Customer self service iconic interface for portal entry and search specification

Abstract

A graphical user interface for a customer self service system that performs resource search and selection. The interface comprises an entry field enabling entry of a query for a resource and selection of one or more user context icons, each representing a context associated with the current user situation, and having context attributes associated therewith; a first visual workspace is provided for visualizing and exploring the set of resources that the customer self service system has determined to match the user's query, the system indicating a degree of fit of the determined resources with the query, based on the user's context, associated resource selection parameters and associated relevant resource evaluation criteria utilized by a search mechanism in the system; and, a second visual workspace including detail specification workspace for enabling user to select and modify user context attribute values and further relevant resource evaluation criteria; and a mechanism for enabling the user to continuously navigate among the first and second visual workspaces to enable increased specificity and accuracy of query's search parameters and resource evaluation criteria and thereby identify and improve selection logic and response sets fitted to a query. The graphical user interface permits user interactivity for querying a customer self service system and enhancing response set results for a variety of self service domains including education, real estate and travel.

Claims

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A graphical user interface for a customer self service system that performs resource search and selection comprising:

a first visual workspace comprising entry field enabling entry of a query for a resource and, one or more selectable graphical user context elements, each element representing a context associated with the current user state and having context attributes and attribute values associated therewith;

a second visual workspace for visualizing the set of resources that the customer self service system has determined to match the user's query, said system indicating a degree of fit of said determined resources with said query;

a third visual workspace for enabling said user to select and modify context attribute values to enable increased specificity and accuracy of a query's search parameters, said third visual workspace further enabling said user to specify resource selection parameters and relevant resource evaluation criteria utilized by a search mechanism in said system, said degree of fit indication based on said user's context, and said associated resource selection parameters and relevant resource evaluation criteria; and, a

mechanism enabling said user to navigate among said first, second and third visual workspaces to thereby identify and improve selection logic and response sets fitted to said query.

2. The graphical user as claimed in claim 1, wherein said relevant resource evaluation criteria includes one or more of: cost, risk, timing and quality.

3. The graphical user interface as claimed in claim 1, wherein said entry is made via one or more methods including text or voice.

4. The graphical user interface as claimed in claim 3, wherein said third visual workspace further enables users to select, sequence and weight said relevant evaluation criteria.

5. The graphical user interface as claimed in claim 1, wherein said detail specification workspace includes graphical means for specifying minimum and maximum values for each said relevant criteria.

6. The graphical user interface as claimed in claim 1, wherein said third visual workspace includes graphic resource filter elements for enabling user specification of inclusionary and exclusionary resource selection parameters associated with a selected context attribute value.

7. The graphical user interface as claimed in claim 6, wherein said system enables display of the resources in accordance with said selection parameters, weight and sequencing criteria via said second visual workspace.

8. An interactive method for querying a customer self service system that performs resource search and selection, said method comprising the steps of:

a) enabling via a graphic interface, entry of a query and selection of one or more user context icons, each representing a context associated with the current user situation and having context attribute parameters associated therewith;

b) enabling, via a first visual workspace provided in said graphic interface, user specification of relevant resource selection criteria for enabling expression of relevance of resource results in terms of user context and, user specification of relevant resource evaluation criteria;

c) generating a resource response set for best matching a users query based upon user input context attributes and user defined relevant resource selection criteria, and enabling user visualization of said response set via a second visual workspace provided in said graphic interface, said step further indicating a degree of fit of said determined resources with said query based on said user's context, and said associated resource selection parameters and relevant resource evaluation criteria; and,

d) navigating between said first and second visual workspaces to thereby identify and improve selection logic and response sets fitted to said query.

9. The interactive method as claimed in claim 8, wherein said step b) includes the step of selecting and modifying said context attribute values to enable increased specificity and accuracy of a query's search parameters.

10. The interactive method as claimed in claim 8, wherein said step b) further includes the step of enabling a user to select, sequence and weight said relevant evaluation criteria via said first visual workspace.

11. The interactive method as claimed in claim 8, wherein said step b) further includes the step of specifying minimum and maximum values for each said relevant criteria via said first visual workspace.

12. The interactive method as claimed in claim 8, wherein said step b) further includes the step of enabling user specification of inclusionary and exclusionary resource selection parameters associated with a selected context attribute provided in said first visual workspace.

13. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform interactive method steps for querying a customer self service system that performs resource search and selection, said interactive method comprising the steps of:

a) enabling via a graphic interface, entry of a query and selection of one or more user context icons, each representing a context associated with the current user situation and having context attribute parameters associated therewith;

b) enabling, via a first visual workspace provided in said graphic interface, user specification of relevant resource selection criteria for enabling expression of relevance of resource results in terms of user context and user specification of relevant resource evaluation criteria;

c) generating a resource response set for best matching a user's query based upon user input context attribute values and user defined relevant resource selection criteria, and enabling user visualization of said response set via a second visual workspace in said graphic interface; said step further including the step of indicating a degree of fit of said determined resources with said query based on said user's context, and said associated resource selection parameters and relevant resource evaluation criteria; and

d) navigating between said first and second workspaces visual workspaces to thereby identify and improve selection logic and response sets fitted to said query.

14. The program storage device readable by machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein said step b) includes the step of selecting and modifying said context attribute values to enable increased specificity and accuracy of a query's search parameters.

15. The program storage device readable by machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein said step b) further includes the step of enabling a user to select, sequence and weight said relevant evaluation criteria via said first visual workspace.

16. The program storage device readable by machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein said step b) further includes the step of specifying minimum and maximum values for each said relevant criteria via said first visual workspace.

17. The program storage device readable by machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein said step b) further includes the step of enabling user specification of inclusionary and exclusionary resource selection parameters associated with a selected context attribute value provided in said first visual workspace.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to the field of customer self service systems for resource search and selection, and more specifically, to a novel graphical user interface for such a system.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Currently there exist many systems designed to perform search and retrieval functions. These systems may be classified variously as knowledge management systems, information portals, search engines, data miners, etc. Providing effective customer self service systems for resource search and selection presents several significant challenges. The first challenge for current systems with query capability is that serving queries intelligently requires a large amount of user supplied contextual information, while at the same time the user has limited time, patience, ability and interest to provide it. The second challenge is that searching without sufficient context results in a very inefficient search (both user time and system resource intensive) with frequently disappointing results (overwhelming amount of information, high percentage of irrelevant information). The third challenge is that much of a user's actual use and satisfaction with search results differ from that defined at the start of the search: either because the users behave contrary to their own specifications, or because there are other contextual issues at play that have not been defined into the search.

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) provide ways for users of computers and other devices to effectively communicate with the computer. In GUIs, available applications and data sets are often represented by icons consisting of small graphical representations which can be selected by a user and moved on the screen. The selection of icons often takes the place of typing in a command using a keyboard in order to initiate a program. In general, icons are tiny on-screen symbols that simplify functions like the access to a program, command, or data file. Icons are usually activated or selected by moving a mouse-controlled cursor onto the icon and pressing the mouse button.

GUIs for customer self service systems for resource search and selection have the potential to enable users to efficiently enter large amounts of contextual information. The prior art has addressed a 1:1 correspondence between a limited range of contextual variables and icons. A major limitation of these approaches is that they fail to address the full range of relevant user contextual variables as part of the query and require extensive time and patience on the part of the user to make even limited contextual selections. Another limitation of these approaches is that they fail to provide for a graphical method of fine tuning the context variables relevant to the user's search, focusing only on the fine tuning of the content variables.

As will be hereinafter explained in greater detail, some representative prior art search and retrieval systems implementing novel user interfaces include U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,361 entitled "Search and Retrieval System"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,899 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Searching a Database by Interactively Modifying a Database Query"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,578 entitled "User Interface for Information Retrieval System"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,437 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Interactive Database Queries via Movable Viewing Operation Regions"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,217 entitled "User Interface for a Financial Advisory System"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,501 entitled "Pictorial User Interface for Establishing Time of Day and Geographical or Environmental Context on a Computer Display or Other Monitor".

U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,361 describes a text search and retrieval system which builds an index representing every word in stored files created by a variety of applications, searches for requested words using the index, ranks the files based on the relative strength of match with the search request and displays the ranked filenames for user selection.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,899 describes an apparatus for searching a database and modifying database queries including an approach to searching multidimensional data, e.g., by constructing a query from a sequential process of identifying constraints from bar, line, and pie charts.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,578 describes an information retrieval system user interface for retrieving information from a plurality of sources and for storing information source descriptions in a knowledge base. The user interface includes a hypertext browser enabling a user to browse an unstructured information space and, a knowledge base browser/editor for displaying a directed graph representing a generalization taxonomy of the knowledge base, with the nodes representing concepts and edges representing relationships between concepts. The system also allows for querying a structured information source and using query results to focus the hypertext browser on the most relevant unstructured data sources.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,437 describes an information visualization system that uses dynamic queries in combination with movable viewing operation regions for searching of two dimensional databases.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,217 describes a user interface for a financial advisory system in which a user may interactively explore how changes in one or more input decisions such as a risk tolerance, a savings level, and a retirement age affect one or more output values such as a probability of achieving a financial goal or an indication of short-term risk. Although it deals exclusively with financial systems, the concept of enabling interactive exploration of a multidimensional data set is described.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,501 describes a system for retrieving and displaying a pictorial user interface on a computer display or other monitor and addresses the issue of a single context variable with a pictorial approach.

