System for displaying a plurality of associated items in a collaborative environment

• US 9,208,262 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2009
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Bechtel, Michael E., Hsu, Erin E., Richards, Brian H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chuang, Jessica
• Application Number:
  US12/489,824
• Publication Number:
  US 20090259947A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,359 Days
• Field of Search: 715/751, 715/753
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system is described for displaying a plurality of associated items in a collaborative environment. The system may include a memory, an interface, and a processor. The memory may store items, each item associated with another item. The processor may provide the graphical representation of the items to a user where each item is represented by a shape. The processor may receive a request to associate a first metric of the items with a size of each shape and a request to associate a second metric of the items with a color of each shape. The processor may transform the graphical representation such that the size of each shape is based on the value of the first metric of each item, and the color of each shape is based on the value of the second metric of each item. The processor may provide the transformed graphical representation to the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a graphical representation of a plurality of items in a collaborative innovation environment, the method comprising:

initiating a collaborative innovation process with a seed item wherein the seed item includes an idea, a question, an opinion or a statement for which a result is sought, and innovating one or more idea items directly or indirectly in response to the seed item to determine the result for the seed item based on the one or more idea items in the collaborative innovation process, wherein the seed item and the one or more idea items comprise a plurality of items;

providing, by a processor to a device of a user, a list of a plurality of seed items in a graphical user interface;

providing, by the processor to the device of the user in the graphical user interface, a graphical representation of the plurality of items including a seed item selected by the user from the plurality of seed items and one or more idea items innovated in response to the selected seed item, each item of the plurality of items having an association with at least one other item in the graphical representation, wherein each item of the plurality of items is represented by a shape and the association of each item with the at least one other item is represented by a line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item, wherein the line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item identifies whether the item is an idea item that was innovated from the at least one other item;

receiving, by the processor from the device of the user, a request to associate a first metric of the plurality of items with a size of each shape representing each respective item, wherein the size of each shape is based on a first value of the first metric of each respective item;

receiving, by the processor from the device of the user, a request to associate a second metric of the plurality of items with a color of each shape representing each respective item, wherein the color of each shape is based on a second value of the second metric of each respective item;

transforming, by the processor, the graphical representation of the plurality of items such that the size of each shape representing each respective item is based on the first value of the first metric of each respective item and the color of each shape representing each respective item is based on the second value of the second metric of each respective item;

transforming, by the processor, the plurality of items into a textual outline representation of the plurality of items;

providing, by the processor to the device of the user, the transformed graphical representation and the textual outline representation of the plurality of items in the graphical user interface, wherein the transformed graphical representation of the plurality of items and the textual outline representation of the plurality of items are simultaneously displayed on the device of the user in a graphical representation display area and a textual outline display area respectively, wherein the graphical representation display area and the textual outline display area are each a responsive display area to each other;

responsively, reflecting actions performed in either the graphical representation display area or the textual outline display area in the responsive display area of the other, including;

creating an item innovated from one of the plurality of items in the responsive display area of the other in instances when one of the plurality of items is selected and when a selection is received from a user selection made in either the graphical representation display area or the textual outline display area; and

receiving, by the processor from the device of the user, a request to search through a set of idea items of the plurality of items based on a characteristic of an idea item, wherein the set of idea items to be searched based on the characteristic is determined based on a user selection that indicates whether to search all of the one or more idea items or to search only a subset of the one or more idea items that have received a specified rating;

moving a user-selected one item of the plurality of items having an association with the at least one other item in the graphical representation to a user-selected destination by;

disassociating the user-selected one item of the plurality of items from an item it was innovated from;

associating the user-selected one item of the plurality of items with another item based on user input;

providing by the processor to the device of the user a preview for display of the graphical representation including the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the destination item; and

allowing the user to cancel or confirm the move of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items;

wherein in response to a click of a move descendants button in a user interface by the user, including the descendants of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the moving of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the user-selected destination, and including the descendants of the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the preview for display of the graphical representation;

in response to a click of a like it button or a click of a don'"'"'t like it button in the graphical user interface, entering a rating of a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an enhance button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to create an item enhancing a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an edit button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to edit a selected item in the graphical user interface; and

in response to a click of a delete button in the graphical user interface deleting a selected item in the graphical user interface;

