Patent Document ID: 7698657
Application ID: 11932671
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. In a computer system having a user interface including a display and a user interface selection device, a process for graphically displaying the results of a search to a user on said display via an interactive search results window in which the user views and filters search results items, comprising process actions for: computing a clustering of the search results items in terms of a user-specified independent variable corresponding to a common attribute of at least some of the search results to form a plurality of cluster subdivisions each comprising a portion of the search results items within a particular range of the independent variable determined by the clustering; displaying a graphic data presentation sector in the search results window which comprises a series of shapes representing said cluster subdivisions displayed in the order dictated by the independent variable, wherein each subdivision shape is visually distinguished from the other subdivision shapes and has a length in the direction of an axis of the independent variable proportional to the number of search results items within the associated subdivision and a fixed width in the direction perpendicular to the independent variable axis; and upon the user selecting one of the cluster subdivision shapes via said selection device, those search results items associated with the selected subdivision shape are re-clustered and cluster subdivision shapes associated with the re-clustered search result items are displayed in the graphic data presentation sector in lieu of the previously displayed higher-order clustering, thereby effecting a user specified filtering of the search results.