Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/687,626, filed Jun. 3, 2005 by Brett Error, entitled “Incrementally Adding Segmentation Criteria to a Data Set,” (Attorney Docket No. 10402) and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/687,285, filed Jun. 3, 2005 by Catherine Wong, entitled “One-Click Segment Definition,” (Attorney Docket No. 10403), and claims priority under §120 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/______, filed Dec. 20, 2005 by Brett M. Error, entitled “Incrementally Adding Segmentation Criteria to a Data Set,” (Attorney Docket No. 10570), and is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/993,397, filed Nov. 18, 2004 by Brett M. Error et al., entitled “Assigning Value to Elements Contributing to Business Success,” (Attorney Docket No. 9263) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/609,008, filed Jun. 27, 2003 by Brett Error et al., entitled “Capturing and Presenting Site Visitation Path Data,” (Attorney Docket No. 8054), each incorporated herein by reference.  
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to website usage tracking, and more specifically to improved techniques for presenting and filtering website visitation data.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     One of the most common sales mantras is “know your customer.” This basic tenet of selling has grown far beyond knowing who enters the store; it requires among other things, knowing what attracts customers, what they look at, how they move around a marketplace, and how long they stay. By studying customer buying habits, retailers have been able to maximize their revenues through tailoring their promotions, offerings, and even store layouts to suit their customers&#39; preferences and habits.  
         [0004]     Thus, website providers often wish to collect data that describes usage and visitation patterns for their websites and for individual web pages within the sites. Such information can be extremely valuable in developing usage statistics for various purposes, including for example estimating server load, determining advertising rates, identifying areas of websites that are in need of redesign, and the like.  
         [0005]     Often, a user who wishes to analyze website traffic is interested in a particular segment of visits and/or visitors. A segment is defined in one embodiment as the website traffic data that is provided or shown after a filter has been applied to a set of data. In another embodiment, a segment is defined to be a subset of visitors/visits.  
         [0006]     Such information is useful in many ways, including for example collecting feedback that leads to improved web page design, determining the effect of various degrees of prominence of links and graphic elements on web pages, and determining the contribution of individual links to an eventual sale.  
         [0007]     Users, such as website administrators, often wish to filter and aggregate the results in many different ways. However, existing reporting systems do not allow the user to easily customize and filter results. Thus, much of the business utility of tracking website visitor/customer visitation data is lost using existing systems. Therefore, what is needed is an improved report format that visually depicts web page element usage and valuation statistics.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0008]     The present invention provides a fast, responsive way for users to perform advanced analysis on data via a graphical user interface. Users can launch various pre-packaged reports onto a single workspace and easily click on any data item to filter the result set of all reports by that item. This allows users to quickly answer questions such as “What were the top referrers that drove visits in which the visitor purchased Item X or Item Y and viewed the Clearance Sale page?” The results are returned almost instantaneously, enabling users to analyze the effects of combinations of factors.  
         [0009]     When viewing reports describing website visitation statistics, users often wish to filter and aggregate the results in many different ways. The present invention provides a flexible, easy-to-use mechanism for dynamically specifying filter criteria that provides virtually instantaneous feedback and allows the user to quickly add or remove filters to see results in whatever form he or she wishes.  
         [0010]     The present invention includes a user interface that allows the user, while viewing a report, to click on additional filter criteria. The report is then updated virtually instantaneously so that it only includes report data that fit the specified criteria. Thus, the user can select various reports, add filter criteria by clicking on elements within the reports, and quickly see the resulting changes in the output.  
         [0011]     The present invention allows the user to specify and configure segments specified without entering a separate screen or mode for specifying segments. Rather, the user can define segments while viewing reports, simply using input operations, e.g., by clicking and/or shift-clicking next to the desired criteria within the report.  
         [0012]     These aspects of the present invention provide greater visibility of the information generated by the above-described methods, providing the website owner valuable insight into which elements of a website are contributing to the success of the site and contributing to return on investment.  
         [0013]     The description in the specification is not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a method of incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2A  is a block diagram illustrating a system useful for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2B  is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for a network according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2C  is a block diagram illustrating software modules used by a client according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0018]     FIGS.  3 A and  3 C- 3 C illustrate a user interface for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 3B  illustrates a report of the user interface of  FIG. 3A  according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 3E  shows a user interface illustrating another embodiment of a user interface for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 3F  shows an open segment filter window of the user interface of  FIG. 3E  according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 3G  shows an open date filter window of the user interface of  FIG. 3E  according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 4A  illustrates a user interface for filtering website visitation data according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0024]      FIG. 4B  illustrates the user interface of  FIG. 4A  with two filters applied via an AND combination.  
         [0025]      FIG. 4C  illustrates the user interface of  FIG. 4B  with an additional filter applied via an AND combination.  
