U.S. patent application number 12/799938 was filed with the patent office on 2010-10-14 for methods and systems for displaying information on a graphical user interface.
This patent application is currently assigned to GLOTO CORP.. Invention is credited to Warren Citrin, Eric Conn.
Application Number | 20100262923 12/799938 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38175244 |
Filed Date | 2010-10-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100262923 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Citrin; Warren ; et
al. |
October 14, 2010 |
Methods and systems for displaying information on a graphical user
interface
Abstract
Systems and methods, operable on a mobile device for
facilitating communication between at least one user and a
plurality of participating product or service providers via an
intermediary third-party communication management system. Users who
respond to solicitations of the plurality of participating product
or service providers have the option of remaining anonymous while
communicating with the plurality of participating product and
service providers by utilizing an internal email service of the
third-party communication management system or by other anonymous
communication formats. In one embodiment, users are automatically
notified of changes and updates to user selected participating
product or service provider web sites, via the intermediary
third-party communication management system and may communicate
with the changed websites anonymously. At any point, the users may
elect to communicate in a non-anonymous communication format, thus
protecting the user's identity and privacy with the plurality of
participating product or service providers.
Inventors: |
Citrin; Warren; (Highland,
MD) ; Conn; Eric; (Woodbine, MD) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MICHAEL A. SCATURRO
679 THIRD PLACE SOUTH
GARDEN CITY
NY
11530
US
|
Assignee: |
GLOTO CORP.
|
Family ID: |
38175244 |
Appl. No.: |
12/799938 |
Filed: |
May 5, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11312117 |
Dec 20, 2005 |
7730424 |
|
|
12799938 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/752 ;
715/810 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
H04M 1/72469 20210101; G06F 16/9577 20190101; H04M 1/72436
20210101; G06F 2203/04802 20130101; G06F 3/0482 20130101; H04M
1/72445 20210101; G06F 3/04847 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/752 ;
715/810 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048; G06F 3/01 20060101 G06F003/01; G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A method operable on a mobile device for facilitating
communication between a plurality of user's and a plurality of
participating product or service providers via an intermediary
third-party communication management system, comprising: a)
receiving product or service information from a plurality of
participating product or service providers at a mobile device of a
user; b) the user electronically selecting from a GUI of the mobile
device: i.) an action of interest to the user from among a
plurality of indicators identifying actions; ii.) a topic from
among indicators identifying topics associated with the actions,
ii.) a narrowing criteria from among indicators identifying
narrowing criteria associated with the actions and the topics; c)
identifying by the mobile device, in real-time, at least one
participating product or service provider from among said plurality
of product or service providers that satisfy criteria defined by
the user selected action, topic and narrowing criteria, d)
initiating an anonymous communication from the mobile device, via
the third-party communication management system, to the at least
one identified participating product or service provider, e)
receiving and reviewing responses at the mobile device, via the
third-party communication management system, from the at least one
identified product or service provider, f) the user anonymously
responding to at least one of the at least one identified
participating product or service provider.
2. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of initiating
an anonymous communication from the mobile device to the at least
one identified participating product or service provider, further
comprises, prior to said step (a): displaying to the user on the
user's mobile device a list of available communication formats
including non-anonymous communication formats and anonymous
communication formats; receiving a selection from the user at the
mobile device for one of the listed anonymous communication
formats; transmitting the user selected anonymous communication
format from the user's mobile device to the intermediary
third-party communication management system; and storing the user
selected anonymous communication format in a data-store associated
with the third-party communication management system.
3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of
providing the participating product or service providers with email
accounts by the third-party communication management system to
enable the participating product or service providers to read
anonymous communications sent from the user's mobile device.
4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising providing
the user with an email account by the third-party communication
management system as an anonymous communication format type to
enable the user read responses anonymously from participating
product or service providers.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of the user
receiving and reviewing responses received from the at least one
identified participating product or service provider further
comprises, presenting the responses to the user on the mobile
device in the time order in which the responses are received from
the at least one identified participating product or service
provider.
6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising restricting
the at least one identified participating product or service
provider to respond once to an anonymous communication initiated
from the mobile device.
7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the user
electing to switch communication formats from an anonymous
communication format to a non-anonymous communication for purposes
of conducting further communications with the at least one
identified participating product or service provider.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said non-anonymous
communication formats comprises a traditional email communication,
an instant message communication.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said anonymous
communication formats comprises an internal email service of the
third-party communication management system.
10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the user
entering a current location on the user mobile device from which to
measure the relative distance between the user and the at least one
identified participating product or service provider.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the current location
is entered via a GPS module on the user's mobile device.
12. A real-time method operable on a mobile device for notifying
users, via a third-party communication management system, of
changes and updates related to events associated with user
identified and selected participating product or service provider
web sites, the method comprising: a) the mobile device displaying
to a user a list of participating product or service providers; b)
the mobile device displaying to the user a plurality of web pages
available on web sites associated with the participating product or
service providers, c) the user identifying and selecting at least
one participating product or service provider from among the
displayed list of product or service providers, d) the mobile
device of the user communicating the identity of the at least one
user selected participating product or service provider to a
third-party communication management system, e) storing the
identity of the at least one user selected participating product or
service provider in a data store associated with the third-party
communication management system, f) monitoring by the third-party
communication management system, changes and updates related to
events associated with the at least one user selected participating
product or service provider, g) communicating the changes and
updates, in real-time, from the third-party communication
management system to said user's mobile device as they occur, h)
receiving and reviewing the changes and updates at said user's
mobile device, i) initiating an anonymous communication with said
at least one user selected participating product or service
provider, based on the review of said changes and updates.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the changes and
updates related to events associated with the at least one user
selected participating product or service provider web site
comprises one of: a geo-centric related change, a time-based event
change, a sales event change, a social-media based event
change.
