Systems and methods for automated help

• US 10,025,805 B1
• Filed: 06/24/2014
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Desprez, LLC
• Original Assignee: Benko, LLC
• Inventors: Jacobs, II, James L., Cronin, John E., Lynch, Steven M., Huffines, Christopher M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Tuan A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dang, Thai V
• Application Number:
  US14/313,676
• Time in Patent Office: 1,484 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3329 Natural language query formulation or dialogue systems

Abstract

A method for providing assistance to users of computer programs. The computer system receives user inputs for utilizing the various functions of a computer program. The system records an amount of time during which said user utilizes the respective functions, such that when a user signals that assistance is needed, the system determines which of the program'"'"'s functions have been most frequently used. The system then finds, and connects to the user, persons having expertise in those respective areas.

Claims

1. On a computer system including at least one processor and at least one computer readable medium storing machine-executable instructions including a plurality of modules that are executed by the processor, a method comprising:

causing the computer system including the at least one processor and the at least one computer readable medium storing machine-executable instructions to receive user inputs for utilizing a plurality of functions of a computer program;

causing the computer system to record an amount of time during which the user utilizes each of the plurality of functions, wherein recording the amount of time further comprises;

detecting a plurality of user actions;

identifying, for each action of the plurality of user actions an area of expertise associated with the action, a time of initiation of the action, and a time spent by the user on the action;

calculating a running total of time spent by the user on all actions over a continuous period using the time spent on by the user on each action of the plurality of user actions; and

writing the time spent on each action and the running total to a design state database;

causing the computer system to receive an indication from a user that assistance is requested;

causing the computer system to identify an area of expertise associated with a greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions during the period, wherein identifying further comprises;

listing a plurality of areas of expertise, the plurality of areas of expertise including each area of expertise associated with user actions of the plurality of user actions;

summing a total running time per area of expertise by aggregating the time spent by the user on each action of each area of expertise;

determining a proportion of the running total representing the total running time of each area of expertise; and

identifying the area of expertise associated with the largest proportion of the running total; and

based on the identified area of expertise associated with the greatest use of the plurality of functions, causing the computer system to identify expertise to provide assistance to the user.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of causing the computer system to record an amount of time during which the user utilizes each of the plurality of functions comprises grouping the functions into a plurality of functional groups, and recording an amount of time during which the user utilizes at least some of the plurality of functional groups.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of causing the computer system to identify expertise to provide assistance to the user comprises designating one of a plurality of experts.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein designating one of the plurality of experts comprises comparing a representation of expertise of each of the plurality of experts for each of the plurality of areas of expertise to the identified area of expertise associated with the greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step identifying a selected one of the plurality of experts further comprises:

assigning an expertise score to at least some of the plurality of experts for at least some of the plurality of areas of expertise;

indicating expert availability; and

selecting experts based on a sort of the plurality of areas of expertise in order of most frequently used, the indication of expert availability, and the expertise score.

8. A method according to claim 7, further comprising:

indicating activities that a given expert should not be selected to perform, wherein the step of selecting experts is further based on the indication of activities that a given expert should not be selected to perform.

9. A method according to claim 7, wherein if multiple experts are initially selected based on which of the plurality of areas of expertise is most frequently used, a single expert is selected based on expertise scores of the multiple experts for a next most frequently used of the plurality of areas of expertise.

5. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine-executable instructions including a plurality of modules that are executed by a processor of a computer system, the instructions when executed by the processor causing the computer system to execute a method comprising:

receiving user inputs for utilizing a plurality of functions of a computer program;

recording an amount of time during which the user utilizes each of the plurality of functions, wherein recording the amount of time further comprises;

detecting a plurality of user actions;

identifying, for each action of the plurality of user actions an area of expertise associated with the action, a time of initiation of the action, and a time spent by the user on the action;

calculating a running total of time spent by the user on all actions over a continuous period; and

writing the time spent on each action and the running total to a design state database;

receiving an indication from a user that assistance is requested;

identifying an area of expertise associated with a greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions, wherein identifying further comprises;

listing a plurality of areas of expertise, the plurality of areas of expertise including each area of expertise associated with user actions of the plurality of user actions;

summing a total running time per area of expertise by aggregating the time spent by the user on each action of each area of expertise;

determining a proportion of the running total representing the total running time of each area of expertise;

comparing the identified area of expertise associated with the greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions to an indication of expertise of a plurality of experts in the area of expertise associated with the greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions; and

identifying a selected one of the plurality of experts having a relatively high indication of expertise in the area of expertise associated with the greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the step of recording an amount of time during which the user utilizes each of the plurality of functions comprises grouping the functions into a plurality of functional groups, and recording an amount of time during which the user utilizes each of the plurality of functional groups.

10. A method according to claim 5, further comprising:

enabling the selected one of the plurality of experts to control the computer program for which the user requests assistance.

11. A method according to claim 5, wherein the step of comparing the respective amounts of time the user utilizes each of the plurality of functions to one another further comprises:

assigning a weighing factor to at least some of the plurality of functions; and

adjusting the amount of time the user utilizes a given one of the plurality of functions for which a weighing factor has been assigned, as a function of the weighing factor.

12. A method according to claim 5, wherein the step of comparing the respective amounts of time the user utilizes each of the plurality of functions to one another further comprises the steps of:

providing an indication to the user of potential help topics, each of the potential help topics being related to a respective one of the plurality of areas of expertise, the indication being based on the respective amounts of time; and

receiving a selection from the user of at least one desired help topic.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein

the step of comparing identified most frequently used ones of the plurality of functions to an indication of expertise of a plurality of experts comprises comparing the desired help topic to the indications of expertise;

and wherein

the step of identifying a selected one of the plurality of experts having a relatively high indication of expertise comprises selecting an expert having a relatively high indication of expertise in the desired help topic.

14. A method according to claim 10, wherein the computer program is a computer-assisted design program.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine-executable instructions including a plurality of modules that are executed by a processor, the instructions causing the processor to execute a method comprising:

receiving user inputs for utilizing a plurality of functions of a computer program;

recording an amount of time during which the user utilizes each of the plurality of functions, wherein recording the amount of time further comprises;

detecting a plurality of user actions;

identifying, for each action of the plurality of user actions an area of expertise associated with the action, a time of initiation of the action, and a time spent by the user on the action;

calculating a running total of time spent by the user on all actions over a continuous period; and

writing the time spent on each action and the running total to a design state database;

receiving an indication from a user that assistance is requested;

identifying an area of expertise associated with a greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions, wherein identifying further comprises;

listing a plurality of areas of expertise, the plurality of areas of expertise including each area of expertise associated with user actions of the plurality of user actions;

summing a total running time per area of expertise by aggregating the time spent by the user on each action of each area of expertise;

determining a proportion of the running total representing the total running time of each area of expertise; and

based on the identified area of expertise associated with greatest usage of functions of the plurality of functions, identifying expertise to provide assistance to the user.