         [0026]      FIG. 4D  illustrates the user interface of  FIG. 4A  with two filters applied via an OR combination.  
         [0027]      FIG. 4E  illustrates the user interface of  FIG. 4D  with an additional filter applied via an AND combination.  
         [0028]     FIGS.  5 A-B illustrate a user interface for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
       [0029]     One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
       [0030]     The following description sets forth an embodiment wherein the invention takes place in the context of reporting of website visitation data gathered in the course of an online purchase. However, the description is merely illustrative of the techniques of the invention; one skilled in the art will recognize that the techniques of the invention can be applied in any context wherein it is desirable to filter website visitation data.  
         [0031]     In the course of purchasing an item from an online retailer, a visitor/customer generally follows a basic path. The visitor enters a website (by, for example, typing the URL for the website, or selected from a Favorites menu, or clicking on a link) and is presented with a home page for the online retailer. During the process, the visitor generally is presented with an item description. If the visitor wants to buy the item, he or she clicks on an “Add to Cart” link and navigates to a Checkout page and then to a page for entering billing and shipping information. After entering such information, the visitor generally is presented with a confirmation page where he or she is given the opportunity to review the order and finalize it before exiting the website. Analysis of visitor navigation through such sequence is extremely valuable to website administrators.  
         [0032]     Techniques for collecting site path sequences are known in the art. A particular visitor is recognized as he or she moves from page to page; the mechanics of visitor tracking are known in the art and need not be described in detail here. Visitor/customer web page visit records are stored in sequence according to they time that they occurred. Each visitation record typically contains two types of information: an identifier of the page visited, and metadata that provides further criteria for filtering and analyzing the sequential data.  
         [0033]     In some contexts, certain elements of the visitor navigation are designated as “checkpoints,” meaning that they are of importance in analyzing website visitation paths. Generally, all instances of a particular sequence of checkpoints are considered to be equivalent, regardless of the presence or absence of any other (non-checkpoint) nodes within the sequences. Greater detail regarding the use of checkpoints can be found in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/609,008, filed Jun. 27, 2003 by Brett Error et al., entitled “Capturing and Presenting Site Visitation Path Data,” which is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0034]     In one embodiment, the system automatically designates certain nodes as checkpoints based on particular characteristics, location, name, popularity, or any other factor. For example, the home page, and/or the five most popular pages, can automatically be designated as checkpoints. These automatic, or default, checkpoints can, in one embodiment, be used to construct an initial target path.  
         [0035]     It is within this context that the description of one embodiment present invention is described herein.  
         [0036]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a method of incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0037]     As an optional preliminary step, user input is received  110  to select one or more defined reports for viewing. In one embodiment, the user initiates this step by clicking on a user interface control such as a reports button. In addition, a data set associated with the one or more defined reports is then received  120 , for example comprising website visitation data. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by sending report queries to a network, and receiving report data from the network corresponding to the queries. The network replies, in one embodiment, with data. In this embodiment the retrieval includes interpreting the data, for example using hash codes or look up tables stored, e.g., in local cache. In another embodiment, the process begins at step  130 .  
         [0038]     The system displays  130  defined reports. In one embodiment, each report displays a set of default metrics, and the data are sorted by that metric. For example, an initial default metric may be visits to a website, although this can be customized by the user via an options screen. In one embodiment, the user can customize the default metrics on a per-report basis, for example by changing, adding, or deleting metrics. In one embodiment, the defined reports are displayed  130  in a report display area of a user interface.  
         [0039]     In one embodiment, preprogrammed default metrics include Page Views; Visits; Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly Unique Visitors; Revenue; Orders; Units; Cart Opens, Adds, Removes, and Views; Checkouts; Custom Events; Occurrences (the Product View, Campaign Click-thru, instance equivalents); and Participation Metrics.  
         [0040]     Initially, the report shows a default number of data rows (such as  10 ), although the user can adjust the default number as desired. In various embodiments, the reports are standard, preset reports associated with a set of predefined filters; user-customized reports built during a current session; previously customized reports retrieved from storage; or fall-out reports.  
         [0041]     A “fall-out report” is a report based, in one embodiment, on a target path specified in terms of checkpoints as described herein. A fall-out report indicates how many visitors continued to the next checkpoint in target path, regardless of whether the visitor/customer visited other, tangential pages before continuing. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a mechanism for generating and tailoring a “fall-out report” that provides statistics on visitation paths for specific checkpoint pages, without regard to other pages that are not designated as checkpoints. If the user chooses to apply one or more filters by clicking on elements of the report, the fall-out report is automatically updated accordingly. Thus, the user can easily specify the particular filter parameters for a fall-out report, and can easily modify, add, or remove such parameters as he or she sees fit.  
