Patent ID: 8108780

Claim:
A computer-performed method for processing collaborative input from members of a group of users, wherein the method comprises: determining whether or not a user for which a widget is to be generated is a group leader, wherein the widget instance has an associated voting status reflective of input from the members of the group of users, the associated voting status also including one of a resolved and an unresolved state; within a computer system, displaying a user interface of the widget and setting a control value of the widget that controls an appearance of a feature of a user interface to indicate the associated voting status of a consensus of the members of the group of users with respect to their desired value of the appearance of the feature of the user interface, permitting adjustment of the control value by the user if the associated voting status is in the unresolved state, and prohibiting adjustment of the control value by the user if the associated voting status is in the resolved state, wherein the control value has a range of more than two distinct values; and responsive to determining that the user is a group leader, displaying the user interface of the widget within the computer system and setting a control value of the widget to indicate the associated voting status of the consensus of the members of the group of users with respect to their desired value of the appearance of the feature of the user interface, permitting adjustment of the control value of the widget by the user if the associated voting status is in the unresolved state, and further permitting the user to take further action to resolve or alter the associated voting status independent of whether or not the associated status is in the resolved or unresolved state.