wherein the graphical user interface includes the like it button, the don'"'"'t like it button, the enhance button, the edit button and the delete button.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the size of each shape increases as the first value of the first metric of each item increases and the size of each shape decreases as the first value of the first metric of each item decreases.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the size of each shape decreases as the first value of the first metric of each item increases, and the size of each shape increases as the first value of the first metric of each item decreases.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the size of each shape increases as the first value of the first metric of each item approaches a best value for the first metric, and the size of each shape decreases as the first value of the first metric of each item approaches a worst value for the first metric.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the color of each shape becomes a first color as the second value of the second metric of each item increases and the color of each shape becomes a second color as the second value of the second metric of each item decreases.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 wherein the color of each shape becomes a blend of the first color and the second color as the second value of the second metric increases or decreases.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein an amount of the first color in the blend of the first color and the second color increases as the second value of the second metric of each item increases.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein an amount of the second color in the blend of the first color and the second color increases as the second value of the second metric of each item decreases.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the first metric comprises at least one of a number of views of each item, an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each items was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the second metric comprises at least one of a number of views of each item, an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each items was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein each shape comprises a geometric shape.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the graphical representation comprises a hierarchical structure.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising receiving the plurality of items from a plurality of users.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein an item of the plurality of items has the association with another item if the item was innovated from the other item or if the other item was innovated from the item.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising, displaying a result of the collaborative innovation processes as an ordered list of one or more of the items innovated directly or indirectly from the seed item, wherein the result is relative to the content of the seed item and wherein the ordered list is ordered based on ratings received from one or more users, or based on one or more metrics associated with the plurality of items.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising, adding a tag to a user selected item which is selected by the user from the plurality of items, wherein the user selected item is represented as a shape and selected by the user from the graphical representation, or the user selected item is represented by the outline representation and selected by the user from the outline representation, and wherein the tag associates the user selected item with one or more searchable keywords.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising, providing to a display of a user, details about the selected seed item including a creator of the seed item, the creation date of the seed item, the number of items innovated from the seed item, the total number of views of the seed item and the number of unique viewers of the seed item.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising, in response to a click of a toggle button in the graphical user interface, toggling between the graphical representation of the plurality of items and the outline representation of the plurality of items.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to a click of a like it button or a click of a don'"'"'t like it button in the graphical user interface enter a rating of a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an enhance button in the graphical user interface allow a user to create an item enhancing a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an edit button in the graphical user interface allow a user to edit a selected item in the graphical user interface; and

in response to a click of a delete button in the graphical user interface delete a selected item in the graphical user interface;

wherein the graphical user interface includes the like it button, the don'"'"'t like it button, the enhance button, the edit button and the delete button.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising, converting a user selected one of the plurality of items having an association with the at least one other item in the graphical representation into a new seed item by:

disassociating the user selected one of the plurality of items from an item it was innovated from;

transforming the selected one of the plurality of items to the new seed item;

providing by the processor to the device of the user a preview for display of the graphical representation including the new seed item; and

allowing the user to cancel or confirm the conversion of the user selected item to the new seed item.

21. The computer implemented method of claim 20 further comprising, in response to a click of a button in a user interface by a user, including the descendants of the user selected one of the plurality of items in the conversion of the user selected one of the plurality of items to a seed item, and including the descendants of the user selected one of the plurality of items in the preview for display of the graphical representation including the new seed item as descendants of the new seed item.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 wherein the first metric comprises at least one of an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each items was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

22. A computer-implemented method for providing a graphical representation of a plurality of items in a collaborative innovation environment, the method comprising:

initiating a collaborative innovation process with a seed item wherein the seed item includes an idea, a question, an opinion or a statement for which a result is sought, and innovating one or more idea items directly or indirectly in response to the seed item to determine the result for the seed item based on the one or more idea items in the collaborative innovation process, wherein the seed item and the one or more idea items comprise a plurality of items;

providing by a processor to a device of a user a list of a plurality of seed items in a graphical user interface;

identifying, by the processor, a plurality of items including a seed item selected by the user from the plurality of seed items and a plurality of idea items innovated in response to the selected seed item by a plurality of users in the collaborative innovation environment, each of the plurality of items having an association with at least one other item;

transforming, by the processor, the plurality of items into a graphical representation in the graphical user interface, wherein each item of the plurality of items is represented by a shape and the association of each item with the at least one other item is represented by a line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one of other item, wherein the line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item identifies whether the item was innovated from the at least one other item;