         [0042]     In some embodiments, various views of the report data are available. For example, types of views include tended, improved, ranked, over time, fall-out, conversions, averages, graphical, Gantt, tabular, raw data, and flexible. Some reports also include a search field that allows the user to search for and view entries for specific keywords or phrases.  
         [0043]     When a user desires to filter a report, the system receives  140  user input to adjust segmentation criteria to filter the report. In various embodiments, the adjustment to segmentation filter criteria includes adding segmentation criteria; removing pre-existing segmentation criteria; adjusting a date range; creating a new segmentation criterion; and activating a contextual menu of options for the segmentation criteria.  
         [0044]     In one embodiment, the information in the rows of the report is mutually exclusive, such that selection of a single criterion or filter collapses the report to the selection. In another embodiment, the information is not mutually exclusive, thus selection of multiple rows, and thus multiple filters, is possible.  
         [0045]     The user can filter a report by various means. For example, the user can click on a filter icon (“funnel”) adjacent to the desired filter criterion. The icon acts as a toggle in one embodiment, switching between activating and deactivating the criterion depending on its current state.  
         [0046]     In one embodiment, clicking on a funnel icon causes the filter to be applied as an “AND” logical operation. In one embodiment, the user can use various operations to apply a filter as an “OR” criterion. For example, the user can, in one embodiment, shift-click to apply the filter as an “OR” criterion. Thus, the system can receive user input to apply more than one filter to a single defined report, using either an AND or an OR logical operation for combing the filters, in response to receiving input to apply two or more filters in series. All reports will adjust according to the filters. The user can then further filter the adjusted reports, if desired. In one embodiment, the user can right-click to see a menu of options for applying the filter.  
         [0047]     According to one embodiment, elements of the displayed reports are themselves user input elements for specifying filters. Thus, the user can click on an area (such as a line) within a tabular report to apply a filter that corresponds to the data item being displayed in that area. In one embodiment the applied filters are shown in a segment filter area of a user interface, which displays a summary of the filters and the method by which they are combined (e.g., AND or OR).  
         [0048]     Next, the system processes  150   a  the selected criteria, displaying  150   b  one or more adjusted reports. In one embodiment, each report is adjusted according to the segmentation criteria. In one embodiment, the adjusted reports are displayed virtually instantaneously following the user input to adjust the segmentation criteria. In addition, if the reports have been adjusted by more than one filter, all filters will be reflected in the displayed adjusted reports, e.g., in a report display area of a user interface. In one embodiment, sampling rate for reports is selected based on requested date range, available RAM and other technological considerations. In one embodiment, the processing  150   a  is part of an executable process that combines filters and applies them to the reports. An executable process also displays a summary of the filter criteria in a segment filter area of a user interface and adds filter criteria to the summary as filters are selected according to one embodiment.  
         [0049]     As part of this process that system also may store the reports. A user can save and later re-open a project. When a user saves a project, the data set, filters, reports, and canvas appearance are all preserved. Subsequently, when the user opens the saved project, everything looks exactly as he or she left it.  
         [0050]     One skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can be used in connection with any type of filtering criteria that can be specified by the user, and/or with any combination of such filtering criteria. Examples include the ordinal visit number (indicating whether this is the visitor&#39;s first visit, second visit, etc.), which particular pages were visited, time of day of the visit, geographic location of the visitor, web browser being used, whether or not the visitor is using a beta version of the browser, and the like.  
         [0051]     Referring now to  FIG. 2A , there is shown an example of a system  200  useful for practicing the present invention according to one embodiment. One skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced using other embodiments that differ from the examples shown.  
         [0052]     The system  200  includes a client  201 , a network  202 , and optionally a cache  209 , for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set. The client  201  includes software including of a number of executable code portions and data files. These include code for viewing and interacting with website usage reports according to one embodiment of the present invention, as well as for supporting functionality of a user interface, as will be described in greater detail in conjunction with  FIG. 2C .  
         [0053]     Client  201  is responsible for orchestrating the processes performed according to the methods of the present invention. For example, client  201  receives input  212  from an input device, and sends reports to display  207  (or other output device) for output to the user. Client  201  runs on a standard personal computer.  
         [0054]     Network  202  is a centralized network for handling and responding to client requests for data on website usage, as described further in conjunction with  FIG. 2B .  
         [0055]     A cache  209 , if present, is a standard cache of small, fast memory holding recently accessed data. The cache  209  may include, for example a list of hash codes or other look up tables for report data as described below.  
         [0056]     In one embodiment, the components shown in  FIG. 2A  operate as follows. When a user requests one or more reports via an input device  210 , client  201  receives input  212  to this effect. Client  201  sends a query  203  to network  202 , specifying which reports are requested, and optionally specifying one or more filters for the reports. In one embodiment, query  203  is in XML format.  