14. The method according to claim 12, wherein said reviewing step
(e) further comprises the user reviewing the responses in a time
order in which the responses were received from the at least one
identified and selected third party product or service
provider.
15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising
restricting the at least one identified and selected participating
product or service provider to respond once to the user initiated
communication.
16. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the user
notifying the third-party communication management system to change
a currently elected anonymous communication format with the at
least one user selected participating product or service
provider.
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein non-anonymous
communication formats types include: traditional email
communication, an instant message communication.
18. The method according to claim 16, wherein anonymous
communication formats include an internal email server of the
third-party communication management system.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. Ser.
No. 11/312,117, filed Dec. 20, 2005, which is incorporated by
reference in its entirety
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to communications
and more specifically to methods and systems for graphically
displaying information in a limited space.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Personal communication devices have become ubiquitous
amongst users. Today, cellular telephones, personal digital
assistants, networked computers, and numerous other communication
devices are found everywhere. Many types of communication channels
and methodologies facilitate these devices, for example: local- and
wide-area wired and wireless networks, broadband communication
networks, and many others as are well known to the reader.
[0004] Concomitant with the explosive growth of communication
technologies has come the development of very inexpensive storage.
The inexpensive and readily available proliferation of
communication devices, communication methodologies and inexpensive
storage has resulted in the development of huge quantities of
instantly available data and information to those with
communication devices. One well-known method of accessing and
distributing information is the Internet, accessible today using
all of the various communication devices and methodologies
described above. However, many other methods and systems for
accessing and distributing such information are available and known
to the reader, for example: mobile telephone networks, personal
digital assistant networks, conventional dial-up networks, and
others.
[0005] Ready access to huge amounts of information, however, is not
necessarily a panacea for businesses and consumers. While improving
the ability for businesses to present information to consumers, the
prolific growth of information has resulted in many challenges to
both parties. One well-known problem is that of consumers being
overwhelmed with too much data. While useful information may be
readily available, it can be very difficult to find. Further, the
costs and complexities of establishing information sources, for
example Web sites on the Internet, can be prohibitively difficult
and expensive for small businesses.
[0006] In addition to the challenge of actually finding useful
information, customers are further challenged by having to
interpret the often impersonal nature of the information. This is
particularly true in the field of services. While service providers
may make their basic contact and availability information known on
the Internet, it is very difficult for a consumer to be able to
read such information and determine whether the services, hours of
business, fees, etc. meet the consumer's needs. For example, while
it may be relatively easy for a customer to find the telephone
number of a plumber in an emergency, it may be difficult and time
consuming for the customer to determine if that plumber can timely
meet his needs. As another example, while it may be relatively easy
for a customer to locate a restaurant of a particular food type or
in a particular location, it may be more challenging to determine
if that restaurant can meet that customers individual needs for
seating, reservations, etc.
[0007] As noted above, it is often difficult and expensive for
smaller merchants to adequately advertise their services and
capabilities to consumers. The costs and complexities associated
with the Internet and networked electronic communications make the
use of such methods and communication channels challenging for
small businesses. Ironically, it is these very same small
businesses that may provide the most personalized and useful
services to customers if the customers were able to receive and use
the business advertisements and information.
[0008] The present inventors have determined that there is a
significant need in the marketplace for methods and systems of
facilitating communications between merchants and customers that
enables merchants to effectively communicate, and customers to
readily and effectively receive and use, individual, personalized
information. The need is particularly significant with respect to
the above-described electronic communications, pervasively in use
today. The need is particularly challenging as to communicating
large quantities of information in a useful, space-efficient
manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention facilitates the communication of large
quantities of information between parties such as merchants and
consumers. As described below, while not thus limited, it is
particularly well suited to efficiently communicating relatively
large amounts of information to users of portable communication
devices having relatively limited display space such as small
screens.
[0010] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention there are
provided methods and systems for selecting information of interest
to a user, a method comprising: receiving a plurality of units of
information; enabling a user to electronically display at least
three graphical wheels, the first wheel comprising a plurality of
indicators identifying actions, the second wheel comprising a
plurality of indicators identifying topics associated with the
actions and a third wheel comprising a plurality of indicators
identifying narrowing criteria associated with the actions and the
topics; enabling a user to electronically rotate the at least three
graphical wheels to identify a selected action, a selected topic
and a selected narrowing criteria; and based on the selected
action, selected topic and selected narrowing criteria, identifying
at least one of the units of information.
[0011] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention there are
provided methods and systems for facilitating communications
between a user and a sponsor, a method comprising: receiving a
plurality of units of information; creating a matrix including a
first column and at least one additional column each including a
plurality of rows containing displayable indicators; the
displayable indicators in the first column indicating a plurality
of actions, the displayable indicators in the at least one
additional column indicating a plurality of topics; enabling a user
to display the matrix graphically, the first column comprising a
first graphical wheel and the at least one additional column
comprising at least one adjoining graphical wheel;
enabling a user to electronically rotate the first graphical wheel
to identify a selected action; enabling a user to electronically
rotate the at least one adjoining graphical wheel to identify a
selected topic associated with the selected action; identifying,
based upon the selected action and the selected topic, a plurality
of selected units of information from the plurality of units of
information; and transmitting the plurality of selected units of
information to the user.