transforming, by the processor, the plurality of items into a textual outline representation of the plurality of items;

providing, by the processor to a device of a user in the graphical user interface, the graphical representation and the textual outline representation, wherein the graphical representation and the textual outline representation are simultaneously displayed on the device of the user in a graphical display area and a textual outline display area respectively, wherein the graphical representation display area and the textual outline display area are each a responsive display area to each other;

responsively, reflecting actions performed in either the graphical representation display area or the textual outline display area in the responsive display area of the other, including;

creating an item innovated from one of the plurality of items in the responsive display area of the other in instances when one of the plurality of items is selected and when a selection is received from a user selection made in either the graphical representation display area or the outline display area;

receiving, by the processor from the device of the user, a request to search through a set of idea items of the plurality of items, wherein the set of idea items to be searched is determined based on a user selection that indicates whether to search all of the plurality of idea items or to search only a subset of the plurality of idea items that have received a specified rating;

moving a user-selected one item of the plurality of items having an association with the at least one other item in the graphical representation to a user-selected destination by;

disassociating the user selected one item of the plurality of items from an item it was innovated from;

associating the selected one item of the plurality of items with another item based on user input;

providing by the processor to the device of the user a preview for display of the graphical representation including the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the destination item; and

allowing the user to cancel or confirm the move of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items;

wherein in response to a click of a move descendants button in a user interface by the user, including the descendants of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the moving of the user-selected one of the plurality of items to the user-selected destination, and including the descendants of the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the preview for display of the graphical representation;

in response to a click of a like it button or a click of a don'"'"'t like it button in the graphical user interface, entering a rating of a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an enhance button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to create an item enhancing a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an edit button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to edit a selected item in the graphical user interface; and

in response to a click of a delete button in the graphical user interface deleting a selected item in the graphical user interface;

wherein the graphical user interface includes the like it button, the don'"'"'t like it button, the enhance button, the edit button and the delete button.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22 wherein a color of each shape is based on a first value of a first metric of each item represented by each shape.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23 wherein the first metric comprises at least one of a number of views of each item, an age of each item, a status of each item, an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each items was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 22 wherein a size of each shape is based on a second value of a second metric of each item represented by each shape.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25 wherein the second metric comprises at least one of an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each items was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 22 wherein the graphical representation comprises a hierarchical structure.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 22 further comprising, displaying a result of the collaborative innovation processes as an ordered list of one or more of the items innovated directly or indirectly from the seed item, wherein the result is relative to the content of the seed item and wherein the ordered list is ordered based on ratings received from one or more users, or based on one or more metrics associated with the plurality of items.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 22 further comprising, adding a tag to a user selected item which is selected by the user from the plurality of items, wherein the user selected item is represented as a shape and selected by the user from the graphical representation, or the user selected item is represented by the outline representation and selected by the user from the outline representation, and wherein the tag associates the user selected item with one or more searchable keywords.

30. A computer-implemented method for modifying a graphical representation of a plurality of items in a collaborative innovation environment, the method comprising:

initiating a collaborative innovation process with a seed item wherein the seed item includes an idea, a question, an opinion or a statement for which a result is sought, and innovating one or more idea items directly or indirectly in response to the seed item to determine the result for the seed item based on the one or more idea items in the collaborative innovation process, wherein the seed item and the one or more idea items comprise a plurality of items;

providing, by a processor to a device of a user, a list of a plurality of seed items in a graphical user interface;

providing, by the processor to the device of the user in the graphical user interface, a graphical representation of a plurality of items including a seed item selected by the user from the plurality of seed items and one or more idea items innovated in response to the selected seed item, each item of the plurality of items having an association with at least one other item the graphical representation, wherein each item of the plurality of items is represented by a shape and the association of each item with the at least one other item is represented by a line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one of other item, wherein the line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item identifies whether the item is an idea item that was innovated from the at least one other item;

receiving, by a processor, a request to remove a line between a first shape and a second shape and add a line between the first shape and a third shape;

removing, by the processor, the association between the item represented by the first shape and the item represented by the second shape;

transforming, by the processor, the graphical representation to remove the line between the first shape and the second shape;

adding, by the processor, an association between the item represented by the first shape and the item represented by the third shape;