         [0057]     In response to query  203 , network  202  returns data  204  that contains a representation of the report data. Data, in various embodiments, may be coded or not, and may be hashed data or may be included in a standard look up table. For example, data  204  may specify, in hash coded terms, the text string name of an item in a report. The data  204  is received by client  201 .  
         [0058]     Client  201  stores, in local cache  209  in one embodiment, a list of previously received and decoded hash codes or look up table information, so that it can correctly interpret a hash code or table data that it has encountered previously. In one embodiment, local cache  209  is used and is cleared at the end of a session, so that only those codes previously received in the same session are stored in cache  209 . In other embodiments, local cache  209  is implemented in a more persistent or less persistent fashion, depending on user needs.  
         [0059]     Upon receiving data  204 , client  201  consults cache  209  if present; if cache  209  contains the hash code(s) or meaning(s) of data  204  (in other words, if client  201  has previously received data containing the same hash code/meaning), client  201  can interpret the meaning of the hash-coded or look up tabled data without any further communication with network  202 . For example, a hash code/meaning may specify that hash term # 299  signifies a visitor using Internet Explorer 6.0. If hash code(s)/meaning(s) from data  204  is/are not present in cache  209 , client  201  sends a query  205  to network  202 ; network  202  responds by sending translation  206  to client  201 . Translation  206  provides client  201  with the meaning of terms. In one embodiment, client  201  stores this meaning in cache  209  for future use.  
         [0060]     Once client  201  has received sufficient data to generate a report, it sends report to display  207  for output to the user. In one embodiment, if some meanings have not yet been received, client  201  still sends report, and report states that certain terms are unknown. In another embodiment, client  201  displays an error message and/or waits until more complete meaning data is available.  
         [0061]     The user can interact with the displayed report via user input device  210  such as a mouse, keyboard, or the like. The user can click on areas within report; when the user clicks on an area that can be interpreted as a filter, client  201  generates and sends a new query  203  containing the new report filter criteria. The above process then repeats, and an updated report is sent to display  207 .  
         [0062]     Referring now to  FIG. 2B , there is shown an example of an architecture for network  202  according to one embodiment. Network  202  includes any number of front-end web servers  250  that receive queries  203 ,  205  from client  201 , and any number of back-end servers  260  that obtain data from storage, e.g., from database  270 , analyze the obtained data, and send report data back to client  201 . Servers  250 ,  260  are computers or devices that send and receive information using well known network protocols, such as TCP/IP and HTTP, for communication across a network. Back-end servers  260  send an appropriate data set to client  201  based on the filter request. For example, if a filter request specifies that the user is only interested in visitors that used a particular web browser, back-end servers  260  remove the data that does not match the specified criterion, and only forward to client  201  the data that does match.  
         [0063]     Database  270  may be a relational database or any other type of database that stores the data used by client  201 . Database  270  may be accessible by client  201  through a user interface, e.g., as described in conjunction with  FIGS. 3A-3G .  
         [0064]     Database  270  contains website visitation data, which in one embodiment is stored in a binary format stored in some storage medium such as a hard drive. In one embodiment, the website visitation data is broken up into files, or “bricks,” to facilitate extraction of portions of the data. When servers  260  extract data from database  270 , they are provided with specific bricks that match the criteria.  
         [0065]     In one embodiment, when the user requests a report showing website visitation data for a specified time period, back-end servers  260  extract data from database  270  that contains web visitation logs and/or statistics. In one embodiment, servers  260  obtain data from database  270  that represents a snapshot of website visitation over a specified time period. Servers  260  then store this website visitation data in temporary local storage (such as random access memory), using for example a binary format that is encoded according to an algorithm so as to minimize bandwidth usage. In one embodiment, this binary format is identical to the format used in database  270 , so that no file format translation need be performed when servers  260  extract data from database  270 . Servers  260  and then apply filters as requested, and send the filtered data to client  201 .  
         [0066]     In one embodiment, whenever the user requests a broader date range for website visitation data, back-end servers  260  perform a new data extraction from database  270 . However, when the user narrows the date range from a previously specified range, no new data extraction is performed; rather back-end servers  260  filter the previously extracted data according to the new filter parameters.  
         [0067]      FIG. 2C  is a block diagram illustrating software modules used by a client according to one embodiment of the present invention. The modules include of a number of executable code portions and data files. These include code for creating and supporting a user interface according to one embodiment of the present invention, as well as for supporting incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set. The modules include an input module  275 , a query module  280 , an interpret module  285 , and an output module  290 .  
