Implicit process detection and automation from unstructured activity

• US 9,836,599 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2015
• Issued: 12/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Sheldon, Graham Andrew Michael, Gokalp, Sedat
• Primary Examiner(s): LWIN, MAUNG T
• Application Number:
  US14/657,646
• Publication Number:
  US 20160267268A1
• Time in Patent Office: 998 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities

Abstract

An unstructured event is detected and an unstructured event record is generated for the detected event. Case identifier (ID) conflation is performed to estimate a case ID that corresponds to the detected event, and event type identification is performed to estimate a type of the unstructured event. A business process model is applied to the unstructured event record, to identify a process that the unstructured event is related to. A user experience is generated based upon the event type, the case ID, and the corresponding process identified for the detected event.

Claims

1. A computing system, comprising:

a processor; and

memory storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the instructions, when executed, configure the computing system to;

receive an unstructured event record with event information indicative of an unstructured event, the unstructured event comprising an event other than a structured event that has a predefined event type and is configured to occur according to a predefined workflow associated with the computing system;

access an event type identifier model;

identify an event type corresponding to the unstructured event based on the event information and the event type identifier model;

generate an event type label, indicative of the event type, corresponding to the unstructured event record;

access a process model and a set of logged computing system processes to identify a process;

based on the unstructured event record, determine that the unstructured event corresponds to the identified process;

identify a workflow based on the identified process and the identified event type corresponding to the unstructured event record;

identify an anomaly in an activity pattern based on the identified process;

modify the workflow based on the identified anomaly;

generate a representation of a user interface display that includes the modified workflow and a user input mechanism; and

based on an indication of user actuation of the user input mechanism, perform an action with respect to the modified workflow.

2. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to detect an unstructured activity pattern associated with a particular user.

3. The computing system of claim 2, wherein the instructions configure the computing system to detect whether the unstructured event is part of the activity pattern associated with the particular user and identity that the activity pattern relates to the identified process.

4. The computing system of claim 3, wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

compare the unstructured activity record against the activity pattern for the particular user and identify the anomaly in the activity pattern for the user, based on the comparison.

5. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

generate a recommended action based on the anomaly.

6. The computing system of claim 5 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

generate a representation of an action user input mechanism; and

based on an indication of user actuation of the action user input mechanism, perform the recommended action.

7. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

identify a computing system object corresponding to the unstructured event record and open the computing system object in an application context based on the unstructured event record.

8. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

access a case identifier (ID) conflation model to associate the unstructured event record with a case in the computing system.

9. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

detect the unstructured event;

extract the event information; and

generate the unstructured event record.

10. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

classify the unstructured event record into an event type.

11. A computing system comprising:

a processor; and

memory storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the instructions, when executed, configure the computing system to;

receive a labeled unstructured event record that includes event information indicative of an unstructured user interface event in the computing system, the unstructured event record being labeled with an event type, the unstructured user interface event comprising an event other than a structured event that has a predefined event type and is configured to occur according to a predefined workflow associated with the computing system;

access a process model and a set of logged computing system processes to identify a process;

based on the unstructured event record, determine that the unstructured event record corresponds to the identified process;

identify a workflow based on the process and the event type corresponding to the unstructured event record;

identify an anomaly in an activity pattern based on the identified process;

modify the workflow based on the identified anomaly; and

generate a representation of a user interface display that represents the modified workflow.

12. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

receive the unstructured event record and access an event identification model to identify an event type corresponding to the unstructured event record.

13. The computing system of claim 12 wherein the event identification model comprises a classifier.

14. The computing system of claim 12 and further comprising:

receive the unstructured event record;

access a case identifier (ID) conflation model; and

based on the accessed case ID conflation model, identify a case ID within the computing system to which the unstructured event record corresponds.

15. The computing system of claim 14 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

determine that the activity pattern comprises an unstructured activity pattern; and

determine whether the unstructured event record is part of the unstructured activity pattern.

16. The computing system of claim 15 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

determine whether the unstructured event record represents an anomaly in the unstructured activity pattern.

17. The computing system of claim 16 wherein the instructions configure the computing system to:

generate the representation of the user interface display to include a recommendation, the recommendation being based on a determination that the unstructured event record represents an anomaly.

18. A computer implemented method, comprising:

detecting an unstructured event in a computing system, the unstructured event comprising an event other than a structured event that has a predefined event type and is configured to occur according to a predefined workflow associated with the computing system;

extracting information indicative of the unstructured event to generate an unstructured event record;

classifying the unstructured event record to identify a corresponding event type;

accessing a process model and a set of logged computing system processes to identify a process;

based on the unstructured event record, determining that the unstructured event corresponds to the identified process;

identifying a workflow in the computing system based on the identified process and the identified event type corresponding to the unstructured event record;

identifying an anomaly in an activity pattern based on the identified process;

modifying the workflow based on the identified anomaly; and

generating a representation of a user interface display that includes the modified workflow.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 18, wherein the activity pattern comprises a series of executed events corresponding to a given user, and further comprising:

determining whether the unstructured activity record represents the anomaly in the activity pattern;

based on the determination, automatically identifying a recommended action that, when executed by the computing system, addresses the anomaly; and

modifying the representation of the user interface display to represent the recommended action.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 18 and further comprising:

accessing a case identifier (ID) conflation model to assign the unstructured event record to a case ID within the computer system.