Needs-based mapping and processing engine

• US 9,135,633 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2014
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Strategyn Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Strategyn Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Eskey, Eric, Ulwick, Anthony W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Burke, Jeffrey A
• Assistant Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US14/177,036
• Publication Number:
  US 20140156345A1
• Time in Patent Office: 582 Days
• Field of Search: 707/728, 707/723, 705/14.41, 705/7.36
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

A mechanism is disclosed that dramatically minimizes the time it takes to gather needs, dramatically minimizes the expense it takes to gather those needs, and ensures those statements are formulated in manner that comply with a set of rules designed to ensure the right inputs are used in downstream strategy formulation, marketing, product development, and related company workflows. In addition, the mechanism may or may not minimize the time it takes for a company to acquire the capability to uncover these needs statements.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

gathering, by an electronically stored information (ESI) gathering engine, ESI for a selected market;

identifying needs for the selected market from the ESI;

determining measures of relevance of the ESI to the selected market;

prioritizing the ESI according to the determined measures of relevance;

purging irrelevant parts of the ESI and the needs associated with the irrelevant parts of the ESI to leave relevant needs for the selected market;

generating a job map for the selected market using the relevant needs for the selected market;

generating a needs hierarchy using the job map and the relevant needs for the selected market.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the needs for the selected market from the ESI further comprises:

tagging the ESI;

identifying verb-object clauses in the tagged ESI;

parsing the verb-object clauses;

determining clause types of the parsed verb-object clauses;

determining the needs for the selected market from the clause types and the parsed verb-object clauses.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating market tags for the selected market;

generating ESI queries used to gather the ESI for the selected market from the market tags and query formulation rules.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

selecting a search engine;

translating the ESI queries into forms that the search engine can process, the search engine using the translated ESI queries to retrieve the ESI for the selected market;

converting the retrieved ESI into a desired format.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the retrieved ESI includes an image and converting the retrieved ESI into the desired format includes extracting text from the image using optical-character recognition.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

comparing the retrieved ESI to determine duplicates in the retrieved ESI;

deduplicating the retrieved ESI to remove the duplicates in the retrieved ESI.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying gaps in the relevant needs for the selected market;

using the identified gaps to create an interview guide that is used to create feedback;

gathering additional ESI for the selected market using the feedback.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying solutions to the relevant needs for the selected market from the ESI;

populating the needs hierarchy with the solutions.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving feedback from a strategist regarding the needs hierarchy;

modifying the needs hierarchy according to the feedback to create a final needs hierarchy.

10. A system comprising:

an electronically stored information (ESI) gathering engine configured to gather ESI for a selected market;

a needs gathering engine configured to identify needs for the selected market from the ESI for the selected market;

a relevance determination engine configured to;

determine measures of relevance of the ESI to the selected market;

prioritize the ESI according to the determined measures of relevance;

purge irrelevant parts of the ESI and the needs associated with the irrelevant parts of the ESI to leave relevant needs for the selected market;

a job map formulation engine configured to generate a job map for the selected market using the relevant needs for the selected market;

a needs generation engine configured to generate a needs hierarchy using the job map and the relevant needs for the selected market.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the needs gathering engine is further configured to:

tag the ESI;

identify verb-object clauses in the tagged ESI;

parse the verb-object clauses;

determine clause types of the parsed verb-object clauses;

determine the needs for the selected market from the clause types and the parsed verb-object clauses.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising a query formulation engine configured to:

generate market tags for the selected market;

generate ESI queries used to gather the ESI for the selected market from the market tags and query formulation rules.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the ESI gathering engine is further configured to:

select a search engine;

translate the ESI queries into forms that the search engine can process, the search engine using the translated ESI queries to retrieve the ESI for the selected market;

convert retrieved ESI into a desired format.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the retrieved ESI includes an image and the ESI gathering engine is configured to convert the retrieved ESI into the desired format by extracting text from the image using optical-character recognition.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the ESI gathering engine is further configured to:

compare the retrieved ESI to determine duplicates in the retrieved ESI;

deduplicate the retrieved ESI to remove the duplicates in the retrieved ESI.

16. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a gap identification engine configured to;

identify gaps in the relevant needs for the selected market;

use the identified gaps to create an interview guide that is used to create feedback;

wherein the ESI gathering engine is further configured to gather additional ESI for the selected market using the feedback.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the needs gathering engine is further configured to identify solutions to the relevant needs for the selected market from the ESI;

the needs generation engine is further configured to populate the needs hierarchy with the solutions.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the needs generation engine is further configured to:

receive feedback from a strategist regarding the needs hierarchy;

modify the needs hierarchy according to the feedback to create a final needs hierarchy.

19. A system comprising:

means for gathering, by an electronically stored information (ESI) gathering engine, ESI for a selected market;

means for identifying needs for the selected market from the ESI;

means for determining measures of relevance of the ESI to the selected market;

means for prioritizing the ESI according to the determined measures of relevance;

means for purging irrelevant parts of the ESI and the needs associated with the irrelevant parts of the ESI to leave relevant needs for the selected market;

means for generating a job map for the selected market using the relevant needs for the selected market;

means for generating a needs hierarchy using the job map and the relevant needs for the selected market.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for tagging the ESI;

means for identifying verb-object clauses in the tagged ESI;

means for parsing the verb-object clauses;

means for determining clause types of the parsed verb-object clauses;

means for determining the needs for the selected market from the clause types and the parsed verb-object clauses.