Patent ID: 8533190

Claim:
A method for capturing user preferences in relation to a plurality of criteria, the user preferences to be used to facilitate selection of one or more records from a database, each of the records having been assigned a plurality of rankings, each ranking being determined in relation to one of the criteria, the method comprising the following steps: displaying to the user an interactive user interface on a user terminal including one or more graphical elements, at least one of the graphical elements representing at least two criteria; and receiving a selection of a single point on the at least one graphical element to indicate the user's relative preference between the criteria represented by the graphical element; wherein responsive to the selection of the single point, a first numeric value corresponding to the user preference in relation to a first criterion is derived from the single point's location on a first segment map overlaid on the graphical element representing at least two criteria, the first segment map divides the graphical element into a series of segments relative to a first pole associated with the first criterion and each segment in the series is assigned a numeric value corresponding to a degree of user preference in relation to the first criterion, and each of the segments in the series extends along an axis away from the corresponding pole to an opposing point, and a second numeric value corresponding to the user preference in relation to a second criterion is derived from the single point's location on a second segment map overlaid on the graphical element representing the at least two criteria and which is superimposed with the first segment map to divide the graphical element into a series of segments relative to a second pole associated with the second criterion, the second pole either diametrically opposing the first pole or an axis associated with the second pole intersecting an axis associated with the first pole, each segment in the series being assigned a second numeric value corresponding to a degree of user preference in relation to the second criterion; and selecting one or more records from the database using the first and second numeric values by comparing the first and second numeric values corresponding to the user preferences with the rankings assigned to each record, wherein such comparing involves computing a difference value between the numeric value corresponding to the user preference in relation to each criterion and the numeric value corresponding to the ranking assigned to each record in relation to the same criterion, and generating an overall match value for each record.