Abstract:
Computer-readable media, computer systems, and computing methods are provided for establishing and updating a prompting scheme for soliciting feedback from a customer. Initially, the customer provides a type of occasion to monitor and temporal criteria for receiving communications from a service. The service generates a prompting scheme based on the type of occasion in order to properly compose solicitations for feedback from the customer. Also, the service uses the temporal criteria for establishing the prompting scheme, which influences the scheduling of communications bearing the solicitations, respectively. Upon delivering the communications, interaction between the customer and the service is monitored and evaluated in order to update the prompting scheme. Specifically, the scheduling of communications is updated based upon the most common time periods at which the customer responds to the communications, while the composition of the solicitations is updated based upon which communications the customer considers worthy of response.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Increasingly, online locations are being established to receive and organize collections of media. These online locations (e.g., web sites and social networks) are configured to allow a user to upload their media upon visiting the web site. Occasionally, the online locations provide rudimentary mechanism(s) that communicate with the user for the purpose of reminding the user of their relationship with the online location. Yet, these communications are simple in form and unsophisticated in timing and content of delivery. As such, the user is not encouraged to submit additional media to the online location or revisit the online location to access their media residing thereon. Accordingly, a novel service that introduces technology for intelligently soliciting, compiling, and managing the user&#39;s media would fully engage the user with the service and result in a robust collection of the user&#39;s media/content at a single access-point. 
     SUMMARY 
     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     Embodiments of the present invention introduce a service for gathering and managing digital content to establish a compilation (e.g., journal, photo album, or scrapbook) of the digital content in an online location. Often, the digital content is related in some manner to an event (e.g., family vacation, wedding preparation, a baby&#39;s first year, and other meaningful occasions). In an exemplary embodiment, the service periodically sends communications to a customer of the service in order to solicit information from the customer, where the solicited information generally revolves around one or more events, or “occasions,” that the customer has previously established with the service. As such, these solicitation-type communications, or “prompts,” allow the service to help the customer capture thoughts and memories along the way and as the occasion is happening. 
     By way of example, the service may carry out various steps in order to ensure that the user&#39;s digital-content compilation for a particular occasion is being updated. Initially, the service may solicit information from a customer of the service by sending communications (e.g., emails or other digital prompts) to the customer on one or more of the customer&#39;s devices (e.g., smart phone, home computer, PDA, laptop computer, and other computing devices) that are recognized by the service. In some embodiments, the customer&#39;s device(s) are recognized by the service upon installing an application thereto. Or, in other embodiments, when the customer&#39;s device(s) are not recognized by the service, the customer may interface with the service over a pre-established networking account (e.g., email account or digital-media plan with a telecommunications company) that is known by the service. 
     Upon the customer responding to the communication(s), the service may read the response and extract digital content (e.g., text, digital photos, video images, audio data, and the like) and/or textual information therefrom. The service is configured to then arrange the extracted digital content and textual information in an organized fashion by using predefined formatting (e.g., slide shows, photo books, timelines, and greeting cards). Typically, the arrangement corresponds with the occasion (e.g., vacation, wedding, arrival of a newborn) that was selected by the customer upon setting up an account with the service. The resulting digital-content compilation may be posted in a secure online location that allows the customer to access, manually edit, and distribute the information (e.g., digital content and textual information) previously submitted by the customer. 
     In one particular instance of the present invention, upon the customer selecting an occasion with the service, the service may tailor the communications to the customer in accordance with a theme surrounding the occasion. For example, if the customer selects an occasion dealing with her first baby boy, the service will offer a selection of appropriate themes for the selected occasion and alter or customize communications with the customer to express the identified theme. In this example, altering the communications with the customer may include the following: preparing a caption or title of the communication to reference a baby boy; incorporating a background design (e.g., wallpaper) or graphical elements into the communication that relate to a baby boy; and including text within the communication that solicits information (e.g., digital media or textual information) specifically about a baby boy. 
