Methods and systems for providing guidance using case-based reasoning

• US 20040128388A1
• Filed: 12/31/2002
• Published: 07/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Kaiser, Matthias
• Granted Patent: US 7,228,329 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90 Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/903 Querying for retrieval from the web G06F16/953

Abstract

Systems and methods of the instant invention may utilize case-based reasoning to provide guidance. Guidance may be provided to a current user of an application in a particular situation based on actions performed by previous users in compatible situations. A repository of sessions reflecting actions performed by previous users may be maintained. In response to a request for guidance, actions performed by the current user prior to requesting guidance may be used to retrieve, from the repository, one or more sessions containing related actions. The retrieved sessions may be evaluated and used to provide guidance to the current user.

Claims

1. A method for providing guidance to a current user of an interactive application comprising the steps of:

maintaining a plurality of user sessions, each session comprising at least one action performed by at least one of a plurality of previous users of the interactive application;

receiving at least one action from the current user;

receiving, from the current user, a command to obtain guidance;

selecting, in response to the command, at least one of the plurality of user sessions, wherein at least one action included therein is related to the current user'"'"'s action; and

providing the current user with guidance based on the at least one selected session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing guidance comprises providing a recommended course of action to the current user, the recommended course of action reflecting at least one action included in the at least one selected session occurring subsequent in time to the related action.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions comprises maintaining said sessions in at least one of a relational database, a distributed database, and an object-oriented programming database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions comprises maintaining said sessions in an R/3 database.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions comprises maintaining a plurality of scores for each of said plurality of sessions.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the scores reflect each session'"'"'s contribution to the provided guidance.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the scores reflect the amount of time that each session has been maintained.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of user sessions comprises selecting at least one of the plurality of sessions based on its score.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting comprises selecting at least one of the plurality of sessions having a predetermined score.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining comprises eliminating at least one of the plurality of user sessions based on at least one of a pre-determined time limit and a pre-determined storage capacity.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein maintaining comprises eliminating at least one of the plurality of user sessions based on said session'"'"'s score.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions includes maintaining at least one session previously performed by the current user.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of actions are arranged in a sequence and wherein the sequence is parsed into single actions in order to facilitate the selecting step.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions includes maintaining at least one of a user input, a keystroke, a mouse actuation, an alphanumeric entry, a menu selection, an e-commerce transaction, an e-mail transmission, a data transfer, and a data receipt.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of user sessions comprises selecting said sessions using a backward chaining process.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions comprises retrieving said sessions from the application in a first arrangement and rearranging said sessions such that said sessions can be maintained.

17. A method for providing guidance to a current user of an interactive application comprising the steps of:

maintaining a plurality of user sessions, each session comprising a plurality of actions performed by at least one of a plurality of previous users of the interactive application;

retrieving, from the application, a query comprising a sequence of n actions performed by the current user;

selecting an action at the nth position in the sequence and retrieving at least one of the plurality of sessions, wherein one of the actions included therein is related to the selected nth action;

iteratively selecting the (n−

i)th {i=1, 2, . . . n−

1} action from the query and, for said (n−

i)th action selected from the query, retrieving at least one of the plurality of sessions when one of the actions included therein is related to the (n−

i)th action and occurs at a position, in the retrieved session, preceding the n−

(i−

1)th action; and

halting the iterations when i=n−

1 and providing guidance to the current user based on the user sessions retrieved during the (n−

1)th iteration.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each session comprises m actions, where n<

m<

∞

, and wherein providing guidance comprises providing a recommended course of action to the current user, the recommended course of action reflecting at least one of the m actions included in the sessions retrieved during the (n−

1)th iteration occurring at a position in said retrieved sessions that is greater than n.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions comprises maintaining said sessions in at least one of a relational database, a distributed database, and an object-oriented programming database.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions comprises maintaining a plurality of scores for each of said plurality of sessions.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the scores reflect each session'"'"'s contribution to the provided guidance.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the scores reflect the amount of time that each session has been maintained.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein maintaining comprises eliminating at least one of the plurality of user sessions based on at least one of a pre-determined time limit and a pre-determined storage capacity.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein maintaining comprises eliminating at least one of the plurality of user sessions based on said session'"'"'s score.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein maintaining the plurality of user sessions includes maintaining at least one session previously performed by the current user.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein maintaining the plurality of sessions comprises maintaining at least one of a user input, a keystroke, a mouse actuation, an alphanumeric entry, a menu selection, an e-commerce transaction, an e-mail transmission, a data transfer, and a data receipt.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein maintaining the plurality of sessions comprises retrieving said sessions from the application.