[0012] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention there are
provided methods and systems for operating an electronic display to
identify a provider of products, a method comprising:
electronically displaying a first graphical wheel containing
indicators of actions and a second graphical wheel containing
indicators of topics; electronically rotating the first graphical
wheel to select an indicator representing an action of interest;
electronically rotating the second graphical wheel to select an
indicator representing a topic of interest; transmitting the
selected action and topic to a system; and receiving from the
system information based on the selected action and topic.
[0013] The present invention simplifies and streamlines electronic
communications between parties, particularly between merchants and
customers. It enables a consumer to search large quantities of
information to determine which merchants can provide goods and
services within their constraints. It gives a merchant an
opportunity to communicate their relevance to each consumer request
by their ability to provide the requested goods and services within
the consumer-defined constraints and by each merchant's
responsiveness. In this way, consumers have a voice in the
marketplace and small businesses compete with large businesses on a
more equal basis, with ability and responsiveness determining
relevance rather than advertising and search engine keyword
placement and sponsorship. The invention inherently protects
consumer privacy and anonymity during each consumer-merchant
exchange and it does not have vulnerabilities associated with other
online commerce models, such as search engine click fraud.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0014] These and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the
Detailed Description of the Invention when considered in
conjunction with the drawing Figures, in which:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for facilitating
communications between sponsors and users in accordance with the
present invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functional aspects of
the system of FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functional aspects of the
user devices of FIG. 1;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a sponsor-user communication
process in accordance with the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 5 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
an action-topic-array graphical wheel, by which a user can select
topics of interest;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a process by which a user
locates a sponsor site;
[0021] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
for filtering on multiple sponsor sites to focus down on one or
few;
[0022] FIG. 8 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
for receiving a list of sponsor sites;
[0023] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
for displaying actual sponsor sites;
[0024] FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a process for facilitating
communications between sponsors and users;
[0025] FIGS. 11A, B, C are illustrations of a series of user
interfaces, particularly for facilitating anonymous e-mail
communications between a sponsor and a user;
[0026] FIG. 12 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
for facilitating instant message communications between a sponsor
and a user;
[0027] FIG. 13 is a table showing exemplary terms usable to
populate the action-topic-array wheels, or menu, shown in FIG.
5;
[0028] FIG. 14 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
for facilitating a user to navigate and access previously stored
favorite sponsor sites;
[0029] FIG. 15 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
for facilitating log-in of a user to the system; and
[0030] FIG. 16 is an illustration of a user interface, particularly
an example of displayed choices in a drop-down menu.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0031] The present invention is a web-based service that enables
asymmetric communications ideal for commerce and other online
social and commercial interactions between various parties. The
invention's features, operation and user interfaces have been
developed for presentation and navigation on small display screens,
such as those found on cell phones, pocket personal computers
(PCs), and personal digital assistants (PDAs), although it is
understood that, larger-screen devices, such as notebook computers,
can be used to access the system as well. As an Internet service,
the present invention can be accessed from any Internet capable
device.
[0032] While described below with respect to facilitating
commercial transactions, the present invention is a generic
capability and not limited to a commercial system, commerce
service, or content distribution broker. However, the present
invention lends itself nicely to commercial transactions and
provides substantial benefits to small businesses and
consumers.
[0033] As used herein, examples and illustrations are intended to
be representative and not limiting in nature.
[0034] As used herein, a "site" or "Web site" or variant thereof
refers to an overarching collection of content, such as an Internet
Web site. A "page" or variant thereof refers to an identifiable
unit of content within a site. The content can include, for
example, audio, pictures or graphics, video, text and/or other
content as can be used in accordance with the methods and systems
described below.
[0035] The terms "sponsor," "merchant," "small business" and
variants thereof are used interchangeably herein to identify an
offerer of products or services.
[0036] The terms "customer," "consumer," "user" and variants
thereof are used interchangeably herein to identify a procurer of
products or services.
[0037] As used herein, references to "products" or "services" and
variants thereof interchangeably include both products and
services.
[0038] With reference now to FIG. 1, there is shown and described a
system 100 for facilitating communications between parties. As
shown and described herein, the first party comprises a user 102 of
a remote communications device, for example a cellular telephone,
personal digital assistant, or laptop computer. For purposes of
describing the present invention, three such devices are
illustrated herein, at 102A, 102B, 102C. With the addition of
several inventive features, described herein below, these
communication devices comprise substantially conventional devices
as are known in the art. Users can comprise customers or consumers
as described above, or any other party desiring to communicate with
sponsors as described below. It will be understood by the reader
that essentially limitless numbers of device operators and devices
are contemplated by the present invention.
[0039] The second party, described herein as a sponsor 104,
comprises a party wishing to communicate with the user of the
remote communication devices. It will be understood that, while the
present invention is shown and described with respect to the
facilitation of communications between a commercial merchant and a
consumer, the invention, as described herein, is not thus
limited.