         [0068]     The input module  275  is configured for receiving input to select one or more reports; receiving input to adjust segmentation criteria for one or more reports; receiving input to adjust one or more metrics; and receiving input for adjusting various aspects of displayed data. Thus, when a user requests one or more reports via an input device, the input module allows the client to receive input to this effect. In one embodiment, the input module  275  is further configured to receive user input to apply more than one filter to one or more reports, e.g., using logical operators.  
         [0069]     The query module  280  is configured for retrieving a data set comprising website visitation data associated with one or more reports; sending report queries to a network and receiving report data from the network corresponding to the queries; storing adjusted reports as one of the one or more defined reports. In one embodiment, when user input is received to filter the reports, a new query is generated and sent, repeating the process.  
         [0070]     The interpret module  285  is configured for, in response to receiving data from the network, interpreting the data. In one embodiment, the interpret module  285  uses hash codes/meanings stored for this purpose. If hash codes/meanings are not present, for example in local cache, in one embodiment the interpret module  285  sends a query to the network, and receives back translation, providing the meaning of term.  
         [0071]     The output module  290  is configured for processing and displaying one or more defined reports; displaying one or more (singly or multiply) adjusted reports, each adjusted according to segmentation criteria; displaying one or more twice-adjusted reports, each adjusted according to the segmentation criteria. In one embodiment, the processing takes place as described in conjunction with  FIG. 1 . In one embodiment, the output module  290  sends reports to a display device for output to the user. In one embodiment, the output module  290  is further configured to display the reports in a report display area of a user interface. If the information in the rows of the report is mutually exclusive, the selection of a single criterion or filter collapses the report in the user interface to the selection according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the output module  290  is further configured for displaying the applied filters in a segment filter area of a user interface.  
         [0072]     The above software portions  275 - 290  need not be discrete software modules. The software configuration shown is meant only by way of example; other configurations are contemplated by and within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0000]     User Interface  
         [0073]      FIG. 3A  illustrates a user interface  305  for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, the user interface is implemented using a known environment such as Macromedia Flex, Java, DHTML, or any combination thereof.  
         [0074]     The user interface  305  includes two main functional areas, a report control area  310  and a report display area  315 . The report control area  310  includes functionality for creating projects and reports and for displaying report statistics. The report display area  315  includes functionality for displaying and filtering reports.  
         [0075]     The report control area  310  further includes a project title  320 , a project toolbar  325 , a report selection area  330 , a segment filter area  335 , and a date filter area  340  according to one embodiment. The project title  320  displays the title of the project in use, and in one embodiment defaults to “Untitled Project  1 ” when no title has been selected, as illustrated in  FIG. 3A . The project toolbar  325  is a standard toolbar, and includes icons for various project functionalities such as creating a new project, opening an existing project, saving the project in use, printing the project, etc. The report selection area  330  includes an open report button  345 , a list of selected reports  355 , and a clear button  350 . The open report button  345  allows the user to open an existing report. Once opened, the report name is added to the list of selected reports  355 , and the report  360  is displayed in the report display area  315 . Each of the selected reports  360  in the list of selected reports  355  is displayed in the report display area  315 . Report data is retrieved, e.g., by the process described in conjunction with  FIGS. 2A-2B .  
         [0076]     The segment filter area  335  displays a list of selected segmentation criteria, as shown in  FIG. 3C . The segmentation filter area  335  also includes a new segment button  365  for manually adding segmentation criteria.  
         [0077]     The date filter area  340  allows the user to filter the selected reports  360  by date, for example by selecting a date range for which the user would like to see the report  360  data. The date filter area  340  includes to and from date selectors  370  and a show by selector  375 . The two and from data selectors  370  allow the user to set start and end dates for the data displayed in the report  360 , either by typing in the desired dates or by clicking the calendar icon and selecting the dates on a calendar. The show by selector  375  allows the user to select the granularity of the report, for example, by day, week, or month.  
         [0078]      FIG. 3E  shows a user interface with another embodiment of a report control area  310 . The report control area  310  includes a title  320  and toolbar  325  similar to those described in conjunction with  FIG. 3A . However, this embodiment includes different user interface elements for selecting reports and filtering criteria. The report control area  310  includes a reports button  332  that operates to allow the user to select reports for viewing, similar to the functionality of open button  345 . Once a report  360  is open, it is displayed in a report display list  334 . The report display list  334  of  FIG. 3E  shows that no report has been selected. See  FIGS. 3F-3G  for other examples of report display lists  334 . The report control area  310  also includes a filter button  336  that allows the user to select segment and date filter criteria. Clicking on the filter button  336  activates a drop-down that allows the user to choose date or segment filters, as shown in  FIG. 3F-3G .  
