Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7827487?dq=5179747
Timestamp: 2016-05-31 08:02:44
Document Index: 471484606

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 124', 'art 124', 'art 124', 'art 124', 'art 124', 'art 164', 'art 164', 'art 124', 'Application No. 03771825']

Patent US7827487 - Soliciting user feedback regarding one or more web pages of a website ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsOne embodiment includes a system for receiving page-specific user feedback concerning a particular web page of a website. The system includes a first icon viewable with the particular web page independent of input from a user subsequent to the user accessing the particular web page. The first icon includes...http://www.google.com/patents/US7827487?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7827487 - Soliciting user feedback regarding one or more web pages of a website without obscuring visual contentAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7827487 B1Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/870,024Publication dateNov 2, 2010Filing dateJun 16, 2004Priority dateJun 16, 2003Fee statusPaidPublication number10870024, 870024, US 7827487 B1, US 7827487B1, US-B1-7827487, US7827487 B1, US7827487B1InventorsRand B. Nickerson, Mark A. TreschlOriginal AssigneeOpinionlab, Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (76), Non-Patent Citations (40), Referenced by (9), Classifications (5), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetSoliciting user feedback regarding one or more web pages of a website without obscuring visual content
Many website owners desire information concerning usage of their websites. For example, an Internet website owner might use a third party service to track the number of users that visit its website, the number of “clicks” these users collectively perform (using their mouse pointers) while visiting the website, and how long these users stay at the website. Using this objective information, the website owner may determine that its website is not attracting a sufficient number of users or has been ineffective at keeping the interest of users once they arrive. The website owner may respond accordingly to improve its website and, possibly, the success of its associated business operations.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 10 for soliciting user feedback regarding one or more web pages 28 of a website 26 without obscuring visual content. A web page 28 may include one or more feedback measurement tools 30, and a feedback measurement tool 30 may be viewable on one or more web pages 28. As described more fully below, in one embodiment, feedback measurement tools 30 are standardized across some or all web pages 28 of a website 26, are readily identifiable by users 16 of pages 28, and are intuitive, predictable, and easy for users 16 to use in providing feedback concerning pages 28. As a result, measurement tools 30 provide a number of important technical advantages over previous techniques for measuring user input, which may merely measure and report website usage information or user feedback concerning transactions rather than user feedback on a page by page basis. Such systems are therefore incapable of providing meaningful feedback to website owners 12 regarding the “topography” of websites 26; that is, which of possibly numerous pages 28 of a website 26 have been rated particularly successful or unsuccessful in the eyes of users 16 of website 26 as users 16 navigate through pages 28 of website 26 according to particular needs. The system and method of the present invention address these and other deficiencies.
As still another possible alternative within the scope of the present invention, tool 30 may be embedded or otherwise incorporated into the user's web browser rather than pages 28 to provide substantially equivalent functionality. In one embodiment, user 16 may download tool 30, either as part of accessing a page 28 or directly, and perform any appropriate subsequent operations to incorporate tool 30 into the web browser. Tool 30 may be installed each time user 16 accesses a page 28 or may be installed the first time user 16 accesses a page 18 and remain installed until user 16 desires to uninstall tool 30. If tool 30 is incorporated into the web browser rather than page 28, the viewable icon associated with tool 30 may appear in the “masthead” area of the browser window, may appear so as to obscure some or all of page 28 within the browser window, or may appear in any other suitable location and in any other suitable manner, according to particular needs.
Periodically or in response to receiving feedback information from a user 16 concerning one or more particular pages 28 of website 26, collection module 42 of server 18 may perform a “crawl” to identify the pages 28 that are associated with website 26 (and possibly other websites 26) and incorporate tool 30. Based on this information, the collection module 42 may generate a map or other suitable report concerning the topography of website 26 and store the map in a database 44, which may include one or more storage locations integral to or separate from database 36, database 40, and server 18. In one embodiment, the pages 28 are parsed to identify their titles, URLs, and other suitable information for use in generating the map. Reporting module 46 uses the map to generate reports concerning the pages 28 of website 26, which might be linked to one another according to the topography of website 26 as described more fully below with reference to FIG. 11. Owner 12 may subsequently modify one or more pages 28 of website 26 according to the subjective ratings or other feedback received from users 16 (and possibly their demographic profiles), as reflected in the reports, to improve the pages 28 or better tailor the pages 28 for particular categories of users 16.