It would be highly desirable to provide a graphical user interface for a customer self service resource search and selection system that is capable of addressing multiple context variables abstractly, using an interactive information graphic.

Representative prior art references addressing the issue of providing some element of context to search and retrieval systems includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,178 entitled "Visualization of Information Using Graphical Representations of Context Vector Based Relationships and Attributes"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,661 entitled "System and Method for Automatic Analysis of Data Bases and for User-Controlled Dynamic Querying"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,386 entitled "Data Processing System Having Context Sensitive Visual Feedback for User Interface Controls and Method Therefor".

Particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,178 describes a system and method for automatically generating context vectors representing conceptual relationships among information items by quantitative means for use in storage and retrieval of documents and other information items and for displaying them visually to a user. A neural network operates on a training corpus of records to develop relationship-based context vectors based on word proximity and co-importance using a technique of "windowed co-occurrence". Relationships among context vectors are deterministic, so that a context vector set has one logical solution, although it may have a plurality of physical solutions. No human knowledge, knowledge base, or conceptual hierarchy, is required. Summary vectors of records may be clustered to reduce searching time, by forming a tree of clustered nodes. Once the context vectors are determined, records may be retrieved using a query interface that allows a user to specify content terms, Boolean terms, and/or document feedback. Thus, context vectors are translated into visual and graphical representations to thereby provide user visualization of textual information and enable visual representations of meaning so that users may apply human pattern recognition skills to document searches.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,661 describes a system that utilizes user-adjusted relevance criteria to generate a query. It is primarily directed to a main processing system that accesses a database, which contains data records, each of which is divided into data fields. The system preferably automatically determines the type of data in each field, as well as its range of values. It then determines one or more relational structures of the field data using a corresponding number of relevance measures. For each field, a preferably user-adjustable, software-generated query device is displayed, preferably in the order of the relevance measures of the respective fields. The plot of one or more fields' data relative to that of another field is initially generated using the fields in order of relevance. The relevance measure forming the basis of the field ordering, the order of fields, and the ranges of the plotted, displayed fields may be adjusted interactively by the user by moving and adjusting the various query devices.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,386 is directed to a data processing system that transforms the limited user interface toolkits currently in use in the software development industry to provide control interfaces which are sensitive to a user's operational context.

Thus, the prior art has addressed the issues of database searching, dynamic query formulation, and the visual representation of multidimensional data. Newer search engines are just beginning to use some of these ideas to express queries and results. There has heretofore never been an information search and retrieval method providing the means to express the relevance of the results to a particular user in terms beyond that of the results' content.

It would be highly desirable to provide in a customer self service system, an interface that facilitates the efficient location of relevant resources by the busy user by enabling the expression of a user's context as part of the query, and the relevance of the results to that context.

More specifically, it would be highly desirable to provide in a customer self service system, an intuitive graphical user interface that provides elements to enter search terms, select and fine tune user context definitions from pull-down menus as part of the query, establish inclusionary and exclusionary resource filters, and specify resource priorities by selecting, sequencing and weighting relevant criteria.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an intuitive graphical user interface for a customer self service system enabling resource search and selection.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an intuitive graphical user interface for a customer self service system, wherein the GUI provides elements to enter search terms, select and fine tune user context definitions.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an intuitive graphical user interface for a customer self service system, wherein the GUI enables establishment of inclusionary and exclusionary resource filters, and enables the specification of resource priorities by selecting, sequencing and weighting relevant criteria.

The GUI described by this invention facilitates the efficient location of relevant resources by the user because it enables the expression of a user's context as part of the query.