         [0079]     Once a filter is chosen, a textual description of the filter displays in the filter list  338 . The filter list  338  of  FIG. 3E  shows that no filters have been selected. See  FIGS. 3F-3G  for other examples of filter lists  338 .  
         [0080]     The report display area  315  includes the reports  360  chosen in the reports selection area  330 .  FIG. 3B  illustrates a report  360  in greater detail according to one embodiment of the present invention. Each report  360  displays data corresponding to one dimension within the context of a larger data set, for example, website visitation data. The report name  362  is the dimension that the selected report  360  displays. For each report  360 , data is sorted according to one or more default metrics  364 . In this example, the default metric  364  is visitors (to the website). In another embodiment, the metric(s) used can be user defined, as shown in the metric selector  364  of  FIG. 3F .  
         [0081]     Reports  360  also include a set of standard function keys, including a print button  366 , a download button  368 , and view selector  372 . The print button  366  allows the user to print online reports without having to first download the reports. Clicking the print button opens a pop-up window with a printer-friendly version of the report.  
         [0082]     The download button  368  allows the user to select the format in which to download the report (e.g., Word, Excel, PDF, HTML). Once the user selects a format, the report is sent to the user as an email attachment or is downloaded directly to the user&#39;s computer.  
         [0083]     The view selector  372  allows the user to select various views of the report data. The Ranked view, shown in  FIG. 3B , is the default view for most reports, allowing the user to view report data in tabular format according to the selected time periods. Other views include Improved, which allows the user to see how selected items performed between previous and current time periods based on success metrics such as revenue of checkouts, and Trended, which allows the user to view report trends over a given time. The user may select other available views using the view selector  372  drop-down. A Trended view  378  is shown in  FIG. 3F ; the view selector  372  displays Trended.  
         [0084]     In addition, some reports  360  include a search field  374 . A search field  374  allows the user to search for and view entries for specific keywords or phrases. As a result of clicking “go,” the report displayed will be filtered by the entered search term. In addition an advanced search button  376  allows the user to search with greater specificity, for example, by choosing whether to search for the exact phrase, perform an “and” or “or” search using the search terms, or exclude entries with the entered search terms. In one embodiment, clicking the advanced search button  376  opens a pop-up window displaying these options.  
         [0085]     Each report  360  is divided into columns, including a filter column  380 , a data column  385 , and one or more metric columns  390 . The data column  385  includes a list of various forms of the dimension corresponding to the report  360 . In the depicted example, the dimension is Browsers, thus various browsers, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape Navigator 6.2.3, etc., are listed. The metric column(s)  390  includes statistics for the respective row&#39;s  395  data column  385 . In the example depicted, for each browser (data column  385 ), the metric column  390  displays visitors by number and percentage of the whole.  
         [0086]     The filter column  380  of each row  395  includes an icon that allows the user to filter the data by that row  395 . All reports  360  are filtered to reflect the filter. In one embodiment, the filter column  380  icon acts as a toggle, narrowing or expanding the data depending on the present state of the data. Data may be further filtered if desired, and again all reports  360  are filtered by the additional criterion. In one embodiment, the filtering occurs virtually instantaneously. In addition, the rows are totaled in a totals row  396 .  
         [0087]     Reports  360  display rows up to a pre-selected number for the user interface  305 . In one embodiment, the number of rows can be edited. The user can interact with on-screen report windows according to well known interaction techniques for window-based operating systems. For example, the user can drag edges to change the height and width; minimize, delete, and maximize; reposition/rearrange windows on the canvas by dragging the window title bar; and drag the column margins to resize column width.  
         [0088]      FIG. 4A  illustrates a user interface  405  for filtering website visitation data according to one embodiment of the present invention. The user interface  405  is similar to the user interface described in FIGS.  3 A-C. The user interface  405  includes a report control area  310  and a report display area  315 , which function as described above. In the embodiment displayed, a date range of Apr. 1 through Apr. 9, 2005 has been selected in the date filter area  340 .  
         [0089]     The report display area  315  includes various reports  410 .  FIG. 4A  shows two unfiltered reports  410 . Each of the displayed reports  410  is shown in the report selection area  330 . In this example, the default metric  364  for the displayed reports  410  is Page Views. Report data for the reports  410  is retrieved, e.g., by the process described in conjunction with  FIGS. 2A-2B . Because no filters have been applied, the segment filter area  335  does not display any segmentation criteria.  
         [0090]     Each report  410  is divided into columns and rows  415 , as described in conjunction with  FIG. 3B . The filter column  420  of each row  415  includes an icon that allows the user to filter the data by that row  415 . As one or more rows  415  are selected as filters, for example filter criterion rows Dashboard  415   a  and Products  415   b , each report  410  updates to reflect the filters.  