     Further, the theme of the selected occasion may permeate the online location that is established to host the customer&#39;s account. With reference to the example theme of “baby boy” above, the service may arrange the digital media received from the customer in a manner that relates to the theme, such that the digital media is ordered via a timeline that tracks childhood development of the subject (i.e., the baby boy) of the occasion. In another instance, the digital media is arranged, in part, by information (e.g., comments, caption, or other descriptors) received from the customer that accompanies the digital media. In yet another instance, the digital content is organized by information (e.g., time and date) automatically deciphered from the customer&#39;s response or the digital media provided. For example, the service may automatically decipher that the media content (e.g., digital images, video files, audio recordings, and the like) is related to a first birthday of the baby boy because the digital photo was sent in a response to the service&#39;s communication soliciting pictures from the subject&#39;s birthday party. 
     These communications from the service that solicit content from the customer may be sent according to a prompting scheme that is dynamically updated by the service. Initially, when developing the prompting scheme, information is accessed that describes preferences of the customer. In embodiments, this information is aggregated by receiving the information explicitly upon the customer establishing or updating configuration settings of an account with the service and/or by extracting the information implicitly from the customer&#39;s interactions with the service. This information may then be used to derive a prompting scheme that governs scheduling of communication(s) that are automatically distributed to the customer. Typically, the communication(s) are designed to solicit feedback from the customer. At some later point in time, subsequent to delivering the communication(s), a response from the customer that includes content is received at the service. The service, generally on a real-time basis, extracts the content from the response and publishes the received content in a coordinated fashion at a secure online location that is managed by the service. Typically, the content is published as part of a themed compilation, or project. In some embodiments, because the customer could have multiple ongoing projects with the service at the same time (e.g., concurrently contributing to a baby&#39;s first year photo book, a photo slide show, and a print-on-demand card), the online location may host and provide access to these various projects in connection with the customer&#39;s account. 
     As such, the technology introduced by embodiments of the present invention enables automatically prompting a customer to provide content and compiling the content at an online location. With regard to automatically prompting the customer, embodiments of the present invention involve developing a distribution schedule that may be manipulated based on interactions measured from the customer (e.g., behavior exhibited by the user upon the prompt being delivered). This distribution schedule influences the timing of when prompts are issued to the customer and/or the content of the prompts. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system architecture of a distributed computing environment configured for use in implementing embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary depiction of an illustrative prompt list, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram depicting a first illustrative User Interface (“UI”) display that includes a representation of a web page for accepting user-initiated selections of occasions, in accordance with embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram depicting a second illustrative UI display that includes a representative communication sent to a customer to solicit feedback from the customer, in accordance with embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram depicting a third illustrative UI display that includes a display area configured for exposing a web page designed to receive content from the customer, in accordance with embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram depicting a fourth illustrative UI display that includes representations of entries to a journal that reflect content provided by the customer, in accordance with embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 7  is an overall flow diagram of a method for prompting the customer of the service to submit the content for the purpose of generating an online compilation, in accordance with embodiments of the invention; and 
         FIG. 8  is an overall flow diagram of a method for adapting a format of a solicitation conveyed within a communication based upon a manner in which a customer interacts with the service, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The subject matter of embodiments of the invention disclosed herein is described with specificity to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. 
     Generally, embodiments of the present invention introduce technology for requesting feedback from a customer of a service by sending communications (e.g., emails or text messages) according to a prompting scheme, where the prompting scheme is dynamically updatable by the service as a function of interactions measured from the customer. Further, embodiments of the present invention involve organizing content, which is received in response to the communications, and formatting the communications based on a theme, where the theme is distilled from an occasion (e.g., vacation, arrival of a newborn, and wedding) selected by the customer. 
     Initially, upon a customer signing up for the service, the customer is offered the opportunity to select the temporal criteria for receiving prompts. For instance, selecting the “temporal criteria” may involve permitting the customer to specify how often (e.g., daily, bi-weekly, weekly, on holidays, etc.) s/he prefers to receive a communication from the service. Accordingly, these temporal criteria are employed to establish an initial version of a prompting scheme that influences scheduling of the communications. Further, the customer is offered the opportunity to select an occasion that sets the theme for their online compilation. In operation, the theme affects the content of the message (i.e., the concept underlying the purpose of the solicitation for feedback) conveyed within the communications. By way of example, the customer may want to focus upon a vacation in progress. Accordingly, the customer may select an occasion that relates to taking a vacation, where the taking-a-vacation occasion governs the composition of the communications to the customer such that the communications act to solicit information about the ongoing vacation, as opposed to another event in the customer&#39;s life. 