According to the invention, there is provided a graphical user interface for a customer self service system that performs resource search and selection. The interface comprises a first visual workspace comprising entry field enabling entry of a query for a resource and, one or more selectable user context icons, each representing a context associated with the current user situation, and having context attributes associated therewith; a second visual workspace for visualizing and exploring the set of resources that the customer self service system has determined to match the user's query, the system indicating a degree of fit of the determined resources with the query, based on the user's context, associated resource selection parameters and associated relevant resource evaluation criteria utilized by a search mechanism in the system; a third visual workspace including detail specification workspace for enabling user to select and modify user context attribute values, and further relevant resource evaluation criteria; and visual means enabling the user to continuously navigate among the first, second and third visual workspaces to enable increased specificity and accuracy of query's search parameters and resource evaluation criteria and thereby identify and improve selection logic and response sets fitted to a query.

Advantageously, such a customer self service system is applicable to a variety of customer self service domains including, but not limited to: education, real estate and travel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features, aspects and advantages of the apparatus and methods of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and the accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the steps of the control flow between the component inventions included in the generic preferred embodiment of the system invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the generic process steps of the user's interaction with the customer self service system through the iconic interfaces of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 provides examples of data elements from the education, real estate and travel domains given example user interactions with the customer self service system via the iconic interfaces of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates the first Graphical User Interface 12 providing a Context Selection Workspace 13 for enabling entry of query and context selection according to the invention.

FIGS. 5(a)-5(d) illustrate in detail the second iconic graphical user interface 22 including the Detail Specification Workspace 23 according to the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates in detail the third iconic graphical user interface 32 including the Results Display Workspace 33.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a customer self service system ("system") 10 which is described in detail commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/778,146 entitled CUSTOMER SELF SERVICE SYSTEM FOR RESOURCE SEARCH AND SELECTION the contents and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The system 10 is a comprehensive self service system providing an end-to-end solution that integrates the user and system, the content and context, and, the search and result so that the system may learn from each and all users and operationally benefit all users over time. The present invention particularly comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) that is iconic, and enables users to enter queries and manipulate the detailed specifications which drive the selection of resources by the system.

Particularly, as shown in FIG. 1, the self service system provides a three-part intuitive iconic interface comprising interface components 12, 22 and 32 for visualizing and exploring the set of resources that the system has found to match the user's initial query and related subject and context variables. The system 10 preferably enables the expression of a user's context as part of the query and expresses the relevance of the results to a particular user via the interface in terms beyond that of the results' content. The resource set is presented to the user in a way which clearly illustrates their degree of fit with the user's most important context variables, as indicated by their prior usage of the system, as well as by context choices for the current query. The system displays the resources in the sequence specified by the user and enables the user to select and weight the criteria to be used in interpreting and selecting between resources. This provides a shifting of the user's focus from finding something, to making choices among the set of resources available. Via the interface components 12, 22 and 32, the user may redefine their query, preview some or all of the suggested resources or further reduce, and redisplay the response set to extract those with the best degree of fit with that user's current needs. The system generates and displays via the interface a listing of the currently active inclusionary and exclusionary content filters and provides a means for modifying them. More specifically, the intuitive user interface of the invention enables users to specify the variables of their resource needs.

FIG. 2 particularly depicts reduced-size displays illustrating the three iconic user interfaces 12, 22, 32 which comprise the respective workspaces according to the invention. As will be described in greater detail herein, the first graphical user interface 12 comprises an initial Context Selection Workspace 13 that enables the expression of user context as part of a query in a manner optimized for ease of use; the graphical user interface 22 shown in FIG. 2 provides a Detailed Specification Workspace 23 including a visual representation of multi-dimensional data for expressing query and results that enables users to completely manage their search in a manner optimized for simplicity and clarity of logic; and, the graphical user interface 32 is directed to a Results Display Workspace 33 that enables expression of relevance of results in terms of user context in a manner optimized to facilitate resource selection using user supplied decision criteria. Aspects of interfaces 12, 22 and 32 shown in FIG. 2 according to the invention are described in greater detail herein and additionally in commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/778,147 entitled CUSTOMER SELF SERVICE ICONIC INTERFACE FOR RESOURCE SEARCH RESULTS DISPLAY AND SELECTION the contents and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