transforming, by the processor, the item represented by the first shape and the item represented by the third shape into textual outline representation;

transforming, by the processor, the graphical representation to display a line between the first shape and the third shape;

displaying the transformed graphical representation and the textual outline representation of the plurality of items, wherein the transformed graphical representation comprising the association represented by the first shape and the item represented by the third shape and the textual outline representation are simultaneously displayed on the device of the user in a graphical representation display area and an textual outline display area, respectively, wherein the graphical representation display area and the textual outline display area are each a responsive display area to each other;

responsively, reflecting actions performed in either the graphical representation display area or the textual outline display area in the responsive display area of the other, including;

creating an item innovated from one of the plurality of items in the responsive display area of the other in instances when one of the plurality of items is selected and when a selection is received from a user selection made in either the graphical representation display area or the textual outline display area; and

receiving, by the processor from the device of the user, a request to search through a set of idea items of the plurality of items, wherein the set items to be searched is determined based on a user selection that indicates whether to search all of the one or more idea items or to search only a subset of the one or more idea items that have received a specified rating;

moving a user-selected one item of the plurality of items having an association with the at least one other item in the graphical representation to a user-selected destination by;

disassociating the user-selected one item of the plurality of items from an item it was innovated from;

associating the selected one item of the plurality of items with another item based on user input;

providing by the processor to the device of the user a preview for display of the graphical representation including the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the destination item; and

allowing the user to cancel or confirm the move of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items;

wherein in response to a click of a move descendants button in a user interface by the user, including the descendants of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the moving of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items, and including the descendants of the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the preview for display of the graphical representation;

in response to a click of a like it button or a click of a don'"'"'t like it button in the graphical user interface, entering a rating of a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an enhance button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to create an item enhancing a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an edit button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to edit a selected item in the graphical user interface; and

in response to a click of a delete button in the graphical user interface deleting a selected item in the graphical user interface;

wherein the graphical user interface includes the like it button, the don'"'"'t like it button, the enhance button, the edit button and the delete button.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 30 further comprising providing, by the processor to the device of the user, the transformed graphical representation.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 30 wherein a color of each shape is based on a first value of a first metric of each item represented by each shape.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 30 wherein a size of each shape is based on a second value of a second metric of each item represented by each shape.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein the second metric comprises at least one of an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each item was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 30 wherein the graphical representation comprises a hierarchical structure.

37. The computer-implemented method of claim 30 further comprising, displaying a result of the collaborative innovation processes as an ordered list of one or more of the items innovated directly or indirectly from the seed item, wherein the result is relative to the content of the seed item and wherein the ordered list is ordered based on ratings received from one or more users, or based on one or more metrics associated with the plurality of items.

38. The computer-implemented method of claim 30 further comprising, adding a tag to a user selected item which is selected by the user from the plurality of items, wherein the user selected item is represented as a shape and selected by the user from the transformed graphical representation, or the user selected item is represented by the outline representation and selected by the user from the outline representation, and wherein the tag associates the user selected item with one or more searchable keywords.

39. A system for providing a graphical representation of a plurality of items in a collaborative innovation environment, the system comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of items, each item having an association with at least one other item;

an interface operatively connected to the memory, the interface operative to communicate with a device of a user; and

a hardware processor operatively connected to the memory and the interface, the hardware processor operative to;

receive, from the device of the user, a request to initiate a collaborative innovation process with a seed item wherein the seed item includes an idea, a question, an opinion or a statement for which a result is sought, and to innovate one or more idea items directly or indirectly in response to the seed item to determine the result for the seed item based on the one or more idea items in the collaborative innovation process, wherein the seed item and the one or more idea items comprise the plurality of items;

provide by the hardware processor to the device of the user, a list of a plurality of seed items in a graphical user interface;

provide, to the device of the user in the graphical user interface, a graphical representation of the plurality of items including a seed item selected by the user from the plurality of seed items and a plurality of idea items innovated in response to the selected seed item, wherein each item of the plurality of items is represented by a shape and the association of each item with the at least one other item is represented by a line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item, wherein the line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item identifies whether the each item is an idea item that was innovated from the at least one other item,

receive, from the device of the user, a request to associate a first metric of the plurality of items with a size of each shape representing each respective item, wherein the size of each shape is based on a value of the first metric of each respective item,

