Patent ID: 9727883
Date: 2017-08-08
CPC Classifications: G06Q

Claim:
1. A machine-implemented method of determining a collective outcome for a survey from a plurality of potential outcomes, the method comprising the following steps: (a) defining a plurality of options, wherein each one of the plurality of options is associated with one of a plurality of issues; (b) automatically determining the plurality of potential outcomes based on the plurality of options, and applying one or more predefined constraints to the plurality of potential outcomes to determine a plurality of actionable outcomes; (c) storing the plurality of actionable outcomes on a data storage module of a server; (d) for each one of the plurality of options, generating and displaying a visual prompt for a ranking indicative of a value accorded to the option, the visual prompt comprising a graphical control element in the form of one or more slider widgets each having a movable indicator, and presenting the visual prompt to a plurality of survey participants via one or more client devices, wherein a position of the indicator on one of the one or more slider widgets is automatically constrained and adjusted based on the values accorded to the other options; (e) for each of the plurality of options, and for each of the plurality of survey participants, receiving at the server a value for the ranking, wherein the value for the ranking is based on a position of the movable indicator on each of the one or more slider widgets; (f) for each of the plurality of survey participants, applying, by a data processor of the server, the values for the rankings accorded to the plurality of options by the survey participant to determine an influent function associated with the survey participant; (g) for each of the survey participants, and for each of the actionable outcomes retrieved from the data storage module, calculating a satisfaction score by the data processor applying to the actionable outcome the influent function associated with the survey participant, and storing the satisfaction score on the data storage module; (h) for each of the actionable outcomes retrieved from the data storage module, calculating a collective dissonance score by the data processor based on the satisfaction scores for the actionable outcome calculated in step (g) and storing the collective dissonance score on the data storage module, wherein the collective dissonance score is indicative of a measure of difference in the satisfaction scores between the survey participants; (i) ordering the actionable outcomes stored in the data storage module based on a weighted combination of the satisfaction scores and the collective dissonance score for each of the actionable outcomes stored in the data storage module; (j) selecting a collective outcome to the survey stored in the data storage module based at least in part on the order of the actionable outcomes determined in step (i); (k) displaying via the one or more client devices a graphical representation that presents the collective outcome, and the satisfaction scores and the collective dissonance score for each of the actionable outcomes; and (l) automatically repeating steps (f) through (j) to determine a new collective outcome each time a value for a ranking is modified by movement of an indicator on one of the one or more sliding widgets, and, in response to determining the new collective outcome, updating the graphical user representation to display the new collective outcome.