28. A method for providing guidance to a current user of an interactive application comprising the steps of:

maintaining a plurality of user sessions, each session comprising at least one action performed by at least one of a plurality of previous users of the interactive application;

receiving, from the current user, a command to obtain guidance relating to a future action;

selecting, in response to the command, at least one of the plurality of user sessions, wherein at least one action included therein is related to the future action; and

providing the current user with guidance based on the at least one selected session.

29. A system for providing guidance comprising:

a storage mechanism for maintaining a plurality of user sessions, each session comprising a plurality of actions performed by at least one of a plurality of users of an interactive application;

an acquisition module for retrieving each of the plurality of user sessions from the interactive application and storing each session in the storage mechanism;

a retriever module for;

retrieving at least one action from a current user of the interactive application;

selecting, in response to a command received from the current user, at least one of the plurality of sessions from the storage mechanism, wherein at least of the plurality of actions included therein is related to the current user'"'"'s action; and

generating guidance based on the at least one selected session; and

a user interface for presenting the guidance to the current user.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein retriever module provides guidance by way of providing a recommended course of action to the current user, the recommended course of action reflecting at least one of the plurality of actions included in the at least one selected session occurring subsequent in time to the related action.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the storage mechanism is at least one of a relational database, a distributed database, and an object-oriented programming database.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the plurality of actions are arranged in a sequence, and wherein the sequence is parsed into discrete actions thereby allowing the retriever module to select at least one of the plurality of sessions.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the acquisition module retrieves each of the plurality of user sessions from the interactive application in a first arrangement and rearranges said sessions in order to store said sessions in the storage mechanism.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the first arrangement is a sequence and wherein the retriever module parses the sequence in order to store the sessions in the storage mechanism.

35. The system of claim 29, wherein each of the plurality of actions includes at least one of a user input, a keystroke, a mouse actuation, an alphanumeric entry, a menu selection, an e-commerce transaction, an e-mail transmission, a data transfer, and a data receipt.

36. The system of claim 29, wherein the acquisition module and the retriever module are software programs.

37. The system of claim 29, wherein the acquisition module retrieves each of the plurality of user sessions from the interactive application and stores said sessions in the storage mechanism via an Extended Markup Language (XML) program.

38. A system for providing guidance comprising:

an application for use by a current user;

a client, coupled to a network, for allowing the current user to access the application;

a storage mechanism, coupled to the network, for maintaining a plurality of user sessions, each of said sessions comprising a plurality of actions performed by at least one of a plurality of previous users of the application;

a server, coupled to the network, the server having a memory, the memory comprising;

an acquisition module for retrieving each of the plurality of user sessions from the application and storing each session in the storage mechanism;

a retriever module for;

retrieving at least one action from the current user of the application;

selecting, in response to a command received from the current user, at least one of the plurality of sessions from the storage mechanism, wherein at least of the plurality of actions included therein is related to the current user'"'"'s action; and

generating guidance based on the at least one selected session; and

a user interface for presenting the guidance to the current user.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the retriever module generates guidance by way of providing recommended actions to the current user, wherein the recommended actions reflect at least one of the plurality of actions included in the at least one selected session occurring subsequent in time to the related action.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein the application is located in the memory of the server.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the application is located in a memory residing in the client.

42. The system of claim 38, wherein the application is an interactive website.

43. The system of claim 38, wherein the storage mechanism is at least one of a relational database, a distributed database, and an object-oriented programming database.

44. A system for providing guidance comprising:

a storage mechanism for maintaining a plurality of user sessions, each session comprising a plurality of actions performed by at least one of a plurality of users of an interactive application;

an acquisition module for retrieving each of the plurality of user sessions from the interactive application and storing each session in the storage mechanism;

a retriever module for;

selecting, response to a command received from the current user, at least one of the plurality of sessions from the storage mechanism, wherein at least of the plurality of actions included therein is related to a future action; and

generating guidance based on the at least one selected session; and

a user interface for presenting the guidance to the current user.

45. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method, the computer system having a current user, a display device, and a processor for executing the instructions the method comprising the steps of:

retrieving a plurality of sessions, each of said sessions including a plurality of actions performed by at least one of a plurality of previous users of an application coupled to the computer system;

storing each of the plurality of sessions in a storage device coupled to the computer system;

retrieving a query from the application, said query reflecting at least one action performed by the current user;

receiving, from the current user, a command to obtain guidance;

selecting, in response to the command, at least one of the plurality of sessions from the storage device based on the query; and

providing the current user with the guidance based on the at least one selected session, the guidance reflecting at least one of the plurality of actions included therein.