User identifiers for user 16 may also be used for a variety of other suitable purposes. For example, according to a user identifier stored as a cookie, token, or other message on the user's computer system, tool 30 may cause a particular question to be presented to user 16 in response to user 16 providing feedback. As a more particular example, every tenth time user 16 selects tool 30 to provide feedback concerning an associated page 28, tool 30 might cause a question to appear inviting user 16 to indicate (in addition to providing feedback) whether user 16 is a customer of website 26 or its owner 12. User 16 might be given an opportunity to provide comments in addition to answering “Yes” or “No.” Such questions could be presented in response to user 16 actually providing feedback using tool 30, instead of merely selecting tool 30.
In response to user 16 providing general or specific feedback concerning a page 28, tool 30 may store the feedback temporarily in memory on the computer system associated with user 16 before instructing the computer system to communicate the feedback to server 18. Tool 30 may also collect the time and date at which user 16 provided the feedback. Tool 30, using the user's computer system, may communicate user feedback information for page 28 to server 18 before or after user 16 leaves page 28. In one embodiment, feedback information may include the title, URL, start time and date, feedback time and date, user feedback, and feedback user identifier, in any combination and without limitation. Feedback information may additionally include “web profile” information for user 16, such as the IP address, hostname, username, password, network connection, operating system, web browser, screen resolution, plug-ins, or any other appropriate aspects of the user's environment. A feedback user identifier may be used to track feedback from a particular user over time or for any other suitable purpose. Tool 30 may compute the time user 16 spent on page 28 before providing feedback or may leave this task for server 18 to perform.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example web page 28 incorporating user feedback measurement tool 30. In one embodiment, as described above, tool 30 provides a mechanism for measuring feedback from users 16 concerning page 28 that is standardized across some or preferably all pages 28 of website 26, is readily identifiable by users 16, and is intuitive, predictable, and thus easy for users 16 to use in providing feedback concerning pages 28. In a more particular embodiment, tool 30 appears to users 16 as a language-independent icon 50, viewable on page 28 within the user's browser window, that periodically or continuously spins, flips, switches, animates, or otherwise alternates between “(+)” and “(−)” symbols, “[+]” and [“−]” symbols, “+” and “−” symbols, or any other suitable variation of plus and minus symbols.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, in response to user 16 rolling an associated mouse pointer over icon 50, pointing to and clicking on icon 50 using the mouse pointer, touching icon 50 using an associated touch screen, or selecting icon 50 in another suitable manner, icon 50 may change into or be replaced with a multi-level subjective rating scale 60 that corresponds to general feedback measurement tool 32. In a particular embodiment, rating scale 60 includes five levels ranging from very negative to very positive, each level having an associated language-independent or other appropriate symbol 62. For example and without limitation, a “−−” symbol 62 might correspond to a very negative rating, a “−” symbol 62 might correspond to a somewhat negative rating, a “+−” symbol 62 might correspond to a neutral rating, a “+” symbol 62 may correspond to a somewhat positive rating, and a “++” symbol 62 may correspond to a very positive rating. Although a five level rating scale 60 is described above in connection with a particular embodiment, any appropriate multi-level or other subjective rating scale or scheme may be used without departing from the intended scope of the present invention.
To record general feedback concerning page 28, user 16 clicks on, points to, or otherwise selects an appropriate symbol 62 reflective of the feedback. In response, tool 32 (or tool 30) may store the user feedback information and, at the appropriate time, cause the feedback information to be communicated to server 18 for storage in database 36. In a particular embodiment, the user feedback information collected in response to user 16 providing general feedback concerning page 28 may include, in any suitable combination and without limitation: (1) the title of page 28; (2) the URL for page 28; (3) the feedback user identifier; (4) the subjective rating (for example only, “++,” “+,” “+−,” “−,” or “−−”); (5) the time and date page 28 was accessed; (6) the time and date the subjective rating was received; (7) the web profile information for user 16; and (8) any other suitable information. According to the demographic user identifier, if one is available at server 18, the demographic information for user 16 may be stored in association with the user feedback information in database 36, as described more fully above.