         [0091]      FIG. 4B  illustrates the user interface  405  of  FIG. 4A  with two filters applied via an AND combination. Thus,  FIG. 4B  displays the user interface  405  showing results for visitors who viewed both the Products report and the dashboard. In one embodiment, the user may select an AND combination by clicking on filter icons corresponding to various filtering criteria in series. Because visitors may have accessed other reports  410  in addition to the reports  410  selected for filtering, the remainder of the report data is updated accordingly. Note that both reports  410  reflect application of these filters. Once the filter(s) are chosen, a textual description of the filter(s) displays in the segment filter area  335 , including information about the combination type, e.g., AND operation.  
         [0092]     The user also may combine filters from different reports  410 . For example, by selecting the filter icon of row  415   c  of  FIG. 4B , advanced search is added as a filter criterion.  FIG. 4C  illustrates the user interface  405  of  FIG. 4B  with an additional filter applied via an AND combination. Thus,  FIG. 4C  displays the user interface  405  showing results for visitors who looked at the products report AND the Dashboard, AND performed an Advanced search. Again both reports  410  reflect application of the additional filter and the segment filter area  335  is updated.  
         [0093]      FIG. 4D  illustrates the user interface  405  of  FIG. 4A  with two filters applied via an OR combination. Specifically, filter criterion rows Dashboard  415   a  and Products  415   b  have been selected. Thus,  FIG. 4D  displays the user interface  405  showing results for visitors who viewed either the Products report OR the dashboard. In one embodiment, the user may select an OR combination by clicking on a first filter icon, and then clicking on a second filter icon while holding a keyboard key, e.g., the shift key. As described above, the remainder of the report data is displayed reflecting this update and the segment filter area  335  is updated accordingly. Both reports  410  reflect application of these filters.  
         [0094]      FIG. 4E  illustrates the user interface  405  of  FIG. 4D  with an additional filter applied via an AND combination. For example, by selecting the filter icon of row  415   c  of  FIG. 4D , advanced search is added as a filter criterion. Thus,  FIG. 4E  displays the user interface  405  showing results for visitors who looked at either the products report OR the Dashboard, AND performed an Advanced search. Again both reports  410  reflect application of the additional filter and the segment filter area  335  is updated.  
         [0095]     As described in conjunction with FIGS.  3 A-E, the user can interact with on-screen report windows according to well known interaction techniques for window-based operating systems.  
         [0096]      FIG. 5A  illustrates a user interface  505  for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention. The user interface  505  is similar to that described in conjunction with  FIG. 3A , however, a fall-out report  510  is one of the displayed reports. A fall-out report  510  is based, in one embodiment, on a target path specified in terms of checkpoints as defined herein. Greater detail regarding the use of checkpoints, defining checkpoints, and detailed information about fall-out reports can be found in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/609,008, filed Jun. 27, 2003 by Brett Error et al., entitled “Capturing and Presenting Site Visitation Path Data,” which is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0097]     In the example, four pages have been designated as checkpoints: the homepage, the Add Product to Cart page, the Buy Process—Billing Page, and the Buy Process—Order Confirmation page. Fall-out report  510  indicates how many users continued to the next checkpoint in target path, regardless of whether the user visited other, tangential pages before continuing. Users that did not continue are denoted as “lost.” Fall-out report  510  thus corresponds to a target path through the website. An edit checkpoints link  515  takes the user to a screen for editing the target path.  
         [0098]     The fall-out report  510  indicates, for example, that of those users that visited the homepage, 37.73% continued to the Add Product to Cart page and 64.27% were lost. Of those that visited the Add Product to Cart page, 7.66% continued to the Buy Process—Billing page and 92.34% were lost. Similar information is displayed for the remaining checkpoints. Cumulative percentages are shown for each checkpoint as well; these indicate the percentage of users reaching that checkpoint, based on the total number of users that visited the homepage at the beginning of target path. The actual number of users that reached each checkpoint is also shown, adjacent to the percentage. The report also includes statistics for total conversion (the number of users that visited all of the checkpoint nodes in the target path) and total fall-out (the number of users that visited the homepage but did not complete the target path) in terms of numbers and percentages.  
         [0099]     Displayed with the fall-out report  510  is a standard products report  515 . The reports  510 ,  515  displayed in  FIG. 5A  are unfiltered.  
         [0000]     Interface Workflow  
         [0100]     The following is a description of interface functionality for adding segmentation criteria according to one embodiment of the present invention in the context of  FIGS. 3A-3G .  
         [0101]     The user begins by launching a report, for example using the open button  345  of  FIG. 3A  or the reports button  332  of  FIG. 3E , or by right-clicking anywhere on the canvas.  FIG. 3E  shows a blank canvas and  FIG. 3A  shows a canvas with four reports  360 . Initially, no filter is applied.  