Referring back to FIG. 1, there is depicted a conceptual control flow 10 for the customer self service resource search and selection system according to a preferred embodiment. Via the three-part intuitive graphic user interface (GUI) users are enabled to enter queries and manipulate the system's responses according to their resource needs. Behind the scenes, as will be described, is a set of sub-system components that cooperate to derive, assume, sense and infer particular user contexts with minimal user effort. These components include databases such as: 1) a Context Attributes Master database 14 which stores the definitions of all the attributes known to the system and their relationships to predefined user contexts; 2) an Attribute Value Functions database 16 which stores the definitions and logic associated with assigning a value to an attribute for specific instances (context default, groups of users); 3) a Resource Indexing Functions database 18 which stores the definitions and logic for mapping specific resources to specific context sets; and, 4) a historical User Interaction Records database 15 which stores the users' prior queries, responses, and interactions with the system 10. The first three databases are created before system startup and the User Interaction Records 15 is created with the first user/use of the system, however, it is understood that all four databases are maintained and enhanced through system operations described below. First, prior to a user signing on to the system, and before the user first views the iconic interface 12, the system 10 performs several pre-processing steps including: 1) creating of an empty "user context vector" 25 and populating the context vector with minimal information from external data elements 11 integrated with the system or, from system sensing/discovery; and, 2) processing the minimal user context vector 25 against the Context Attributes database 14, the Attribute Value Functions database 16, and the User Interaction Records database 15 using context classification logic to result in a "suggestion" that this particular user may be classified into one of a small number of user context definitions from the system's predefined long list of context definitions. After these pre-processing steps, the first iconic interface 12 is then displayed for the user at the user's terminal, or web-browser, in the case of resource searches conducted over a web-based communication link. The iconic Context Selection Workspace 13 initially displays a small set of User Context Icons it has determined are most appropriate, captures the user's selection of the one that seems most fitting for the current user search session, and captures the user's actual query. In most cases, this minimal entry will suffice to begin the search because the system has already determined the relevant attributes, default values and parameters to drive the system forward through the user search without any additional entry on the user's part. However, if the user wishes to review their defaults or to fine tune some context or resource variables, there is an option to proceed to the iconic Detailed Specification Workspace display 22 before starting the search. These two workspaces 12, 22 and their iconic elements are described more fully herein.

Regardless of the screen navigation path chosen, when the user initiates the query, the system 10 packages the user query with a detailed User Context Vector 25 summarizing what is known of the user's needs at this point. Once the search is initiated, the query and context vector are processed sequentially through three distinct sub-processes: 1) a Classifying User Contexts sub-process 24; 2) an Adaptive Indexing of Resource Solutions and Resource Lookup sub-process 28; and, 3) a Response Set Ordering and Annotation sub-process 34.

Particularly, the Classifying User Contexts sub-process 24, receives as input the user query and the raw context vector 25 and External User Data 11, and processes these against the User Interaction records 19 for this user/user group, data from the Context Attributes Master 14 and Attribute Value Functions 16. The system classifies this specified user interaction state and annotates the context vector 25' with a complete set of context parameters for use in subsequent processing. The Classifying User Contexts sub-process 24 particularly applies an inductive learning algorithm as an attempt to predict derived contexts. Additionally, the Classifying User Contexts sub-process 24 updates the Attribute Value Functions database 16 with more enhanced functions. The actual processing via Context Classifier and Context Applier is described in greater detail in commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/778,378 entitled CUSTOMER SELF SERVICE SUBSYSTEM FOR CLASSIFYING USER CONTEXTS the contents and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

As the customer self service system is provided with functionality enabling a user to "bookmark" their stopping point in a prior session and to resume with a "work-in-process" data set, the initial settings may be modified based upon system discovery or user override at the time of inquiry, resulting in the raw contexts associated with the user's current inquiry transaction. It is this raw context data which serves as input to the context classifier sub-process 24.

The Adaptive Indexing of Resource Solutions and Resource Lookup sub-process 28 receives as input the user query and the context vector 25' and processes them against a Resource Library 42, the User Interaction Records for this user/user group 19, and the Resource Indexing Functions 27. This sub-process particularly maps specific contexts to specific resources so as to increase the relevance of search results for a given user in their current context without requiring the user to explicitly train the system. The primary output of the Adaptive Indexing of Resource Solutions and Resource Lookup sub-process 28 is a newly identified Resource Response Set 35 which is input to the Response Set Ordering and Annotation sub-process 34. The Adaptive Indexing of Resource Solutions and Resource Lookup sub-process 28 additionally generates a secondary output which comprises updates to the Resource Indexing Functions database 18 with yet more enhanced functions 27'. Further details regarding the Adaptive Indexing of Resource Solutions and Resource Lookup sub-process 28 may be found in commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/778,135 entitled CUSTOMER SELF SERVICE SUBSYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVE INDEXING OF RESOURCE SOLUTIONS AND RESOURCE LOOKUP, the contents and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