Where appropriate, feedback concerning page 28 collected using tools 30 and 32 may include responses to one or more explicit questions posed to user 16 concerning page 28, concerning one or more visual, audible, or other elements of page 28, or concerning one or more items with which page 28 is logically associated. Questions may be presented instead of or in addition to rating scale 60. As an example, a page 28 of a vehicle manufacturer's website 26 may include a picture of a particular make and model of vehicle. Questions posed to user 16 using tool 30 or 32, in response to user 16 selecting icon 50, might include “How well do you like this picture?” or “Do you like the shape of the tail fin?” for example. The responses to the questions might be received using rating scale 60, similar to collection of user feedback concerning page 28 described above, or might be received using a color or other suitable scale. For example, user 16 might select a green box, dot, or other visual element to provide a “Yes” response, might select a white box, dot, or other visual element to provide a “neutral” response, and might select a red box, dot, or other visual element to provide a “No” response. Each question may appear within a banner, bar, flag, or other visual element in response to user 16 selecting icon 50, in response to user 16 providing feedback concerning page 28 using tool 30, 32, or 34, or otherwise. A particular color, shape, or other indicia associated with the element may always signify the same question, regardless of page 28 on which it appears. For example only, a green element might always signify the question, “Do you consider the price of this item fair?” A particular question may be posed in response to user 16 providing a particular subjective rating of page 28 or a particular response to a previous question, the question presented being dependent upon the previous response. According to the present invention, one or more questions may be associated with any one or more pages 28 of website 26 according to the particular needs of owner 12, providing an important technical advantage. In particular embodiments, different questions may be associated with different pages 28 of a website 26. For example, an owner 16 of website 26 may specify one or more first questions regarding a first page 28 of website 26, one or more second questions regarding a second page 28 of website 26, one or more third questions regarding a third page 28 of website 26, and so on.
To record specific feedback concerning page 28, user 16 clicks on, points to, or otherwise selects an appropriate symbol 74 reflective of the feedback. In response, tool 34 (or tool 30) may store corresponding user feedback information and cause the user feedback information to be communicated to server 18 for storage in database 36. In a particular embodiment, the feedback information collected in response to user 16 providing specific feedback concerning page 28 may include, in any combination and without limitation: (1) the title of page 28; (2) the URL for page 28; (3) the feedback user identifier; (4) the subjective ratings (for example only, “++,” “+,” “+−,” “−,” or “−−”); (5) the time and date page 28 was accessed; (6) the time and date the subjective ratings were received; (7) web profile information for user 16; and (8) any other appropriate information. According to the demographic user identifier, if one is available at server 18, the demographic information for user 16 may be stored in association with the user feedback information in database 36, as described above. Tool 34 may require multiple ratings to be provided, one for each rating scale 72, before such information is stored.
In one embodiment, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, after server 18 receives demographic information sufficient to establish a user profile for user 16, server 14 assigns a demographic user identifier to user 16 and associates this demographic user identifier with the corresponding user profile in database 36. The demographic user identifier is stored on the user's computer system (in the form of a cookie, token, or other message) in response to user 16 providing requested demographic information. In response to user 16 subsequently selecting tool 30 to provide feedback, tool 30 recognizes user 16 according to the stored demographic user identifier and may convey a suitable message to indicate this recognition. For example, tool 30 may replace the icon 50 with a personalized message (such as “Thanks, [name]”) in response to user 16 providing general or specific feedback concerning a particular page 28. This message may be transient, disappearing after a specified time period, or may remain viewable in browser window 52 while user 16 remains on page 28. The demographic user identifier preferably matches the feedback user identifier for user 16, which allows feedback information and demographic information to be readily associated with one another at server 18. As described above, demographic information linked to feedback information may also facilitate the correlation of feedback information to other suitable metrics that are linked to demographic information.
In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10A, report 100 reflects feedback information for website 26 using a chart 124 having a ray, arrow, bar, or other line 126 for each page 28 of website 26. The lengths 128 of lines 126 along scale 130 represent the total number of ratings received for the corresponding pages 28. Chart 124 may be substantially circular at least in part, as illustrated, with lines 126 that extend outward from its center 132, or may have any other suitable shape. As an example, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, chart 124 may include a “flat” version of chart 124 having a scale 130 in the direction of a first axis 134 and lines 126 extending in the direction of the first axis 134 from a second axis 136 that is perpendicular to the first axis 134. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other suitable schemes for representing the ratings associated with a particular page 28, including color for example, may be used without departing from the intended scope of the present invention. In one embodiment, when a mouse pointer is rolled across the tip of line 126 or line 126 is otherwise selected, the title of, the URL for, a link to, a report concerning, or other information relating to corresponding page 28 appears instead of, on top of, near, or otherwise in association with line 126. If a report for page 28 is generated, the report may replace report 100, similar to the manner in which a newly accessed page 28 may replace a previously accessed page 28 within a user's browser window.