     Upon receiving the communications, the customer may provide media content and textual information (hereinafter collectively referred to as “content”) that is responsive to the communication. Typically, this content is specifically solicited by the communications. Also, this content may then be assembled within an online compilation that is formatted in accordance with the selected theme. Formatting the information may involve populating a template or layout with the content. In one instance, the content is entered within the template or the layout based on user-provided information accompanying the content. Upon reading the user-provided information, the service automatically formats the content and incorporates the formatted content into ongoing project(s) (e.g., active compilation(s) associated with the selected occasion), uses the formatted content to memorialize events as they are happening, and suggests product outputs (e.g., greeting cards, photo books, photo slideshows, and the like) from the content customers have provided. 
     The service may employ engines to implement operations associated with advancing the customer&#39;s project(s). In one instance, an output engine is employed to compose and send communications that solicit feedback from the user. An input engine may be employed to receive content from the customer in response to the solicitations. An adaptive engine may be employed to learn from the content received from the customer, as well as from the interactions between the customer and the service, and to automatically tailor the message of the communications to the customer and/or the timing of distribution of the communications. 
     By way of example, the adaptive engine may glean from the customer&#39;s content (e.g., information provided to the service upon configuring an account) the occurrence of a birthday of the customer&#39;s child. Accordingly, the adaptive engine may tailor a pending communication by adding relevant language that asks about the child&#39;s birthday, while delivering the communication on or near the child&#39;s birthday. This may occur even if the date of the child&#39;s birthday was not originally established by the customer within the temporal criteria. 
     The adaptive engine may also learn preferences of the customer by monitoring and analyzing the customer&#39;s behavior (e.g., timeliness of the customer&#39;s responses and the type of information provided within the responses). By way of example, the understanding of the customer&#39;s behavior allows the adaptive engine to recognize one or more projects are nearing completion or to adjust the frequency at which communications are sent to the customer. Accordingly, the adaptive engine can self-customize the service to correspond with preferences of the customer. 
     Finally, the service may post the formatted content of the ongoing project(s) at a secure online location such that the customer can follow the progress of the project(s). This secure online location may be web page at a website, which is typically managed by the service. Or, in other embodiments, the secure online location may be a local storage space on one of the customer&#39;s devices. Upon accessing the project(s) online or locally, any number and type of editing tools may be offered to the customer for modifying the content posted by the service. Further, the service may include communication capabilities that allow the customer to send out the posted content to friends, family, or members of a distribution list. 
     Having described an overview of embodiments of the present invention, an exemplary operating environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented is described below in order to provide a general context for various aspects of the present invention. 
     The following discussion describes various embodiments of the present invention. Note that several of the exemplary embodiments described below are based on specific applications of a service to make the discussion more concrete. However, aspects of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to these particular applications. That is, embodiments of the present invention may be designed to be applied to differing computing environments having disparate capabilities. 
     Referring initially to  FIG. 1  in particular, a schematic block diagram of an exemplary system architecture of a distributed computing environment  100  configured for use in implementing embodiments of the present invention is shown. Initially, the distributed computing environment  100  includes a service  125  running on a computing device  120 . Functionality of the computing device  120  may be described in the general context of computer code or machine-useable instructions, including computer-executable instructions such as program modules, being executed by a computer or other machine, such as a personal data assistant or other handheld device. Generally, program modules including routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., refer to code that performs particular tasks or implements particular abstract data types. The invention may be practiced in a variety of system configurations, including handheld devices, consumer electronics, general-purpose computers, more specialty computing devices, etc. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments  100  where tasks are performed by remote-processing devices that are linked through a communications network  110 . 