The Response Set Ordering and Annotation sub-process 34 receives as input the User Context Vector and Resource Response Set 35 and processes it against data from an Annotation Scoring Metric database 46 and User Interaction Records 19 for the particular user/group. This sub-process 34 weights and ranks the potential responses according to the resource selection criteria specified by the user on the Detailed Specification Workspace described herein, and takes into consideration the scoring metric. The sub-process 34 additionally tags the response set with data elements necessary for display and manipulation on a visualization system, including, but not limited to, the Results Display Workspace 32 described in the co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/778,147, and particularly generates as output an Annotated Resource Response Set 38. Further details regarding the Response Set Ordering and Annotation sub-process 34 may be found in commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/778,139 entitled CUSTOMER SELF SERVICE SUBSYSTEM FOR RESPONSE SET ORDERING AND ANNOTATION, the contents and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

As mentioned, the ordered and annotated set of resources that the system has found to best match the user's initial query and related subject and context variables may be utilized to drive a visualization system, including but not limited to, the intuitive iconic interface 32 for visualizing and exploring the response set as will be described in greater detail herein. This Results Display Workspace provides an interface that enables the user to continue working to learn about the resources suggested (detail/preview), narrow their results (selection) or redisplay them in a more meaningful view for decision making (graphically). In most instances, that will suffice. However, should the user wish to further refine their query, tune or override their current or default settings, that option is also available by navigating back to the Detailed Specification Workspace interface 22. If the user needs to start over, including selection of a new user context, it will be necessary to navigate back to the initial Context Selection Workspace 13.

As the user works with the system, particularly through the Results Display Workspace 32 and the Detail Specification Workspace 22 his/her interactions are captured and stored in the User Interaction Records database 15. Thus, in addition to the user query, context vector and response data set, the system retains adjustments to user context, results display manipulation, and results viewing and selection behavior 51.

Having completed the transaction, there is one more sub-process which is essential to this system: the sub-process for Context Cluster Discovery and Validation 48. This batch process, occurring asynchronously and constantly, applies unsupervised (machine) learning to cluster user interaction records and to assist in the identification of new user contexts, attribute value functions and resource indexing functions. The User Interaction Records 19 are processed against the Context Attributes Master database 14, the Attribute Value Functions database 16 and the Resource Indexing Functions database 18 and a Distance Metric 44 which helps determine "how close is close", i.e., "what's good enough" for a variety of factors. When validated by a systems administrator, additional user contexts may be implemented (manually or semi-automatically) in the databases and visibly as new icons on the Context Selection Workspace 13.

Attribute functions may also be identified and resource indexing functions may be discovered and updated in the appropriate files automatically. All of these additional classifications improve the ease of use, accuracy, and predictability of the system over time. Further details regarding the Context Cluster Discovery and Validation sub-process 48 may be found in commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/778,149 entitled CUSTOMER SELF SERVICE SUBSYSTEM FOR CONTEXT CLUSTER DISCOVERY AND VALIDATION, the contents and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

The customer self-service system and the interaction with the system through the iconic interfaces of the invention, will be described with respect to example domains such as education, travel and real estate, and further will be described from the point of view of the following users: a learner, a traveler and a real estate transactor, e.g., renter/buyer. In describing the user's interaction with the system through the iconic interfaces, a set of data elements used in the system and their characteristics are first defined as follows:

    Query:        an entry field for entering search data by using text or
                  voice methods, for example, but not limited to these
                  methods
    User Context: a User Context represents a predefined set of context
                  attributes which are relevant to the search behavior/needs
                  of a group of people.

    Value Resource Parameters defined in terms of inclusion and exclusion
    Parameters:   that may be used as a filter to increase the relevance of
                  the response set.

    Resource Selection Parameters and specifications for ranking a
    Criteria and      user's response set to enable more informed
    Value Ranges:     resource selection.

• Inventors
  Biebesheimer, Debra L.; Jasura, Donn P.; Keller, Neal M.; Oblinger, Daniel A.; Podlaseck, Mark E.; Rolando, Stephen J.;
• Assignee
  International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
• Published
  Aug-17-2004
• Current US Classes:
  715/805
  715/854
• Application #
  778136
• International Classes
  G06F 015/00; 815-818
• Field of Search
  345/853-855 345/711 345/802 345/803 345/804 345/805 345/799 345/800 345/801 345/795-797 345/738 345/734-737 345/771-773 345/811 707/1 707/10 707/11 707/5 707/3 706/60 706/11 706/47 706/45
• Examiner
  Sax; Steven
• Agent
  Scully, Scott, Murphy & Presser, Morris, Esq.; Daniel P.
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