In one embodiment, referring again to FIG. 10A, chart 124 may include a number of regions 138, as an example, negative region 138, neutral region 138, and positive region 138. The position of line 126 relative to regions 138 may reflect the average rating for associated page 28 (or other mathematical operation on ratings for associated page 28). For example only and without limitation, if the ratings on five level rating scale 60 are assigned values of “1” through “5” with “1” being for a very negative rating, the average value for page 28 might be “2.5” and the corresponding line 126 might be positioned near the border between negative and neutral regions 138. Regions 138 may each have the same or no color, each region 138 may have a different color, or the colors of regions 138 may transition smoothly across regions 138. Instead of or in addition to colored regions 138, lines 126 may be colored according to their positions relative to regions 138. For example only and without limitation, line 26 reflecting an average rating of “1.4” might be substantially red, a line 26 reflecting an average rating of “3.3” might be substantially black, and line 26 reflecting an average rating of “4.2” might be substantially green. Color may be used in any suitable manner to convey feedback information for one or more pages 28 of website 26.
In one embodiment, page detail 158 may provide any of the page level rating information described above in a more visually appealing and readily interpretable manner. The page detail 158 may provide a “sliding” or other appropriate scale 160 indicating, for a selected category of page level rating information, the percentages of ratings that are negative, neutral, and positive. For example, the page detail 158 may include a sliding scale 160 for the “usability” aspect of page 28. Sliding scale 160 may include a first portion 162 a indicating the percentage of negative ratings as to usability, a second portion 162 b indicating the percentage of neutral ratings as to usability, and a third portion 162 c indicating the percentage of positive ratings as to usability. More or fewer portions 162 that reflect finer or coarser rating variations may be provided according to particular needs. Portions 162 may be differentiated from one another using color, shading, or other suitable indicia. For example only, first portion 162 a may be red, second portion 162 b may be black, and third portion 162 c may be green. The present invention contemplates providing page level rating information to owner 12 in any appropriate format.
In one embodiment, report 150 reflects feedback information for page 28 using a chart 164 having a scale 166 in the direction of a first axis 168 and a set of bars, boxes, banners, or other lines 170 extending in the direction of first axis 168 from a second axis 172 that is perpendicular to the first axis 168. The position of a line 170 along second axis 172 reflects the type of rating line 170 represents. The length of line 170 according to scale 166 reflects the number of ratings of that type for page 28. The present invention contemplates chart 164 being “flat” as shown, being substantially circular similar to chart 124 shown in FIG. 10A, or having any other suitable configuration. In one embodiment, owner 12 may move from report 100 to any associated report 150 or to another report 100 for another website 26, may move from any report 150 to associated report 100, or may move in any other appropriate manner between reports 100 and 150 in assessing the feedback information for one or more websites 26 and their pages 28.
A report 150 for a particular page 28 may provide hypertext or other suitable links to reports 150 for other pages 28 that may be linked to the particular page 28 according to the unique topography of website 26. For example, if a first page 28 allows users 16 to access either a second page 28, a third page 28, or a fourth page 28, report 150 for the first page 28 might similarly allow owner 12 to access at least the reports 150 for the second page 28, for the third page 28, and for the fourth page 28. Report 150 for the first page 28 might further allow owner 12 to access the parent page 28 of the first page 28; that is, page 28 at an adjacent higher level within a hierarchical topography of website 26 from which user 16 might navigate to the first page 28. In one embodiment, reporting module 46 generates reports 150 “on the fly” in response to specific requests received from owner 12 using network 20. For example, reporting module 46 might access one or more databases 36, 40, and 44 to generate report 150 in response to owner 12 clicking on, pointing to, or otherwise selecting a link to a second page 28 while viewing report 150 for a first page 28. Reporting module 46, through reports 150, allows owner 12 to navigate through feedback information pertaining to the pages 28 of website 26 in much the same manner that users 16 navigate through the pages 28 of website 26 when accessing website 26 for their needs, according to the topography of website 26, providing an important technical advantage.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example method of incorporating tool 30 into one or more particular pages 28 of website 26. The method begins at step 200, where owner 12 communicates a download or other suitable request to server 18 (shown in FIGS. 12 through 12 as “system server 18” to distinguish it from server 14, shown in FIGS. 12 through 14 as “website server 14”). At step 202, server 18 prompts owner 12 to provide identification, billing, and any other suitable registration and setup information. At step 204, owner 12 communicates the requested information to the server 18 (whether or not the server 18 is local to or distributed from owner 12). Server 18 may also notify owner 12 that website 26 may be crawled to identify and gather data pertaining to pages 28, may provide owner 12 with a license agreement and other information concerning the services to be provided to owner 12, or may communicate any other suitable information with owner 12. At step 206, server 18 may assign an owner identifier and password to owner 12 to allow owner 12 to access reports 100. Server 18 stores the registration and setup information for owner 12 in an appropriate storage location (not explicitly shown) at step 208 to complete registration and setup of owner 12.