     In embodiments, the computing device  120  includes a bus that directly or indirectly couples the following devices: memory, one or more processors, one or more presentation components, input/output (I/O) ports, input/output components, and an illustrative power supply. The bus represents what may be one or more busses (such as an address bus, data bus, or combination thereof). Further, the computing device  120  typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computing device  120  and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and nonremovable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and nonremovable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium, which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computing device  120 . 
     Communication media typically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and include any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. 
     Technology, introduced by embodiments of the present invention, involves a customer  140  interacting with the service  125  in order to establish an account and develop, over time, project(s) associated with the account that track one or more occasions or events that the customer  140  is experiencing. The exemplary system architecture of the distributed computing environment  100  is employed to carry out these above-mentioned goals. It should be understood and appreciated that the exemplary system architecture shown in  FIG. 1  is merely an example of one suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the present invention. Neither should the exemplary system architecture be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement related to any single component or combination of components illustrated therein. 
     Initially, the exemplary system architecture includes a computing device  120 , a computing device  141 , a mobile device  142 , a client device  143 , data stores  130 , and a network  110  that interconnects each of these items. The computing device  141 , mobile device  142 , and client device  143  are each registered to the customer  140  and shall be hereinafter collectively referred to as the devices  141 - 143 . Each of the computing device  120 , the data stores  130 , and the devices  141 - 143  shown in  FIG. 1 , may take the form of various types of computing devices. By way of example only and not limitation, the computing device  120 , the data stores  130 , and the devices  141 - 143  may be a personal computer, desktop computer, laptop computer, consumer electronic device, handheld device (e.g., personal digital assistant), various servers, processing equipment, and the like. It should be noted, however, that the invention is not limited to implementation on such computing devices but may be implemented on any of a variety of different types of computing devices within the scope of embodiments of the present invention. 
     Typically, each of the computing device  120 , the data stores  130 , and the devices  141 - 143  is linked to some form of computing unit (e.g., central processing unit, microprocessor, etc.) to support operations of the component(s) running thereon (e.g., engines  121 - 123  and the like). As utilized herein, the phrase “computing unit” generally refers to a dedicated computing device with processing power and storage memory, which supports operating software that underlies the execution of software, applications, and computer programs thereon. In one instance, the computing unit is configured with tangible hardware elements, or machines, that are integral, or operably coupled, to the computing device  120 , the data stores  130 , and the devices  141 - 143  to enable each device to perform communication-related processes and other operations (e.g., accessing the data stores  130  or updating a prompting schedule or scheme  131 ). In another instance, the computing unit may encompass a processor (not shown) coupled to the computer-readable medium, as discussed above. 
     Generally, the computer-readable medium includes physical memory that stores, at least temporarily, a plurality of computer software components that are executable by the processor. As utilized herein, the term “processor” is not meant to be limiting and may encompass any elements of the computing unit that act in a computational capacity. In such capacity, the processor may be configured as a tangible article that processes instructions. In an exemplary embodiment, processing may involve fetching, decoding/interpreting, executing, and writing back instructions. 
     Also, beyond processing instructions, the processor may transfer information to and from other resources that are integral to, or disposed on, the computing device  120 , the data stores  130 , and the devices  141 - 143 . Generally, resources refer to software components or hardware mechanisms that enable performance of a particular function. By way of example only, the resources accommodated by the computing device  120  may include one or more of the engines  121 - 123 . 
     The computing device  141  may include an input device (not shown) and a presentation device  215 . Generally, the input device is provided to receive input(s) affecting, among other things, a presentation of content at the online location in a browser window  225  surfaced at a UI display area  220 . Illustrative input devices include a mouse, joystick, key pad, microphone, I/O components of  FIG. 1 , or any other component capable of receiving a user input and communicating an indication of that input to the computing device  120 . By way of example only, the input device facilitates entry of content and the location of a selection tool (e.g., mouse pointer) hovering over a manifest of options, as discussed below. 
     In embodiments, the presentation device  215  is configured to render and/or present the UI display  220  thereon. The presentation device  215 , which is operably coupled to an output of the computing device  141 , may be configured as any presentation component that is capable of presenting information to a user, such as a digital monitor, electronic display panel, touch-screen, analog set top box, plasma screen, audio speakers, Braille pad, and the like. In one exemplary embodiment, the presentation device  215  is configured to present rich content, such as the browser window  225  that includes a display area populated with content of the customer&#39;s compilation (e.g., digital images). In another exemplary embodiment, the presentation device  215  is capable of rendering other forms of media (e.g., textual information as journal entries). 