[0040] System 100 is seen to include a processor 106 and a data
storage device 108. Sponsor 104 is seen similarly to include a
processor 110 and a data storage device 112. In their simplest
form, each of systems 100 and sponsor 104 comprises a conventional
processor connected to a conventional data storage system, for
example comprising a combination of optical memory, magnetic memory
and semiconductor memory. Each of systems 100 and 104 further
includes conventional computing system components such as a user
interface, operating system and software, communications interface
and other standard components and features as are known in the art.
The reader will appreciate that the invention is not limited to any
particular system configuration. Numerous system variations,
including multi-processor systems, distributed data processing
systems, server-based computing systems, notebook-based computing
systems, mainframe-based computer systems and others will now be
apparent.
[0041] The various parties are seen to communicate through an
appropriate communications medium 114, for example comprising a
cellular telephone communications system, a public or private
network such as the Internet, and/or others as will now be apparent
to the reader.
[0042] With reference now to FIGS. 2 and 3 there are shown and
described functional elements of system 100 and certain of the
inventive aspects of devices 102. System 100 is seen to include a
registration manager 202, a site creator 204, a site manager 206,
an instant messaging system 208 and an internal email service 210,
the internal email service preferably operable to maintain the
identities of users anonymous to the sponsors in the manner
described herein below. It will be understood that these functions
may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the
two. The communication devices 102 are seen to include an action
topic array "wheel" and focus function 302, a search function 304,
a site display manager 306, an instant messaging system 308 and an
internal email service 310, the internal email service functional
to communicate with internal email service 210 of system 100. The
operation of these functional features of the invention is
described in detail herein below.
[0043] With reference now to FIG. 4, there is shown a process 400,
utilizing the apparatus described above, whereby system 100
facilitates various communications and interactions between sponsor
104 and user 102. Process 400 is illustrated so as to identify the
various steps therein in vertical alignment with the performing
party, i.e. sponsor 104, system 100 and/or user 102 as identified
in FIG. 4.
[0044] Initially, system 100 is set up to receive registration
information (step 402), including sponsor registration information
(step 404) and, optionally, user registration information (step
406). Sponsor registration includes information such as: sponsor
name, sponsor address, sponsor email address, service type, sponsor
hours, sponsor phone, sponsor fax, sponsor web site address.
[0045] User information, optionally provided by the user, can
include such information as: email address, postal/zip code, age,
and sex. The registration process can be performed, for example, by
registration manager 202 described above. As noted above, the
registration of user 102 is optional. In accordance with the
described embodiment of the invention, a user can receive access to
most of the functions of system 100 and the features of the
invention without registration. In the described embodiment of the
invention, registration with the provision of an email address is
necessary for a user to utilize the email and messaging services
described herein below.
[0046] Subsequent to the registration of the sponsor and the user
(step 408) the sponsor is granted access to the features of system
100 (step 410) as described herein below, while particular software
tools are downloaded to the user (step 412). Access and software
tool downloads can be managed, for example, by registration manager
202.
[0047] Having registered and been granted access to system 100,
sponsor 104 creates a sponsor site (step 414). Creation of the site
can, for example, be performed by the site creator 204 described
herein above.
[0048] In the described embodiment of system 100, the system
provides a selection of predetermined templates with which sponsors
can easily create a Web site. For example, selecting a "create a
Web site" button brings up a browser based fill-in-the-blanks form
to create a Web site including: name and logo, page names and
logos, page content, Web site and page settings and permissions.
Web site creation requires sponsors to provide identifying
information including, business name, address, telephone number,
e-mail address, web site information, credit card and transaction
information, and other information as will now be apparent to the
reader. Content addition to an established Web site can be done
from the system 100 application directly or from the system 100
website.
[0049] System 100 is developed to enable sponsors to create Web
sites for presentation on small display screens and, as described
in detail herein below, efficient navigation formats appropriate
for on-the-go usage. The below-described user interfaces provide
users an effective and scalable way to navigate through large
quantities of topics and sites of various lengths and formats.
Although the sites themselves do not limit the creativity of the
sponsors, as noted above the system provides templates for sponsor
use as guides for layout, content, sizing, text and icon placement,
and page segmentation. A library of templates can be provided for
all common sponsor topics such as "For Sale by Owner", bars and
restaurants, personals, brick-and-mortar merchants, and on-line
entertainment and shopping. System 100 may also desirably provide
universal Web site templates for polls, surveys, and quizzes
(PSQs), site credits and contact lists, resumes, events, lists of
trusted chat partners called the InnerCircle, and shared
phonebooks.
[0050] The sponsor-generated Web site is subsequently received by
system 100 and posted within system 100 so as to make it available
to a user (step 416). Posting and subsequent management of sponsor
sites can, for example, be handled by the site manager function 206
described herein above.
[0051] Once created, received and posted in accordance with the
above described processes, the sponsor sites are published (step
418), whereby they are made available for viewing by users as
described herein below. As described below, publication is
accomplished by associating each sponsor site with a descriptive
topical indicator, for example a token, icon or phrase, searchable
by a user and through the selection of which the user can identify
and retrieve the Web site. In addition to being associated with one
or more topical keywords, each sponsor site is associated with
narrowing fields which a user can select and system 100 can use to
narrow the number of sponsors associated with a topical indicator.
As described in detail below, these narrowing fields enable a user
to input information of import to the user in selecting a
sponsor.
