Methods for generating notifications in a shared workspace

• US 9,584,565 B1
• Filed: 10/08/2013
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ho, Ronald, Lee, Omar, Balakrishnan, Aruna, Sood, Rahul, Hackson, Camie, Pettinati, Lucas Visvikis
• Primary Examiner(s): Pan, Yongjia
• Assistant Examiner(s): Farhadian, F J
• Application Number:
  US14/048,142
• Time in Patent Office: 1,239 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15

Abstract

A method includes providing, by a server computer, a shared workspace for facilitating collaborative work by a plurality of users. The method also includes monitoring information associated with the shared workspace, the information relating to each user from the plurality of users. The method also includes determining whether a notification definition is satisfied, the notification definition based at least in part on the information associated with the shared workspace, and outputting, for display to at least one user from the plurality of users, a notification, in response to determining that the notification definition is satisfied.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing, by a server computer, a shared workspace for facilitating collaborative work of users interacting with the shared workspace through services, wherein the services comprise a messaging service, a discussion service, an event scheduling service, a document storage system, a document editing system, and a task tracking service;

aggregating information received from the services as workspace information, wherein the workspace information comprises information about messaging sessions in the messaging service, comments and posts in the discussion service, events in the event scheduling service, tasks in the task tracking service, files stored in the document storage system and edited in the document editing system, users that access the files, duration of access of the files, and editing activity associated with the files;

determining whether the workspace information meets a condition, wherein the condition is based on workspace information from the event scheduling service and the task tracking service, workspace information about an upcoming pre-existing event associated with the event scheduling service, workspace information about tasks indicating that a user has no tasks, workspace information about the users that access the files, workspace information about the duration of access of the files, and workspace information about the editing activity associated with the files; and

when the condition is met, outputting, for display to at least one of the users, a notification,

when the condition is based on workspace information from the event scheduling service and the task tracking service, the notification suggests creation of a new event,

when the condition is based on workspace information about the upcoming pre-existing event associated with the event scheduling service, the notification includes interface elements to access files in the document storage system relevant to the upcoming pre-existing event based on access of the files by users of the shared workspace,

when the condition is based on workspace information about tasks indicating that a user has no tasks, the notification includes at least one of a list of available tasks from the task tracking service or an interface element for creating a new task, and

when the condition is based on a threshold number of times a subject is mentioned in the messaging service, the notification includes at least one of a message indicating the threshold and an interface element to create an event in the event scheduling service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein when the condition is based on the workspace information about tasks indicating that a user has no tasks and the notification includes an interface element for creating a new event, the interface element, when activated, creates a new event in the event scheduling service based on the workspace information from the event scheduling service and the task tracking service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the services comprise an electronic mail service, and wherein the workspace information comprises information about mail messages in the electronic mail service relating to the shared workspace.

4. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

providing, by a server computer, a shared workspace for facilitating collaborative work of users interacting with the shared workspace through services, wherein the services comprise a messaging service, a document storage system for storing files, a document editing system for editing the files, a discussion service, an event scheduling service, and a task tracking service;

providing, by the server computer, a user interface for the shared workspace, wherein the user interface includes interface elements allowing a user of the shared workspace to interact directly with the document storage system and at least some of the other services;

aggregating information received from the services as workspace information, wherein the workspace information comprises information about messaging sessions in the messaging service, comments and posts in the discussion service, events in the event scheduling service, tasks in the task tracking service, files stored in the document storage system and edited in the document editing system, users that access the files, duration of access of the files in the document storage system and the document editing system, editing activity of the files in the document editing system, and users interacting with the services;

monitoring the workspace information;

receiving a transcript from the messaging service;

performing a substantive analysis of the workspace information, the transcript, and the files in the document storage system and the document editing system to determine subjects described in textual information of the workspace information; and

determining whether the workspace information and the subjects meet a condition, wherein the condition is based on the subjects, workspace information from the event scheduling service and the task tracking service, workspace information about an upcoming pre-existing event associated with the event scheduling service, workspace information about tasks indicating that a user has no tasks, workspace information about the users that access the files, workspace information about the duration of access of the files, and workspace information about the editing activity associated with the files; and

when the condition is met, outputting, for display in the user interface for the shared workspace to at least one of the users, a notification

when the condition is based on workspace information from the event scheduling service and the task tracking service, the notification suggests creation of a new event,

when the condition is based on workspace information about the upcoming pre-existing event associated with the event scheduling service, the notification includes interface elements to access files in the document storage system relevant to the upcoming pre-existing event based on access of the files by users of the shared workspace,

when the condition is based on workspace information about tasks indicating that a user has no tasks, the notification includes at least one of a list of available tasks from the task tracking service or an interface element for creating a new task, and

when the condition is based on a threshold number of times a subject is mentioned in the messaging service, the notification includes at least one of a message indicating the threshold and an interface element to create an event in the event scheduling service.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein information about the editing activity identifies editing actions with respect to a file including a duration over which the file was edited, a number of characters added to the file, a number of characters modified in the file, substantive content added to the file, and substantive content modified in the file, and the notification comprises an interface element to access the file in the document storage system.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the notification comprises a reference to the file and the upcoming pre-existing event.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the services comprise an event scheduling service and a task tracking service, and wherein the notification comprises a reference to an event associated with the event scheduling service and an interface element for creating a new task, distinct from and unrelated to the task, using the task tracking service.

8. A system comprising:

a processor, and

a memory that stores executable instructions, that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

providing a shared workspace for facilitating collaborative work of users interacting with the shared workspace through services, wherein the services comprise a messaging service, a discussion service, an event scheduling service, a document storage system for storing files, a document editing system for editing the files, and a task tracking service;

aggregating information received from the services as workspace information, wherein the workspace information comprises information about messaging sessions in the messaging service, comments and posts in the discussion service, events in the event scheduling service, tasks in the task tracking service, files stored in the document storage system and edited in the document editing system, users that access the files, duration of access of the files, and editing activity associated with the files, and users interacting with the services;

monitoring the workspace information;

determining whether the workspace information meets a condition, wherein the condition is based on workspace information from the event scheduling service and the task tracking service, workspace information about an upcoming pre-existing event associated with the event scheduling service, workspace information about the users that access the files, workspace information about the duration of access of the files, and workspace information about the editing activity, and at least one of a threshold number of events being scheduled in the event scheduling service in a specified time period, a determination indicating that a user has no tasks, or a determination indicating that a file associated with the document storage system and the upcoming pre-existing event associated with the event scheduling service are related; and

when the condition is met, outputting, for display to at least one of the users, a notification,

when the condition is based on workspace information from the event scheduling service and the task tracking service, the notification suggests creation of a new event,

when the condition is based on workspace information about the upcoming pre-existing event associated with the event scheduling service, the notification includes interface elements to access files in the document storage system relevant to the upcoming pre-existing event based on access of the files by users of the shared workspace,

when the condition is based on workspace information about tasks indicating that a user has no tasks, the notification includes at least one of a list of available tasks from the task tracking service or an interface element for creating a new task, and

when the condition is based on a threshold number of times a subject is mentioned in the messaging service, the notification includes at least one of a message indicating the threshold and an interface element to create an event in the event scheduling service.