     The data store(s)  130  are generally configured to store information associated with the customer  140  and/or attributes and preferences of the customer  140 , as discussed below. In various embodiments, such information may include, without limitation, a prompting scheme  131 , a user profile  132  (e.g., maintaining attributes of the customer  140 ), and a prompt list  133 . In addition, the data store(s)  130  may be configured to be searchable for suitable access of the stored information. For instance, the data store(s)  130  may be searchable for temporal criteria entered by the customer  140  that dictate a frequency at which communications are distributed from the service  125 . It will be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the information stored in the data store(s)  130  may be configurable and may include any information relevant to the maintenance of an online compilation. The content and volume of such information are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention in any way. Further, though illustrated as single, independent components, the data store(s)  130  may, in fact, be a plurality of databases, for instance, a database cluster, portions of which may reside on the computing device  120 , the devices  141 - 143 , another external computing device (not shown), and/or any combination thereof. 
     This exemplary system architecture is but one example of a suitable environment that may be implemented to carry out aspects of the present invention and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention. Neither should the illustrated exemplary system architecture be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of the computing device  120 , the data stores  130 , the devices  141 - 143 , and engines  121 - 123 , as illustrated. In some embodiments, one or more of the engines  121 - 123  may be implemented as stand-alone devices. In other embodiments, one or more of the engines  121 - 123  may be integrated directly into the computing device  120 , or on distributed nodes that interconnect to form the computing device  120 . It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the engines  121 - 123  are exemplary in nature and in number and should not be construed as limiting. 
     Accordingly, any number of components may be employed to achieve the desired functionality within the scope of embodiments of the present invention. Although the various components of  FIG. 1  are shown with lines for the sake of clarity, in reality, delineating various components is not so clear, and, metaphorically, the lines would more accurately be grey or fuzzy. Further, although some components of  FIG. 1  are depicted as single blocks, the depictions are exemplary in nature and in number and are not to be construed as limiting (e.g., although only one presentation device  215  is shown, many more may be communicatively coupled to the computing device  141 ). 
     Further, the devices of the exemplary system architecture may be interconnected by any method known in the relevant field. For instance, the computing device  120  and the devices  141 - 143  may be operably coupled via a distributed computing environment that includes multiple computing devices coupled with one another via one or more networks  110 . In embodiments, the network  110  may include, without limitation, one or more local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs). Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet. Accordingly, the network is not further described herein. 
     In operation, the engines  121 - 123  are designed to perform a process that includes, at least, the steps of sending communication(s)  111  that solicit feedback from the customer  140  and accepting responses  112  that convey content for incorporation into ongoing project(s). Initially, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the customer  140  may set up an account with the service  125 . In some embodiments, setting up the account may involve linking email addresses to or registering phone numbers with the service. In these embodiments, the customer may provide their phone number, email address, and/or text-messaging address to the service when establishing configuration settings for the customer&#39;s account. In other embodiments, the customer may allow the devices  141 - 143  to be recognized by the account. In these embodiments, the communications  111  sent to the devices  141 - 143  are configured based on a known type of device, upon being recognized by the service. Alternatively, the communications  111  may be system agnostic, yet cater to the customer&#39;s preferences (e.g., there exists a pre-established desire to receive communications  111  as text messages). 
     When setting up the account, the service  125  may request that the customer  140  explicitly provide information that assists the service  125  in guiding the customer  140  through the design and maintenance of the online compilation. For instance, the service  125  may present a plurality of customizable options that the customer  140  may select. In embodiments, the customizable options may include a listing of topics, occasions, or “stories,” that are to be the theme of the online compilation. In other embodiments, the customizable options may include temporal criteria of the communications  111  distributed from the service  125 . Generally, the “temporal criteria” set a timeframe for receiving communications  111  that solicit content from the customer  140 . By way of example, the customer  140  may set the temporal criteria such that emails are sent twice a week to the customer  140 , where the emails solicit feedback from the customer to provide content that adds to an online compilation. 