[0052] An exemplary sponsor site may comprise a segmented
production of multiple pages, with each segment containing text,
photos, video, audio, or other content determined by the sponsor.
Any business can become a sponsor 104, typically upon the payment
of a monthly usage and hosting fee to the operator of system 100.
For example, a restaurateur may wish to buy a site for her
business. She may decide that she wants the site to be comprised of
four pages or segments; one called "Our Menu", another called
"Today's Specials", a third representing an on-line coupon
redeemable within a certain period of time, and a fourth with a
photo of the restaurant called "Elegant Atmosphere". The overall
name of the site in this example is "Elaine's French Cuisine". When
a user navigates to the "Elaine's French Cuisine" site using the
navigation features described herein below, they are presented with
the four pages Elaine has produced and the user can successively
select the pages they wish to view. Another example would be a site
called "Bill and Donna's House", with perhaps four pages; "House
Specs", "Inside Pictures", "Outside Pictures" and "Latest Contract
Status". Those interested in possibly buying Bill's and Donna's
house would visit Bill's and Donna's site.
[0053] The system 100 Web site is intended to provide a sponsor
with a simple and effective way to "tell their story" with as
little or as much technical effort as they wish. A page can contain
just some typed text or it can contain a professionally edited
video segment. A page can also include a link to one of the
sponsor's traditional Web sites if they happen to have one. A
feature and advantage of the system 100 Web sites is that they
enable a sponsor to label discrete pieces of their message in an
easily understood way for the user. A series of small, targeted
pages with individual descriptive titles, rather than a single web
site URL, is important for small screen information location and
viewing. For the vast majority of businesses and private sellers
without Web presences, the system 100 Web site is a valuable
alternative. Also, since nearly all one- and two-word English
phrase `.com` domains have been registered at this point in time,
owning a memorable and pertinent .com domain name is practically
impossible for most small merchants. The present invention enables
navigation topically and locally and does not require that sponsor
web site names be unique; so this namespace collision problem is
not likely to exist amongst users of the present invention.
[0054] With reference now to FIG. 5, as was described above, a user
102 desiring access to the functions of system 100 is provided a
tool to facilitate this access. In particular, the tool includes
the download of a software package which provides a series of
graphical user interfaces for interacting with system 100. An
exemplary user interface, typically displayed as the initial, or
starting screen for users, is shown at 500 in FIG. 5. It will be
understood that the interface displayed in FIG. 5 is an "Action
Topic Array" (ATA) user interface, and that this, and additional
user interfaces providing additional functionality, are described
herein below.
[0055] To gain access to system 100, a user optionally logs into
system 100 by entering identifying information such as a user name,
an email address or a unique screen name and a password. See FIG.
15 for an exemplary user log-in interface 1500. While optional,
registration and logging on may provide additional benefits to the
user. Users that log in may be enabled to use system features not
available to those who don't, for example: correspondence with
sponsors, setting of preferences, notification requests and
shortcuts, the ability to view locked sites and pages to which a
registered user would otherwise have access, and others as will be
apparent to the reader. As noted above, user registration is not
required and anyone (logged on or not) can view publicly viewable
sponsor materials.
[0056] Considering now the details of user graphical interface 500,
the interface is seen to include a bar, or data entry space, 502
for receiving user input in the form of alpha-numeric characters. A
button 504 is provided for initiating certain actions as described
here in below. An array of workflow status buttons 506 is provided
to indicate to a user which feature or function is currently being
accessed. An indicator showing queued mail is displayed at 508. A
status window 510 displays various icons indicating the status of
the system. Two scrolling lines display changing, scrolling data,
one upper line at 530, and one lower line at 514. A centralized,
rotatable, vertically-oriented, graphical wheel, indicated
generally at 516, is seen to include a left-most wheel at 518, a
center wheel at 520 and a right-most wheel at 522.
[0057] A second array of selectable buttons is displayed at the
bottom of the screen, a first button 524 providing access to a menu
feature, while a second button 526 provides access to user-defined
favorite sponsor sites. As described above, the reader will
understand the above-described buttons to include graphical,
software buttons. An assortment of fixed-function and programmable
physical buttons are typically included on the hardware device,
positioned as indicated generally at 528 underneath of the
graphical display. A typical four-way navigation and central
`select` or `fire` button assembly is indicated at 532. Many
appropriate mobile devices will be apparent to the reader. It will
be understood that the exact structure and function of the various
buttons, as well as the exact layout of the graphical user
interface, will vary between mobile devices.
[0058] FIG. 16 shows an example of a drop-down menu 1600 displayed
through the operation of menu button 524, the various displayed
choices on the drop-down menu dependent on the function of the main
screen at the time the drop-down menu button is selected.
[0059] With reference now back to FIG. 4, with sponsor sites
available in system 100, it is now possible for users to select and
request sponsor sites of interest (step 420). This process 420 of
selecting and requesting sponsor sites is shown and described with
respect to FIG. 6, wherein there is initially seen the step of
downloading the user software (step 602) for displaying the ATA
graphical user interface 516 as described herein above. As will be
described in detail below, the action topic array wheel provides a
user-friendly and user-intuitive method for users to find sponsors
sites of interest. This ATA function can be operated by the action
topic array function 302.