         [0102]     In one embodiment, a user can filter the report  360  by various means. For example, the user can click on an icon in the filter column  380  adjacent to the desired filter criterion. This icon can function as a toggle, so that when the filter is already added to the report, clicking on the icon causes it to be removed. In the report  360  shown in  FIG. 3A , the user applies a filter on the term “browser” to only see visits from visitors using Internet Explorer 6.0. This is accomplished by clicking on the icon to the left of the data, i.e., by clicking on the filter column  380  of row  395   a . All reports  360  then filter based on the criteria selected; thus the other three reports  360  are showing only data with browser I.E. 6.0 as shown in  FIG. 3C . In another embodiment, the filter criteria are not mutually exclusive and the criteria can be combined, for example via an AND or an OR operation. As a result, the remainder of the report data remains displayed after being filtered.  FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate an example of this embodiment. The filter criterion rows Dashboard  415   a  and Products  415   b  of  FIG. 4A  are selected as AND criterion by the user, resulting in the interface  405  displayed in  FIG. 4B , which shows these criterion as well as the remaining filtered data.  FIGS. 4A and 4D  illustrate another example. The filter criterion rows Dashboard  415   a  and Products  415   b  of  FIG. 4A  are selected as OR criterion by the user, resulting in the interface  405  displayed in  FIG. 4D .  
         [0103]     Next, in one embodiment, the user adds another filter to the interface  305  of  FIG. 3C  to see only visitors running the Windows 98 operating system. This is done by clicking on the filter icon adjacent to Windows 98, i.e. filter column  380  of row  395   c  of  FIG. 3C . Then all four displayed reports  360 , including the one that already had the filter applied, show only data for visitors running both Windows 98 and I.E. 6.0, as shown in  FIG. 3D .  
         [0104]     Another way to filter the reports  360  is shown in  FIG. 3E-3G . The user can click on the filter button  336  to apply date or segment filters to report data. Clicking on the filter button  336  activates a drop-down that allows the user to choose date or segment filters, as shown in  FIG. 3F-3G .  
         [0105]     If the user filters by segment, in one embodiment an additional drop-down menu  344  displays with recently used segments, e.g., as shown in  FIG. 3F . The menu  344  also includes an option to create a new segment  346 . If the user filters by date, in one embodiment a calendar  338  displays, e.g., as shown in  FIG. 3G . The calendar  338  allows the user to select standard date ranges, such as days, weeks, months, and quarters, as well as custom date ranges.  
         [0106]     Similar functionality for filtering by date and by segment can be accomplished in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3A-3D , using the segment filter  335  and date filter  340  sections and accompanying functionality as described herein.  
         [0107]     The user can save and later re-open any set of reports using the save button on the toolbar  325 .  
         [0108]     Another example of report filtering is shown in conjunction with  FIGS. 5A-5B . In one embodiment, a user can filter the reports  510 ,  515  by various means. For example, the user can click on a filter icon  520  adjacent to the desired filter criterion. In the reports  510 ,  515  shown in  FIG. 5A , the user applies a filter on “Hewlett-Packard REFURB: Pavilion 7965 Mini . . . ” to filter the information to visitors who purchased this product. This is accomplished by clicking on the icon  520 . All reports, in this example  510  and  515 , then filter based on the criteria selected; thus the fall-out report also shows only data for which the Hewlett-Packard REFURB: Pavilion 7965 Mini was purchased, as shown in  FIG. 5B .  
         [0109]     The present invention has been described in particular detail with respect to one possible embodiment. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments. First, the particular naming of the components, capitalization of terms, the attributes, data structures, or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may have different names, formats, or protocols. Further, the system may be implemented via a combination of hardware and software, as described, or entirely in hardware elements. Also, the particular division of functionality between the various system components described herein is merely exemplary, and not mandatory; functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components, and functions performed by multiple components may instead performed by a single component.  
         [0110]     Some portions of above description present the features of the present invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules or by functional names, without loss of generality.  
         [0111]     Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “determining” or “displaying” refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.  
         [0112]     Certain aspects of the present invention include process steps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should be noted that the process steps and instructions of the present invention could be embodied in software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems.  
         [0113]     The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may include a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium that can be accessed by the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, the computers referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.  
         [0114]     The algorithms and operations presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those of skill in the, along with equivalent variations. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein, and any references to specific languages are provided for invention of enablement and best mode of the present invention.  
         [0115]     The present invention is well suited to a wide variety of computer network systems over numerous topologies. Within this field, the configuration and management of large networks include storage devices and computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilar computers and storage devices over a network, such as the Internet.  
         [0116]     Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

Technology Category: 5