     Typically, the temporal criteria are used to establish an initial configuration of the prompting scheme  131 . As used herein, the phrase “prompting scheme” is meant to be interpreted broadly and acts to control when, what, and how communications  111  are distributed from the service  125  to the customer  140 . In embodiments, the prompting scheme  131  controls a schedule that influences when communications  111  are sent to the customer  140 . In addition, the prompting scheme  131  may control the type of solicitation (e.g., requesting content and comments regarding a vacation) carried within the communications  111 . As discussed above, the prompting scheme  131  may be updated by monitoring and analyzing interactions between the customer  140  and the service  125 . 
     In other embodiments, the manifest of options may allow the customer  140  to indicate aspects surrounding the selected occasion. For instance, if the selected occasion relates to the arrival of a child (i.e., the subject of the online compilation), the customer may be asked to input such aspects as the gender and the birthday of the subject. As a result, the service  125  may generate a gender-appropriate theme for the online compilation or use the subject&#39;s birthday to internally track age, thereby avoiding irrelevant communications  111 , such as asking if the subject has talked during the subject&#39;s first year. Further, the service&#39;s knowledge of the subject&#39;s birthday may allow for prediction of what is happening at certain phases of the subject&#39;s development and for generation of age-appropriate solicitations. 
     In a particular embodiment of the present invention, the prompting scheme  131  may interact with the prompt list  133  to arrive upon the appropriate type of solicitation that is presented to the customer  140 . With reference to  FIG. 2 , an exemplary prompt list  200  is illustrated, where the entries within the prompt list  200  are focused on a newborn-baby-style occasion. Thus, in this example, the customer  140  had previously selected an occasion of “baby” from the manifest of options, which sets a theme for the online compilation. The adaptive engine  123  may then access the prompting scheme  131  to determine the age of the subject of the occasion and compare the age against the timeframe  210  to identify those solicitations that are age-appropriate. For instance, if the subject is about three weeks old, the solicitation  230  may be identified for distribution to the customer  140 . 
     Further, the adaptive engine  123  may access the prompting scheme  131  to determine the temporal criteria  280  defined by the customer  140  in order to identify a time-appropriate solicitation. By way of example, if the customer  140  indicated that s/he prefers to receive communications  111  three times a week, the solicitation  250  may be identified as time-appropriate. Further yet, the adaptive engine  123  may access the prompting scheme  131  to determine what type of solicitation the customer  140  prefers (e.g., concise or detailed solicitations within the communications  111  from the service  125 ). If the customer  140  prefers concise solicitations, the solicitation  240  may be identified as format-appropriate, where the solicitation  240  simply prompts the customer  140  to fill in blanks or offer pertinent information. In contrast, if the customer  140  prefers complex solicitations, the solicitation  260  may be identified as format-appropriate, where the solicitation  260  prompts the customer  140  to provide detailed information (e.g., recounting a story or memory of the subject). It should be noted that the format, or composition, of the solicitation being sent to the customer  140  may be established initially (e.g., through the selections at the manifest of options) or updated dynamically (e.g., upon monitoring and analyzing the customer&#39;s behavior with respect to certain types of solicitations). 
     Turning back to  FIG. 1 , upon the adaptive engine  123  identifying a type of solicitation to send to the customer  140 , the output engine  121  proactively sends out the solicitation within one or more communications  111 . These communications  111  may be formatted based on the theme of the selected occasion. For instance, if the occasion of a wedding is selected, the communications  111  may be formatted with a template or background that expresses the theme of the wedding (e.g., graphical elements of a wedding dress and cake). Further, a color pallet of the communications  111  may correspond with the subject&#39;s chosen wedding colors, upon the customer  140  providing such information. Accordingly, the theme of the selected occasion is coordinated throughout the customer&#39;s  140  experience with the service  125  (e.g., employing the theme to establish a design of the online location at which the customer&#39;s project(s) are posted). 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the customer  140  may select an occasion and, at a later time, select an assignment relevant to the occasion. As used herein, the term “assignment” generally pertains to a project within a project, where the customer  140  asks for additional solicitations related to a specific concept. By way of example, if the selected occasion represents a vacation, the assignment may relate to a day-trip during the vacation. Thus, in this example, the output engine  121  may be configured to send communications  111  that solicit specific feedback (e.g., digital photos and commentary) surrounding a particular day of a vacation. 