[0060] In accordance with the present invention, the left-most
portion of wheel 516, that is wheel 518, includes a series of short
verbs indicating different activities that a user might wish to
engage in. Central wheel 520 includes a variety of nouns, each
indicating a particular location, event, or other noun that may be
of interest based upon the selected action. Right-most wheel 522
includes a series of optional sub-topic nouns, each further
narrowing the selection of the first two wheels. The sub-topics on
the center and rightmost wheels are thus used in combination with
the selected action to identify a topic of interest to the user. In
order to select a topic of interest, the user operates the four
position (North, South, East, and West) and center Fire buttons
indicated at 532 to align the various displayed wheels (step 604)
so as to identify the user's topic of interest (step 606), the
topic of interest used by system 100 to identify a first set of
associated sponsors. The available sponsor topics are thus
presented as a set of rotating cylinders and an indicator showing
the selected action and related topics and subtopics. The labels on
each right selection wheel are automatically refreshed with
selections appropriate to the selection on the wheel to its
left.
[0061] Exemplary topics of interest might include, for example:
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 WHEEL 1 WHEEL 2 WHEEL 3 (Action) (Topic 1)
(Sub-Topic N) SELECTION 1 FIX PLUMBER RESIDENTIAL SELECTION 2
ATTEND CONCERT ROLLING STONES SELECTION 3 BUY GROCERIES MEAT
SELECTION 4 BUY THEATER MUSICAL TICKETS
[0062] With reference to FIG. 13, an expanded ATA entry table 1300
is seen, the virtual `wheels` aligned in vertical columns, the
entries positioned in vertical columns and horizontal rows. The
left-most column contains actions, the subsequent columns to its
right indicating with nouns, topics and sub-topics as described
above. It will be seen that each set of row entries is directly
associated with the user selection(s) to its left, the number of
entries diminishing as the user electronically rotates each wheel
to identify a topic of interest.
[0063] Subsequent to the general alignment of the wheels to
indicate the topic of interest, the user presses the center Fire
button in keys 528 to indicate the selection. The graphical user
interface 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 then appears, and the keys 528
are again operated so as to provide a focus, or narrowing of the
search results provided back to the user (step 608). As will be
seen from the FIG. 7, the focus screen allows the user to focus
their search results based on additional filtering criteria
pertinent to them. Such criteria may include: the location (city,
county, zip code, etc.), name, type of business (online, "brick and
mortar", etc.), distance from the user, category of content
(classifieds, personals, time-sensitive or location-sensitive
coupons with bar codes, etc.), date since last visited by the user,
a pre-selected option (last focus setting, a pre-defined favorite
focus, etc.) and others as will now be apparent to the reader. In
the described embodiment of the invention, the focus information is
provided to the user as additional wheels, shown in FIG. 7, which
the user may `rotate` as described above narrow his or her focus of
interest. In association with the selection of focus fields using
the electronic wheels, a user may enter specific information
associated with a wheel selection into screen entry area 502.
[0064] It will be understood that, as described herein, in the
arrangement of the virtual ATA and focus wheels, the rows and
columns are interchangeable, the horizontal or vertical layout of
the wheel being a routine design choice. References to rows and
columns are thus interchangeable with respect to the practice of
the invention. Further, while the illustrations generally show
three adjoining wheels, the invention is not limited. More or less
wheels may be displayed at any time and additional wheels may be
substituted for display as choices are made using the initially
displayed wheels. For purposes of describing the present invention,
the phrase "topical indicator" and variations thereof are used to
identify a user's selection of any number of action, topic and
focus indicators, including the provision of focus data pertinent
to the selected focus indicator, so as to identify one or more
sponsors of interest.
[0065] As is described in further detail below, the present
invention's use of topic and focus-based navigation and page
presentation eliminates the traditional keyword usage for finding
content and facilitating commerce. Using simple action-topic and
focus navigation matrices, the present invention eliminates
guesswork for the page sponsor and the user. In contrast to the
prior art, user searching is simplified and sponsors do not need to
buy keywords, optimize websites for search engines or be concerned
about click fraud.
[0066] It will be appreciated that the above-described methods and
systems for identifying and focusing on topics provides users the
ability to easily find and navigate between sponsor sites. For
example, a user may be interested in buying a house in a certain
city. Using the topic identification and focus features, the user
can find and consider sites for houses (or anything else) in just
the region of interest. In this example, there may be several sites
that meet the user's house hunting criteria. The user is free to
peruse the pages from any of these sites.
[0067] Equally important, the above-described Action-Topic Array
and sponsor/user interaction are more suitable for small screens
than traditional search engines and web sites. A short-word,
action-based topic navigation menu gives the user an easy
television-like menu selection mechanism. Also, the inherent
research feature of service 100, whereby a user simply specifies
their explicit wants and needs to sponsors via the communications
mechanism and is provided with only those responses that are
relevant, is ideal for a small screen. Typing in hit-or-miss
keyword phrases and viewing thousands or millions of mostly
irrelevant web site links, the traditional model for online
searching, is not feasible or desirable on a small screen.
[0068] In the described embodiment of the invention, system 100
retains composite statistics on user topic searches, topic
requests, and numbers of responses, as a function of time,
geography and so on. This information is made available to all
sponsors and is particularly helpful to small business and
entrepreneurs in identifying un-served and under-served markets.
The invention thus facilitates the ability of sponsors to be
competitive in serving a market, while maintaining the privacy of
the users.
