Message grouping and relevance

• US 10,616,145 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2016
• Issued: 04/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Hays, Boyd, Masud, Imran, Kwan, Cindy
• Primary Examiner(s): Hlaing, Soe
• Application Number:
  US15/199,028
• Publication Number:
  US 20180006973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,377 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/02 using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for providing grouped data of interest. In some configurations, a computing device can include a user interface with one or more groups configured to receive messages. The groups can be computer-defined groups, such as by the computing device or other system, or user-defined groups. Techniques and technologies described herein receive a message in the one or more groups, and determine a message relevance (e.g., utility) based on the content and/or context (e.g., time of day, sender, geo-location of recipient, message urgency, etc.) of the message. In some configurations, the message relevance can be based, at least in part, on the particular group or a cluster of groups to which the message is associated.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium storing instructions for a message relevance framework, for actuation by the processor, the message relevance framework comprising;

a grouping module including instructions to configure the processor to generate a cluster of groups;

a user preference module including instructions to configure the processor to receive a first parameter and a second parameter for each group of the cluster of groups, the first parameter being based on a user preference that indicates user-defined preference parameters applicable to a corresponding group from the cluster of groups, and the second parameter being based on a system setting;

a utility function module including instructions to configure the processor to;

generate a utility function for each group in the cluster of groups based at least in part on the first parameter and the second parameter;

receive a message;

assign the message to a group from the cluster of groups; and

calculate a utility of the message based at least in part on the utility function generated for the group to which the message is assigned, wherein the utility of the message indicating a relevance of the message relative to other messages within the group; and

a display module including instructions to configure the processor to;

cause a presentation of an indication of the message on a display of a consumer device based at least in part on the utility of the message.

2. The system as claim 1 recites, wherein the first parameter includes location data, wherein the instructions in the utility function module further configure the processor to determine a location of the consumer device upon receipt of the message, wherein the utility of the message is further based on the location of the consumer device.

3. The system as claim 1 recites, wherein the first parameter includes timing data, wherein the instructions in the utility function module further configure the processor to determine a time of day of receipt of the message, wherein the utility of the message is further based on the time of day in which the message is received.

4. The system as claim 1 recites, further comprising a message relation module including instructions to configure the processor to:

determine a relation between a first message and a second message; and

adjust a first utility of the first message and a second utility of the second message based at least in part on the relation between the first message and the second message.

5. The system as claim 1 recites, further comprising a ranking module including instructions to configure the processor to:

rank a plurality of messages in the cluster of groups based at least in part on a respective utility of each message in the plurality of messages;

select a set of messages based at least in part on the respective utility being above a threshold utility; and

send the set of messages to the display module for presentation on the display.

6. The system as claim 1 recites, further comprising a machine learning module including instructions to configure the processor to:

monitor a user action with respect to the message; and

update the utility function based at least in part on the user action.

7. The system as claim 1 recites, wherein one or more of a size or a location of the indication of the message presented on the display is based at least in part on the utility of the message.

8. The system as claim 1 recites, wherein the indication of the message comprises one or more of:

an audio notification of the message;

a visual notification of the message;

or

a symbol identifying a number of unread messages.

9. A method comprising:

generating a cluster of groups based on a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter being based on a user preference, that is received via a user interface of a consumer device and indicates user-defined preference parameters applicable to a corresponding group from the cluster of groups, and the second parameter being based on a system setting;

generating a utility function for each group in the cluster of groups, wherein the utility function comprises a parameterized equation based on the first parameter and the second parameter;

receiving a message;

assigning the message to a group from the cluster of groups;

calculating a utility of the message based at least in part on a respective the utility function of generated for the group to which the message is assigned, the utility of the message indicating a relevance of the message relative to other messages within the group; and

causing an indication of the message to be presented on a display of the consumer device based at least in part on the utility of the message.

10. The method as claim 9 recites, further comprising:

monitoring a user action with respect to the message; and

updating the utility function based at least in part on the user action.

11. The method as claim 9 recites, wherein the second parameter comprises one or more of:

a geo-location of the consumer device;

a geo-location of a sender of message;

a time of day in which message is received;

a day in a week in which message is received;

a keyword in a content of message;

or

an event associated with message.

12. The method as claim 9 recites, further comprising receiving, via a user interface on the consumer device, the first parameter related to a particular group of the cluster of groups, wherein the first parameter comprises a user preference with respect to messages in the particular group.

13. The method as claim 9 recites, wherein the system setting includes a type of message or an urgency of message.

14. A device comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium having thereon computer-executable instructions, the computer executable instructions responsive to execution by the processor to configure the device to perform operations comprising;

generating a cluster of groups based on a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter being based on a user preference, that is received via a user interface of the device and indicates user-defined preference parameters applicable to a corresponding group from the cluster of groups, and the second parameter being based on a system setting;

generating a utility function for each group in the cluster of groups based on the first parameter and the second parameter;

receiving a message;

assigning the message to a group from the cluster of groups;

calculating a utility of the message based at least in part on the utility function generated for the group to which the message is assigned, the utility of the message indicating a relevance of the message relative to other messages within the group; and

causing an indication of the message to be presented on a display of the device based at least in part on the utility of the message.

15. The device as claim 14 recites, wherein the user preference is based on an input received from a user of the device, the input indicating at least one of a message source, a message location, and a message topic.

16. The device as claim 14 recites, wherein the system setting includes a type of message or an urgency of message.

17. The device as claim 14 recites, wherein the cluster of groups is generated based at least in part on individual groups in the cluster of groups comprising a similar topic.

18. The device as claim 14 recites, the operations further comprising:

monitoring a user action with respect to the message; and

updating the utility function based at least in part on the user action.