     Besides accepting user-initiated assignments, the service  125  may automatically invoke assignments based on information provided by the customer  140  and/or external data. Those automatically invoked assignments that are based on customer-provided information may include age-appropriate solicitations for content of a subject&#39;s birthday. In other embodiments, those automatically invoked assignments that are based on external data may include season-appropriate solicitations for content related to a holiday or time of year. 
     Upon receiving the communications  111  at one or more of the devices  141 - 143 , the customer  140  may elect to reply to the solicitations within the communications  111  by providing a response  112 . The response  112  may include any form of content (e.g., digital media, textual information, and the like) and may incorporate or respond to all or part of the solicitation of the communication  111 , as more fully discussed below. In one instance, the response  112  may be a communication (e.g., email or text message) carrying content from the customer  140  in reply to the communication  111 . In another instance, the response  112  may be an upload of content to an online location (e.g., uploading a digital photo to a web page assigned to the customer  140 ). In an exemplary embodiment, the customer  140  may navigate to the online location upon selecting a link embedded within the communication  111 . 
     The input engine  122  is enabled to receive the response  112  and extract the content and accompanying information therefrom. That is, the input engine  122  is configured to consume the response  112 , recognize the content, and pull the content from the response  112  for incorporation within the customer&#39;s online compilation (e.g., submit the content as an entry into a journal). In an exemplary embodiment, the input engine  122  interfaces with the adaptive engine  123  to facilitate updating the prompting scheme  131  by exposing how the customer is currently replying to the communications  111 . 
     Although the responses  112  have been described as being provided by the customer  140 , it should be understood and appreciated that other entities may provide the responses  112  to the service  125 , and that embodiments of the present invention are not limited specific individuals as described herein. For instance, content may be provided by other people besides the customer  140 , or may be retrieved from other data stores  130  besides the manual uploads. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 3-6 , schematic diagrams depicting illustrative UI displays, in accordance with embodiments of the invention, will now be discussed. Initially, the UI display  300  depicts a representation of a web page  320  for accepting user-initiated selections of occasions. In embodiments, the web page  320  may belong to a website  310  managed by the service and generated for the customer upon establishing an account. As illustrated in the exemplary embodiment, the web page  320  includes a title bar  325  (e.g., confirming an identity of the customer), a manifest of options  327  (e.g., prompting the customer to select an occasion to be the theme of the project(s)), and a plurality of products  326  that are generated using the content and information provided by the customer. As more fully discussed below, the plurality of products  326  may be available for purchase and, thus, developed to monetize the service. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a schematic diagram depicting an illustrative UI display  400  that includes a representative communication sent to a customer to solicit feedback from the customer is shown, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The communication (e.g., communication  111  of  FIG. 1 ) includes a title bar  410  (e.g., articulating the occasion selected by the customer), a solicitation  420  (e.g., identified from the prompt list  133 ) and links  430 ,  431 ,  440 , and  441 . As discussed above, the solicitation  420  is employed to gather content from the customer to update the online compilation. In embodiments, the links  430 ,  431 ,  440 , and  441 , upon selection, navigate the customer to either the online location of the compilation (e.g., links  430  and  431 ) or allow the customer to transfer the content to a third party (e.g.,  440  and  441 ). Alternatively, the links  430  and  431  could prompt the output engine  121  to send out an alternate solicitation in a new communication  111  to be responded to by the customer. 
     Upon selecting one of the links  430  or  431 , the customer may arrive at an online location established for receiving content. Turning now to  FIG. 5 , a schematic diagram depicting an illustrative UI display  500  that is configured for exposing a web page  520  designed to receive content from the customer is shown, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The content may take the form of the solicitation  540  within additional information added by the customer. Or, in other embodiments, the content may take the form of digital media (e.g., image  550 ) that is imported to the online compilation. Further, in an exemplary embodiment, the UI display may include a survey mechanism  530  for rating the solicitation  540 . In embodiments, the rating may be sent to the adaptive engine (e.g., reference numeral  123  of  FIG. 1 ) for the purpose of customizing the topic and/or composition of the communications sent to the customer. 