receive, from the device of the user, a request to associate a second metric with a color of each shape representing each respective item, wherein the color of each shape is based on a second value of the second metric of each respective item,

transform, by the hardware processor, the graphical representation of the plurality of items such that the size of each shape representing each respective item is based on the first value of the first metric of each respective item and the color of each shape representing each item is based on the second value of the second metric of each respective item,

transform, by the hardware processor, the plurality of items into a textual outline representation of the plurality of items,

provide, to the device of the user, the transformed graphical representation and the textual outline representation of the plurality of items, wherein the graphical representation comprising the metrics of the idea items and the textual outline representation comprising the textual descriptive information of the plurality of idea items are simultaneously displayed on the device of the user in a graphical representation display area and an textual outline display area respectively, wherein the graphical representation display area and the textual outline display area are each a responsive display area to each other; and

responsively, reflect actions performed in either the graphical representation display area or the textual outline display area in the responsive display area of the other, by;

creating an item innovated from one of the plurality of items in the responsive display area of the other in instances when one of the plurality of items is selected and when a selection is received from a user selection made in either the graphical representation display area or the textual outline display area; and

receiving, by the hardware processor from the device of the user, a request to search through a set of idea items of the plurality of idea items, wherein the set of items to be searched is determined based on a user selection that indicates whether to search all of the plurality of idea items or to search only a subset of the plurality of idea items that have received a specified rating;

moving a user-selected one item of the plurality of items having an association with the at least one other item in the graphical representation to a user-selected destination by;

disassociating the user-selected one item of the plurality of items from an item it was innovated from;

associating the selected one item of the plurality of items with another item based on user input;

providing by the hardware processor to the device of the user a preview for display of the graphical representation including the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the destination item; and

allowing the user to cancel or confirm the move of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items;

wherein in response to a click of a move descendants button in a user interface by the user, including the descendants of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the moving of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the user-selected destination, and including the descendants of the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the preview for display of the graphical representation;

in response to a click of a like it button or a click of a don'"'"'t like it button in the graphical user interface, entering a rating of a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an enhance button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to create an item enhancing a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an edit button in the graphical user interface allowing a user to edit a selected item in the graphical user interface; and

in response to a click of a delete button in the graphical user interface deleting a selected item in the graphical user interface;

wherein the graphical user interface includes the like it button, the don'"'"'t like it button, the enhance button, the edit button and the delete button.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein the size of each shape increases as the first value of the first metric of each item increases and the size of each shape decreases as the first value of the first metric of each item decreases.

41. The system of claim 39 wherein the size of each shape decreases as the first value of the first metric of each item increases, and the size of each shape increases as the first value of the first metric of each item decreases.

42. The system of claim 39 wherein the size of each shape increases as the first value of the first metric of each item approaches a best value for the first metric, and the size of each shape decreases as the first value of the first metric of each item approaches a worst value for the first metric.

43. The system method of claim 39 wherein the color of each shape becomes a first color as the second value of the second metric of each item increases and the color of each shape becomes a second color as the second value of the second metric of each item decreases.

44. The system of claim 39 wherein the first metric comprises at least one of an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each items was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

45. The system of claim 39 wherein the second metric comprises at least one of an age of each item, a status of each item, a rating of each item, a number of times each items was shared, a number of total votes each item received, a geographic location of a user who provided the each item, or a department the user who provided each item belongs to.

46. The system of claim 39, wherein the hardware processor is operative to display a result of the collaborative innovation processes as an ordered list of one or more of the items innovated directly or indirectly from the seed item, wherein the result is relative to the content of the seed item and wherein the ordered list is ordered based on ratings received from one or more users, or based on one or more metrics associated with the plurality of items.

47. The system of claim 39, wherein the hardware processor is operable to add a tag to a user selected item which is selected by the user from the plurality of items, wherein the user selected item is represented as a shape and selected by the user from the graphical representation, or the user selected item is represented by the outline representation and selected by the user from the outline representation, and wherein the tag associates the user selected item with one or more searchable keywords.

