collaborative metric in accordance with said comparison result.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said inviting includes:

notifying the respective participant when the collaborative metric is above a predefined threshold; and

receiving a response from the respective participant.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the at least one dynamic content item from the resource further includes:

defining a query in accordance with the topic of the online collaboration;

submitting the query to a search engine distinct from the server system; and

identifying a search result returned by the search engine as the at least one dynamic content item.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the multi-user online collaboration includes:

a participant operation selected from the group consisting of eliciting from the respective participant a list of potential participants in the multi-user online collaboration, automatically determining a set of potential participants for the multi-user online collaboration, and eliciting from the respective participant acceptance or a revision of an automatically generated list of potential participants for the multi-user online collaboration; and

a content operation selected from the group consisting of eliciting from the participant a set of content components of the multi-user online collaboration, automatically identifying the set of content components for the multi-user online collaboration, and eliciting from the participant acceptance or a revision of an automatically generated set of content components for the multi-user online collaboration; and

notifying the potential participants of the multi-user online collaboration.

7. The method of claim 1, including associating with each potential participant a respective participant privilege.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the multi-user online collaboration includes:

identifying a list of potential participants from the plurality of participants in the plurality of communications;

identifying a set of candidate content components based on the plurality of communications; and

notifying the potential participants of the multi-user online collaboration.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-user online collaboration includes links to multiple content items.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the multiple content items is automatically selected in accordance with content of an identified group of communications in the received plurality of communications.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of communications include one or more email messages, instant message (IM) messages, calendar events, blog posts, photograph postings, online comment postings, search engine searches, web page interactions, short message service (SMS) transmissions, or a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and processing includes comparing content, if any, attached to one or more received communications with the collaboration launch criteria.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the collaboration launch criteria include a plurality of distinct triggering patterns.

14. The method of claim 1, including responding to the positive participant response by generating the multi-user online collaboration in accordance with a default configuration.

15. The method of claim 1, including responding to the positive participant response by eliciting information from the participant concerning the plurality of participants and content of the multi-user online collaboration, and then generating the multi-user online collaboration in accordance with the elicited information.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more content items include content items retrieved from a plurality of sources, based on a personalized online collaboration configuration associated with the participant.

17. A computer system for forming a multi-user online collaboration, comprising:

main memory;

one or more processors; and

at least one program, stored in the main memory and executed by the one or more processors, the at least one program including instructions for;

receiving and processing a plurality of communications by a plurality of participants, including comparing the plurality of communications with collaboration launch criteria, the collaboration launch criteria including a threshold number of related communications consistent with a topic, the related communications being shared between the plurality of participants;

inviting a respective participant in the received communication to generate the multi-user online collaboration when a received communication meets the collaboration launch criteria; and

generating the multi-user online collaboration upon receipt of a positive response from the respective participant, including initializing the multi-user online collaboration with one or more content items by;

deriving the topic for the online collaboration from the plurality of communications by the plurality of participants;

determining a configuration including page layout of the multi-user online collaboration in accordance with the topic for the online collaboration;

retrieving at least one dynamic content item from a resource in accordance with the topic of the online collaboration;

incorporating the at least one dynamic content item into the multi-user online collaboration;

extracting information from communications that occur as part of the multi-user online collaboration; and

adding an event to a calendar based on the information extracted from the communications.

18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the one or more content items include content items retrieved from a plurality of sources, based on a personalized online collaboration configuration associated with the respective participant.

19. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the instructions for receiving and processing include instructions for:

identifying a group of communications;

comparing the group of communications with the collaboration launch criteria; and

generating a collaborative metric in accordance with said comparison result.

20. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the instructions for receiving and processing include instructions for:

identifying a group of communications;

identifying a plurality of topic-characterizing terms from the group of communications;

comparing the plurality of topic-characterizing terms with the collaboration launch criteria to produce a comparison result; and

generating a collaborative metric in accordance with said comparison result.

21. The computer system of claim 20, wherein the instructions for inviting further include instructions for:

notifying the respective participant when the collaborative metric is above a predefined threshold; and

receiving a response from the respective participant.

22. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the instructions for retrieving the at least one dynamic content item from the resource further include instructions for:

defining a query in accordance with the topic of the online collaboration;

submitting the query to a search engine distinct from the server system; and

identifying a search result returned by the search engine as the at least one dynamic content item.

23. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the instructions for generating the multi-user online collaboration further include instructions for:

a participant operation selected from the group consisting of eliciting from the respective participant a list of potential participants in the multi-user online collaboration, automatically determining a set of potential participants for the multi-user online collaboration, and eliciting from the respective participant acceptance or a revision of an automatically generated list of potential participants for the multi-user online collaboration; and

a content operation selected from the group consisting of eliciting from the participant a set of content components of the multi-user online collaboration, automatically identifying the set of content components for the multi-user online collaboration, and eliciting from the participant acceptance or a revision of an automatically generated set of content components for the multi-user online collaboration; and

notifying the potential participants of the multi-user online collaboration.

24. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of a computer system, the one or more programs comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:

receive and process a plurality of communications by a plurality of participants, including instructions for comparing the plurality of communications with collaboration launch criteria, the collaboration launch criteria including a threshold number of related communications consistent with a topic, the related communications being shared between the plurality of participants;

invite a respective participant in the received communication to generate a multi-user online collaboration when a received communication meets the collaboration launch criteria; and

generate the multi-user online collaboration upon receipt of a positive response from the respective participant, including initializing the multi-user online collaboration with one or more content items by;

deriving the topic for the online collaboration from the plurality of communications by the plurality of participants;

determining a configuration including page layout of the multi-user online collaboration in accordance with the topic for the online collaboration;

retrieving at least one dynamic content item from a resource in accordance with the topic of the online collaboration;

incorporating the at least one dynamic content item into the multi-user online collaboration;

extracting information from communications that occur as part of the multi-user online collaboration; and

adding an event to a calendar based on the information extracted from the communications.

25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the one or more content items include content items retrieved from a plurality of sources, based on a personalized online collaboration configuration associated with the respective participant.

26. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the receiving and processing include:

identifying a group of communications;

comparing the group of communications with the collaboration launch criteria; and

generating a collaborative metric in accordance with a comparison result.

27. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the receiving and processing include:

identifying a group of communications;

identifying a plurality of topic-characterizing terms from the group of communications;

comparing the plurality of topic-characterizing terms with the collaboration launch criteria to produce a comparison result; and

generating a collaborative metric in accordance with said comparison result.

28. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the inviting includes:

notifying the respective participant when the collaborative metric is above a predefined threshold; and

receiving a response from the respective participant.

29. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein retrieving the at least one dynamic content item from the resource includes:

defining a query in accordance with the topic of the online collaboration;

submitting the query to a search engine distinct from the server system; and

identifying a search result returned by the search engine as the at least one dynamic content item.

30. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein generating the multi-user online collaboration includes:

a participant operation selected from the group consisting of eliciting from the respective participant a list of potential participants in the multi-user online collaboration, automatically determining a set of potential participants for the multi-user online collaboration, and eliciting from the respective participant acceptance or a revision of an automatically generated list of potential participants for the multi-user online collaboration; and

a content operation selected from the group consisting of eliciting from the participant a set of content components of the multi-user online collaboration, automatically identifying the set of content components for the multi-user online collaboration, and eliciting from the participant acceptance or a revision of an automatically generated set of content components for the multi-user online collaboration; and

notifying the potential participants of the multi-user online collaboration.