USER PERFORMANCE RATING SYSTEM

• US 20100325014A1
• Filed: 08/10/2010
• Published: 12/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Widjojo, Surjatini, Sacco, Nathan
• Granted Patent: US 8,682,911 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

A system comprises a processor-implemented collection module configured to request rating information from a first user relating to a transaction involving the first user and second user in an online transaction processing environment. The requested rating information relates to performance of the second user with respect to the transaction in a plurality of performance categories. A score generator is configured to generate a performance score relating to the second user using the rating information. A communication module is configured to communicate the performance score.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor-implemented collection module configured to request rating information from a first user relating to a transaction involving the first user and second user in an online transaction processing environment, the requested rating information relating to performance of the second user with respect to the transaction in a plurality of performance categories;

a score generator configured to generate a performance score relating to the second user using the rating information; and

a communication module configured to communicate the performance score.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the collection module is configured to retrieve performance data from an information system, the performance data relating to the transaction involving the first user and the second user in the online transaction processing environment, and the score generator is configured to generate the performance score using both the rating information and the performance information.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the collection module is configured to select a set of questions, to be presented to the first user in order to request the rating information, based on an amount of the performance data retrieved from the information system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the collection module is configured to select a set of questions, to be presented to the first user in order to request the rating information, based on transaction data pertaining to the transaction.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the collection module is configured to select a set of questions, to be presented to the first user in order to request the rating information, based on an item type of a subject item of the transaction.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the collection module is configured to request generic rating information related to the transaction.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the collection module is configured to request specific rating information related the plurality of performance categories.

8. The system of claim 2, including:

a user transaction processing module configured to identify a plurality of transactions involving the second user and associated rating information received from one of the first user and associated performance information retrieved from the information system for each transaction of the plurality of transactions, the associated rating and performance data for each transaction of the plurality of transactions being identified as one of a subjective criteria and an objective criteria; and

a quality score generator configured to generate a performance quality score for the seller user using the associated rating and performance information, the performance quality score being lowered if a number of negative ratings associated with the plurality of transactions are below a predetermined threshold.

9. The system of claim 5, including a performance score adjusting module configured to adjust the performance score using the performance quality score.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the score generator is configured to generate a transaction performance score using the rating information.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the score generator is configured to generate a category performance score using category-specific rating information of the requested rating information that is associated with a specific performance category of the plurality of performance categories.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the score generator is configured to:

access reputation information associated with the second user, the reputation information being associated with the plurality of transactions involving the second user; and

generate an overall performance score for the second user using the reputation information.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the collection module is configured to:

identify a user status, the user status selected from the group including a buyer status and a seller status;

generate at least one question using the user status;

publish the at least one question to the first user; and

receive from the first user at least one answer to the at least one question.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication module is configured to:

identify user preferences for the first user; and

present the performance score using the user preferences.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the collection module is configured to:

receive from the first user a selection of at least one category from the plurality of performance categories; and

present the performance score using the selection.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of performance categories include one or more of promptness of payment information, quality of performance information, timeliness of performance information, promptness of response information, shipment time, and accuracy of description.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the rating information includes one or more items from a group including the seller'"'"'s identity, the buyer'"'"'s identity, the item or service involved in the transaction, and the date of the transaction.

18. The system of claim 2, wherein the collection module is configured to collect performance data from a third-party information system in communication with the collection module via a network.

30. The method of claim 18, wherein the generating of the performance score includes:

accessing reputation information associated with the second user, the reputation information being associated with the plurality of transactions involving the second user; and

generating overall performance score using the reputation information associated with the second user.

19. A method including:

receiving rating information from a first user relating to a transaction involving the first user and second user in an online transaction processing environment, the rating information relating to performance of the second user with respect to the transaction in a plurality of performance categories;

generating a performance score using the rating information; and

electronically presenting the performance score.

20. The method of claim 19, including retrieving performance data from an information system, the performance data relating to the transaction involving the first user and the second user in the online transaction processing environment, and generating the performance score using both the rating information and the performance information.

21. The method of claim 20, including automatically selecting a set of questions, to be presented to the first user in order to request the rating information, based on an amount of the performance data retrieved from the information system.

22. The method of claim 19, including automatically selecting a set of questions, to be presented to the first user in order to request the rating information, based on transaction data pertaining to the transaction.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the transaction data comprises an item type of a subject item of the transaction.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the receiving of the rating information includes receiving generic rating information related to the transaction.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the receiving of the rating information includes receiving specific rating information related the plurality of performance categories.

26. The method of claim 20, including:

identifying a plurality of transactions involving the second user;

accessing the rating information received from one of the first user and the performance data;

generating a performance quality score using the rating information and the performance data, wherein the performance quality score is related to the plurality of transactions involving the first user.

27. The method of claim 26, including adjusting the performance score using the performance quality score.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the generating of the performance score includes generating a transaction performance score using the generic rating information.

29. The method of claim 19, wherein the generating of the performance score includes generating a category performance score using the category rating information.

31. The method of claim 19, wherein the receiving of the rating information from the first user includes:

identifying a user status associated with the first user, the user status selected from the group including a buyer status and a seller status;

generating at least one question using the user status;

publishing the at least one question to the first user; and

receiving from the first user at least one answer to the at least one question.

32. The method of claim 19, wherein the presenting of the performance score includes:

identifying user preferences for the second user; and

facilitating displaying the performance score using the user preferences for the second user.

33. The method of claim 19, wherein the presenting of the performance score includes:

receiving from the second user a selection of at least one category from the plurality of performance categories; and

facilitating displaying the performance score using the selection.

34. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality performance categories include one or more of promptness of payment information, quality of performance information, timeliness of performance information, promptness of response information, shipment time, and accuracy of description.

35. The method of claim 19, wherein the rating information includes one or more items from a group including seller'"'"'s identity, buyer'"'"'s identity, item or service involved in the transaction, and the date of the transaction.