48. A system for providing a graphical representation of a plurality of items in a collaborative environment, the system comprising:

a hardware processor operatively connected to a memory and an interface;

the memory comprising;

a plurality of items, each item having an association with at least one other item;

the interface operatively connected to the memory;

the hardware processor operable to;

communicate via the interface with a device of a user, wherein a collaborative innovation process is initiated with a seed item wherein the seed item includes an idea, a question, an opinion or a statement for which a result is sought, and one or more idea items are innovated directly or indirectly in response to the seed item, and wherein the plurality of items comprises the seed item and the one or more idea items;

provide by the hardware processor to the device of the user, a list of a plurality of seed items in a graphical user interface;

provide by the hardware processor in the graphical user interface, at least one display area comprising;

a graphical display area for graphically displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of items including a seed item selected by the user from the plurality of seed items and a plurality of idea items innovated in response to the selected seed item, wherein each item of the plurality of items is represented by a shape and the association of each item with the at least one other item is represented by a line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item, wherein the line between each shape representing each item and each shape representing the at least one other item identifies whether the item is an idea item that was innovated from the at least one other item,

the graphical display area comprising;

right, left, top and bottom regions;

a display modifier, in the top left region of the graphical display area, comprising directional controls to navigate the graphical representation, the display modifier operable to receive inputs at the directional controls to navigate the graphical representation up, down, right, and left;

a shape modification section, in the top right region of the graphical display area, operable to;

 

receive a request to associate a first metric of the plurality of items with a size of each shape representing each respective item, wherein the size of each shape is based on a first value of the first metric of each respective item;

 

receive a request to associate a second metric with a color of each shape representing each respective item, wherein the color of each shape is based on a second value of the second metric of each respective item;

transform by the hardware processor, the graphical representation of the plurality of items such that the size of each shape representing each respective item is based on the first value of the first metric of each respective item and the color of each shape representing each respective item is based on the second value of the second metric of each respective item;

transform, by the hardware processor, the plurality of items into a textual outline representation of the plurality of items; and

display in the at least one display area the transformed graphical representation and the textual outline representation of the plurality of items, wherein the transformed graphical representation comprising the metrics of the idea items and the textual outline representation comprising textual descriptive information of the plurality of idea items are simultaneously displayed on the device of the user in the graphical representation display area and an outline display area respectively, wherein the graphical representation display area and the outline display area are each a responsive display area to each other; and

responsively, reflect actions performed in either the graphical representation display area or the outline display area in the responsive display area of the other, by;

creating an item innovated from one of the plurality of items in the responsive display area of the other in instances when one of the plurality of items is selected and when a selection is received from a user selection made in either the graphical representation display area or the outline display area; and

receive, by the hardware processor from the device of the user, a request to search through a set of idea items of the plurality of idea items, wherein the set items to be searched is determined based on a user selection that indicates whether to search all of the plurality of idea items or to search only a subset of the plurality of idea items that have received a specified rating;

move by the hardware processor, a user-selected one item of the plurality of items having an association with the at least one other item in the graphical representation to a user-selected destination by;

disassociating the user-selected one item of the plurality of items from an item it was innovated from; and

associating the selected one item of the plurality of items with another item based on user input;

provide by the hardware processor to the device of the user a preview for display of the graphical representation including the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the destination item; and

allow the user to cancel or confirm the move of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items;

wherein in response to a click of a move descendants button in a user interface by the user, including the descendants of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the moving of the user-selected one item of the plurality of items to the user-selected destination, and including the descendants of the moved user-selected one item of the plurality of items in the preview for display of the graphical representation;

in response to a click of a like it button or a click of a don'"'"'t like it button in the graphical user interface, enter a rating of a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an enhance button in the graphical user interface allow a user to create an item enhancing a selected item in the graphical user interface;

in response to a click of an edit button in the graphical user interface allow a user to edit a selected item in the graphical user interface; and

in response to a click of a delete button in the graphical user interface delete a selected item in the graphical user interface;

wherein the graphical user interface includes the like it button, the don'"'"'t like it button, the enhance button, the edit button and the delete button.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the hardware processor is operative to display a result of the collaborative innovation processes as an ordered list of one or more of the items innovated directly or indirectly from the seed item, wherein the result is relative to the content of the seed item and wherein the ordered list is ordered based on ratings received from one or more users, or based on one or more metrics associated with the plurality of items.

50. The system of claim 48, wherein the hardware processor is operable to add a tag to a user selected item which is selected by the user from the plurality of items, wherein the user selected item is represented as a shape and selected by the user from the graphical representation, or the user selected item is represented by the outline representation and selected by the user from the outline representation, and wherein the tag associates the user selected item with one or more searchable keywords.