     With reference to  FIG. 6 , a schematic diagram depicting an illustrative UI display  600  that includes representations of entries  630 ,  640 , and  650  to a journal  625  that reflect content provided by the customer is shown, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. As illustrated, the occasion selected by the customer relates to the first year(s) of a newborn. As such, the entries  630 ,  640 , and  650  portray content that describe events of the subject&#39;s development. These entries  630 ,  640 , and  650  show content that includes solicitations, textual information, and digital media. However, it should be understood and appreciated that the entries  630 ,  640 , and  650  may include any type of content known in the relevant field of technology. 
     In embodiments, the plurality of products  326  is shown within the UI display  600 . These products  326  are ones that correspond with the occasion targeted by the customer. For instance, the products  326  may involve the theme that is distilled from the occasion selected by the customer. Further, the products  326  may be customized and generated to include content provided by the customer, such that the products  326  are enticing for purchase. These products  326  are not limited to any specific items and may include such consumables as photo albums, electronic greetings, personalized messages populated with the content, photo books that incorporate graphical elements associated with the theme, e-cards (e.g., baby business cards or wedding save-the-date cards), ornaments, video slide shows with a playlist of the content, calendars, etc. In one embodiment, a curator component is responsible for organizing the content into the products  326 . Typically, organizing the content involves tagging the content using information (e.g., metadata) accompanying the content, selecting a layout of the products  326  based on the theme, and populating (e.g., locating and orientating the content within the layout) in accordance with the tags. In another embodiment, or in parallel with the embodiment above, customers may supply metadata by tagging content prior to, or subsequent to, submission to the service. In this way, the service is operable to accept from disparate sources a variety of metadata appended to the submitted content (i.e., including external and internal contributors) and is designed to merge the metadata intelligently such that the content is appropriately categorized upon being published at the online compilation(s) and/or properly labeled upon being incorporated within the ongoing project(s). 
     Turning now to  FIG. 7 , an overall flow diagram of a method  700  for prompting the customer of the service to submit the content for the purpose of generating an online compilation is shown, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described. 
     Initially, when developing the prompting scheme, information is accessed that describes preferences of the customer, as depicted at block  702 . In embodiments, this information is aggregated by receiving the information explicitly upon the customer establishing or updating configuration settings of an account with the service (see block  704 ) and/or by extracting the information implicitly from the customer&#39;s interactions with the service (see block  706 ). This information may then be used to derive a prompting scheme that governs the scheduling of communication(s) that are automatically distributed to the customer, as depicted by block  708 . Typically, the communication(s) are designed to solicit feedback from the customer. At some later point in time, upon delivering the communication(s), a response from the customer that includes content is received at the service. This is depicted at block  710 . The service, generally on a real-time basis, pulls the content from the response and publishes the received content at an online location that is managed by the service, as depicted at block  712 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , an overall flow diagram of a method  800  for adapting a format of a solicitation conveyed within a communication based upon a manner in which a customer interacts with the service is shown, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The method  800  involves the step of automatically sending a first communication to the customer. Typically, the first communication includes an initial solicitation for feedback with respect to an account established with the service, as depicted at block  802 . The interaction between the customer and the service is measured upon receiving the first communication, as depicted at block  804 . In embodiments, as depicted at block  806 , a prompting scheme may be established or updated as a function of the measured interaction. As depicted at block  808 , a second communication may be formatted by the service for distribution to the customer. 
     The step of formatting the second communication (e.g., language of an email) comprises various processes including the following: selecting language of a tailored solicitation for feedback as a function of the updated prompting scheme (see block  810 ); and importing the tailored solicitation for feedback within the second communication (see block  812 ). Upon formatting the second communication, the second communication is sent to the customer, as depicted at block  814 . 
     Various embodiments of the invention have been described to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent from time to time without departing from the scope of embodiments of the inventions. It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.