[0069] Continuing with reference to FIG. 6, there is subsequently
returned to the user a list of sites, using the graphical user
interface 800 as shown in FIG. 8, these sites having been
identified through the selection of a topic and the subsequent
focusing as described herein above. The user receives these search
results through the displayed graphical user interface, typically
in the form of topically identified wheels and/or buttons, and uses
the keys 528 to select the desired product or service (step 610).
Upon using keys 528 to select the desired Web site, the selected
Web site will be displayed in a graphical user interface 900 such
as is shown with respect to FIG. 9.
[0070] Despite the significant advantages provided by the
action-topic-array wheel and focusing functions, it is recognized
that some users may wish to search using keywords. As an
alternative to the selection and focus on topics, in the manner
described above, the invention further provides the ability for the
user to search directly using keywords (step 612), for example
using the search function 304. These keywords may be entered, using
keys 528, directly into data entry window 502. Depending on the
selected keywords, selected search results will appear in the
graphical user interface shown and described with respect to FIG.
8.
[0071] It will be understood by the reader that the various
graphical user displays made available to user 102 may be
controlled by the display manager 306.
[0072] With reference now back to FIG. 4, subsequent to the
transmission of the selected sponsor web site (step 422) by system
100 and the receipt thereof by the user (step 424), there is
supported a communications session between the sponsor (step 426)
and the user (step 428), the communications session facilitated by
system 100 (step 430).
[0073] With reference now to FIG. 10, there is shown in detail the
process 430 of facilitating communications between the user and the
sponsor. Initially, there is provided by system 100 to the user 102
a choice of communication types (step 1002), for example including:
traditional e-mail communication, instant message communication,
and others as will be apparent to the reader. Each user is also
provided the option of anonymous communications (step 1004).
[0074] With respect to anonymity, users are less likely to use any
commerce system that places their privacy at risk. Most online
merchants and services require consumer information. Direct calls
to merchants often result in immediate consumer identification
through caller id and phone records. Services that require consumer
information but promise to hold it in confidence are inherently
vulnerable to hackers or unintentional disclosure. The present
invention does not, initially, require any identifying user
information since the service is offered free of charge to users.
Users may manually or automatically through GPS devices enter a
location from which to measure the distance to sponsors if they
wish, but the location can be a zip code (post office location) or
any other reference point and can be changed at will. In the
described embodiment of the invention, system 100 enables the
sponsor/user dialogue by assigning tracking numbers to user
requests and by delivering responses to user accounts defined by a
user-specified account name. The user's identity is anonymous
because even system 100 itself does not know or verify the user's
identity.
[0075] Upon the selection of the communication type and any
indication as to whether the user would like anonymity, system 100
initiates communications between user 102 and sponsor 104 (step
1006). In accordance with the described embodiment of the present
invention, system 100 includes various servers and facilitators for
facilitating the on-going communications between the user and the
sponsor (step 1008). These various communication functions can be
supported by the instant messenger 308 and internal e-mail service
310 functions described herein.
[0076] FIGS. 11 A, B, C show an exemplary series of e-mail
interfaces, 1100A illustrating an e-mail user-selection interface,
1100B illustrating a user-entered email, 1100C illustrating a
user-received sponsor email. FIG. 12, shows an exemplary instant
messenger interface 1200.
[0077] As described, sponsors are provided with mail accounts on
system 100 that allow them to read and respond to the anonymous
originating user. The user is also provided with a mail account
that enables them to read sponsor responses. When the user chooses
to view his responses, the default sequence in which the responses
are presented to the user is the time order in which the sponsors
responded. In other words, sponsors who respond quickly are
positioned more visibly to the user. The user can respond to the
sponsors' responses indefinitely. However, the sponsor can only
respond once to each user correspondence. This provides the user
with the confidence that he or she is in control of the
communication process while using system 100 and can not be
spammed.
[0078] Responsiveness to user requests, whether measured in time or
ability to meet stated user need, is in accordance with the
described embodiment of the invention, the greatest determiner of
relevance of a sponsor to a user. When a user composes mail to more
than one sponsor, the sponsor network order, as seen by the user,
is adjusted to reflect those who are most responsive to the
correspondence. In this way, the receiving sponsor can control his
or her own list ranking by reviewing the received mail and by
quickly responding to it. In the described embodiment, the present
invention does not permit automatic responses from sponsors because
the objective is for the sponsor to read the user request and to
respond only when appropriate.
[0079] For example, a hypothetical user Joe is interested in buying
a used motorcycle from a sponsor close to home. User Joe operates
system 100 to find sites in his area sponsored by people or
businesses selling their motorcycles. User Joe decides to send
anonymous e-mail to all of the listed sponsors selling Harley
Davidson.RTM. motorcycles, asking them if they deliver. Two of the
sponsors respond saying they will. The sponsor responses are
initially ordered on User Joe's display screen by timeliness of
response. User Joe likes only one of the two respondents'
motorcycles, so he sends another anonymous message to only that
sponsor asking about availability. The selected sponsor responds
and user Joe decides to let that sponsor know who he is so that
they can close the deal. In each of these exchanges, the sponsors
remain completely unaware that the system 100 internal email (email
service 210, 310) is from user Joe until Joe decides to let his
choice of sponsors know who he is. In this way, user Joe is not
spammed, sent unwanted emails, or any other communications from the
sponsors he has rejected. Also, the sponsors are limited to
responding only once to each of User Joe's messages so that they
cannot continue the dialogue unless user Joe wishes to continue it,
as he does with the selected sponsor.