At step 210, to incorporate tool 30 into one or more pages 28 of website 26, owner 12 downloads or otherwise communicates pages 28 (or copies of pages 28) from server 14 to the owner's computer system, preferably using a suitable wizard or other software component designed to facilitate the incorporation process. At step 212, owner 12 specifies, for each page 28, the type (for example, spinning between “(+)” and “(−)”), color, or any other appropriate characteristic of the desired icon 50 for page 28. For example and without limitation, owner 12 may click on desired icon 50, which might be one of multiple standard icons 50, and modify one or more characteristics of icon 50 using suitable pull down menus. As described above, the characteristics of the icon might include one or more explicit questions concerning page 28, concerning one or more visual, audible, or other elements of page 28, or concerning one or more items with which page 28 is logically associated. Desired icons 50 are incorporated into local versions of pages 28 at step 214, singly or as a group. For example and not by way of limitation, owner 12 may click on, drag and drop, or otherwise incorporate desired icons 50 into the local version of pages 28, singly or as a group. Alternatively, the incorporation might occur automatically in response to owner 12 simply specifying characteristics of icon 50.
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Tullis, "A Method for Evaluating Web Page Design Concepts," from CHI 98 Conference Summary on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, ISBN 1-58113-028-7, 2 pages, Apr. 1998.40Unknown, "Different Versions of the Online Opinion Data Collection Technique Dramatically Impact the Type of Response a Website Receives," OpinionLab, Inc., White Paper, 5 pages, � 2001.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8191004 *Aug 6, 2008May 29, 2012Microsoft CorporationUser feedback correlated to specific user interface or application featuresUS8713438 *Dec 17, 2009Apr 29, 2014Google, Inc.Gathering user feedback in web applicationsUS8732605Mar 23, 2011May 20, 2014VoteBlast, Inc.Various methods and apparatuses for enhancing public opinion gathering and disseminationUS9134875Apr 3, 2014Sep 15, 2015VoteBlast, Inc.Enhancing public opinion gathering and disseminationUS9170989May 1, 2014Oct 27, 2015Social Commenting, LlcSystem and method for facilitating posting of public and private user comments at a web siteUS20100037166 *Aug 6, 2008Feb 11, 2010Microsoft CorporationUser feedback correlated to specific user interface or application featuresUS20130073470 *Mar 21, 2013Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc.Method and system for providing online trouble ticket servicingUS20140082468 *Sep 14, 2012Mar 20, 2014Adrian Alexander MayBrowser for rating pages with respect to search goalsWO2015017380A1 *Jul 29, 2014Feb 5, 2015SR Solutions, Inc.Gathering user information based on user interactions* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification715/711, 715/790International ClassificationG06F3/00Cooperative ClassificationG06F17/30861European ClassificationG06F17/30WLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionAug 16, 2004ASAssignmentOwner name: OPINIONLAB, INC., ILLINOISFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:NICKERSON, RAND B.;TRESCHL, MARK A.;SIGNING DATES FROM 20040610 TO 20040616;REEL/FRAME:015705/0570Feb 15, 2011CCCertificate of correctionApr 2, 2014FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Jan 9, 2015ASAssignmentOwner name: OPINIONLAB, INC., ILLINOISFree format text: CHANGE OF ADDRESS;ASSIGNOR:OPINIONLAB, INC.;REEL/FRAME:034746/0621Effective date: 20130701RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services