[0080] The reader will appreciate that the present invention offers
significant advantages to both the sponsor and the user. When
shopping by telephone, a consumer in need of services is typically
left with a significant research burden. The need for a tradesman,
such a plumber, typically results in a yellow pages search, usually
starting with the largest advertiser under the trade. Calls by
users are placed, answering machines record the request, and in
many cases, a serviceperson is not immediately available at the
location called. After several calls and time spent searching, a
consumer might get satisfaction. However, the overall prior art
process is inefficient and involves a significant degree of luck.
The present invention, with its real-time facilitation of
communications between the sponsors and the users, greatly
diminishes the challenges a consumer faces in finding products or
services using the prior art.
[0081] Consumers are also saddled with considerable burdens when
seeking goods in the modes of Website or physical on-site shopping.
The tendency is for a consumer to either go to the large chain
stores in well known locations where they are more likely to find
the item than at small stores, or to go online on the Internet to
find the products. Both of these methods have shortcomings. Large
chains have severely damaged small business in many areas and
economic consolidation of power in the hands of a few large
merchants has significant shortcomings for the consumer as well as
the smaller merchants. The often-noted lower prices the large
merchants squeeze from their suppliers and employees comes at a
great public cost. Price control through competition rather than
consolidation is believed by the present inventors to be a more
desirable approach. The present invention enablement of direct
consumer requests to multiple merchant segments gives the small
merchant an equal chance to respond to the consumer and determine
their relevance, regardless of advertising budget. The consumer
benefits because he knows, via the communications interaction,
present inventory, availability, and other influencing information
only accessible to the merchant. In addition, the present invention
provides inherently an asynchronous background process that permits
the consumer to enter desires for goods and services over time and
receive the results whenever it is convenient. Search engines
require devotion to the task at hand. The conventional, online
search engine process stalls when the consumer is not actively
searching. The burden to guess appropriate keywords and decipher
search results lies entirely with the consumer.
[0082] Businesses without an Internet web presence, which includes
many small businesses, do not exist in the Internet search space.
Those that do have a web presence are listed in order of their
keyword relevance or ability to afford pay-per-click sponsored ads.
The present invention levels this playing field by facilitating
discovery of actual merchant relevance at a particular moment in
time; a time of need to the consumer. This is much more effective
for both merchant and consumer than a relevance determined by which
merchant has met the search engine keyword algorithm definition of
relevance a priori--i.e. which merchant could afford to buy
keywords within a search engine.
[0083] One unique feature of the present invention particularly
suited for on-the-move users is the notify mechanism. Through the
user interface, users and sponsors can request that service 100
monitor sites for new updates and receive automatic notification
whenever a site or page has changed or been updated. This feature
provides an "active favorites" capability that is especially
suitable for monitoring events, time-sensitive or
location-sensitive sales, streaming sites, and blogging dialogue.
In the described embodiment of the invention, a list of favorites
is established by the user, for example through a graphical
interface such as is shown in FIG. 14 at 1400. As illustrated, the
favorites are selected using a wheel structure, the left-most wheel
listing sponsor Web sites, the right-most wheel listing different
pages available on each available site. Users identify active
favorites by operating the above-described buttons to align and
select windows on the wheels. The user-requested active favorites
information is delivered real-time to the consumer through the
`crawl` or scrolling data window 514 at the bottom of the screen
(see FIG. 5), received from sponsors 104 and transmitted to users
102 by system 100. This makes the requested, useful data constantly
available to the user in a helpful and non-disruptive manner.
[0084] Another advantage of the present invention is the virtual
elimination of advertising click-fraud. In one described
embodiment, the business model is subscription-based and derives no
revenue directly from advertising. No user actions affect the fees
paid by the sponsors. The sponsors are in complete control of their
budgets and charges. This is in contrast to the conventional online
pay-per-click advertising model, whereby merchants use
advertisements to drive traffic to their Web sites. As is known in
the art, these advertisements are subject to malicious click
attacks by customers, competitors, and/or computer `clickbots`.
Click fraud is a growing problem and is estimated to account for
25-35% of online ad revenue, all at the expense of the advertisers.
By eliminating advertisements, the present invention also
eliminates advertising click-fraud.
[0085] There have thus been provided new and improved methods and
systems for facilitating communications and commerce between remote
device users and merchants or sponsors. In accordance with the
present invention, these methods and systems are adapted to
facilitate communications between sponsors and users of
small-screen portable devices such as cellular telephones and
personal digital assistants. The system provides methods and
systems whereby sponsors can easily and without the requirement for
specialized or expensive equipment establish Web sites to advertise
their products and services. The invention uses a unique, intuitive
graphical interface to allow users to find Web sites of interest
easily and quickly amongst many sites. In addition to real-time,
direct sponsor-user communications, the system further includes
features such as response time prioritization, which enable users
to quickly determine the relevance of a sponsor response. The
invention has application in the fields of e-commerce and
communications.
[0086] While the invention has been shown and described with
respect to particular embodiments, it is not thus limited. Numerous
modifications, changes and improvements falling within the scope of
the invention will now occur to those skilled in the art.
* * * * *