Program, method, and information processing apparatus

Abstract

To provide technology that further encourages questions from users and answers from respondents.SOLUTION: A program is executed by a computer with a processor. The program causes the processor to execute: a step of accepting input of first information, which is a question sentence, based on an input operation from a first user; a step of identifying candidates for respondents to the question sentence of the first information by performing a specific process based on the input first information in response to the input of the first information; and a step of presenting the identified candidates for the respondents to the first user without waiting for the input of the first information to be completed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The disclosure in this specification relates to a program, a method, and an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Recently, there have been network-based question and answer services in which experts registered with the service provide answers to questions posed by questioners.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a method of mediating information exchange that has a user computer, a WWW server, a search server, and a database server constructed on a network, assists users in searching for information, and mediates answers to questions between questioners and answerers.The method describes technology that displays to the questioner answer candidates related to the question entered by the questioner, question and answer history information, standard information, and project lists. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-049786 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In a service that provides answers to questions from users, there is a need for a technique that further encourages questions from users and answers from answerers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the present disclosure, there is provided a program executed by a computer including a processor. The program causes the processor to execute the steps of: accepting an input of first information, which is a question sentence, based on an input operation from a first user; identifying candidate answerers for the question sentence of the first information by performing a specific process based on the input first information in response to the input of the first information; and presenting the identified candidate answerers to the first user without waiting for completion of input of the first information. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, in a service that provides answers to questions from users, it is possible to provide a technology that further encourages questions from users and answers from respondents. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a system 1. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram of a terminal device 10 constituting a system 1. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of a server 20. [Figure 4] 2 shows the data structure of a user information database 281 and the data structure of a reply candidate information database 282. FIG. [Diagram 5] 13 shows the data structure of a past question information database 283 and the data structure of a past answer information database 284. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of an external network information database 285. [Figure 7] 11 is a flowchart showing a process of presenting information on answerer candidates to a user in response to a question input operation by a user, without waiting for completion of the user's input of the question. [Figure 8]11 is a flowchart showing a series of processes for presenting information on a question received from a user to a candidate answerer, presenting information on an answer to the question from the candidate answerer to the user, and identifying an evaluation value for the candidate answerer. [Figure 9] 13 shows an example of a screen when a user inputs a question. [Figure 10] 13 shows an example of a screen when a candidate respondent accepts a question and presents an answer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

[0010] <1 Configuration> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a system 1.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, the system 1 includes a terminal device 10, a server 20 for providing information to a user, and an external network 30 associated with the system 1. Here, the terminal device 10 is used in the following description as the terminal device 10 used by the user and the terminal device 10 used by the candidate answerer. In a certain aspect, the notation may be another notation (for example, terminal device 10A, terminal device 10B, etc.). The server 20 provides information on a question sentence, information on an answer to the question sentence, etc. to the user and the candidate answerer. The external network 30 is an external network that is affiliated with the service provided by the server 20, and provides various services such as news distribution and paper distribution on the network.

[0012] The terminal device 10, the server 20, and the external network 30 are communicatively connected via a network 80. For example, a user of the terminal device 10 accesses a website provided by the server 20 or the external network 30 using a browser or the like.

[0013] The terminal device 10 is a device operated by each user. The terminal device 10 is realized by, for example, a desktop PC (Personal Computer), a laptop PC, a smartphone compatible with a mobile communication system, a mobile terminal such as a tablet, or the like.

[0014] The terminal device 10 is communicatively connected to the server 20 via a network 80. The terminal device 10 is connected to the network 80 by communicating with communication devices such as a wireless base station 81 conforming to a communication standard such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) and a wireless LAN router 82 conforming to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) standard such as IEEE802.11.

[0015] The server 20 manages information about each user of the terminal device 10. For example, the server 20 stores login information and settings of each user, and performs a process of authenticating the user of the terminal device 10 who accesses the server 20.

[0016] As shown in the figure, the server 20 includes a communication IF (Interface) 22, an input / output IF 23, a memory 25, a storage 26, a processor 29, and the like.

[0017] The communication IF 22 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the server 20 can communicate with an external device. The input / output IF 23 functions as an interface with an input device for receiving input operations from a user and an output device for presenting information to a user. The memory 25 is for temporarily storing programs and data processed by the programs, etc., and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). The storage 26 is a storage device for saving data, such as a flash memory or a HDD (Hard Disc Drive). The processor 29 is hardware for executing an instruction set described in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, a register, a peripheral circuit, etc.

[0018] <1.1 Configuration of the terminal device 10> FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the terminal device 10 constituting the system 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 10 includes a plurality of antennas (antenna 111, antenna 112), wireless communication units (first wireless communication unit 121, second wireless communication unit 122) corresponding to the respective antennas, an operation reception unit 130 (including a touch-sensitive device 131 and a display 132), a voice processing unit 140, a microphone 141, a speaker 142, a position information sensor 150, a camera 160, a storage unit 180, and a control unit 190. The terminal device 10 also has functions and configurations (for example, a battery for storing power, a power supply circuit for controlling the supply of power from the battery to each circuit, etc.) that are not particularly shown in FIG. 2. In addition, although not shown, the terminal device 10 may be connected to a pointing device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a touchpad to receive input operations from a user. As shown in FIG. 2, each block included in the terminal device 10 is electrically connected by a bus or the like.

[0019] The antenna 111 emits a signal generated by the terminal device 10 as a radio wave. The antenna 111 also receives a radio wave from space and provides the received signal to the first wireless communication unit 121.

[0020] The antenna 112 radiates a signal generated by the terminal device 10 as a radio wave. The antenna 112 also receives the radio wave from space and provides the received signal to the second radio communication unit 122.

[0021] The first wireless communication unit 121 performs modulation and demodulation processing for transmitting and receiving signals via the antenna 111 so that the terminal device 10 can communicate with other wireless devices. The second wireless communication unit 122 performs modulation and demodulation processing for transmitting and receiving signals via the antenna 112 so that the terminal device 10 can communicate with other wireless devices. The first wireless communication unit 121 and the second wireless communication unit 122 are communication modules including a tuner, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) calculation circuit, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) calculation circuit, a high-frequency circuit, and the like. The first wireless communication unit 121 and the second wireless communication unit 122 perform modulation and demodulation and frequency conversion of wireless signals transmitted and received by the terminal device 10, and provide the received signals to the control unit 190. The first wireless communication unit 121 supports mobile communication systems such as 5G, 4G, 3G, and LTE. The second wireless communication unit 122 supports short-distance wireless communication such as Wifi and Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0022] The operation reception unit 130 has a mechanism for receiving an input operation by a user. Specifically, the operation reception unit 130 is configured as a touch screen, and includes a touch-sensitive device 131 and a display 132. The touch-sensitive device 131 receives an input operation by a user of the terminal device 10. The touch-sensitive device 131 detects a touch position of the user on the touch panel by using, for example, a capacitive touch panel. The touch-sensitive device 131 outputs a signal indicating the touch position of the user detected by the touch panel to the control unit 190 as an input operation.

[0023] Display 132 displays data such as images, videos, and text under the control of control unit 190. Display 132 is realized by, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display.

[0024] The voice processing unit 140 modulates and demodulates a voice signal. The voice processing unit 140 modulates a signal provided from the microphone 141 and provides the modulated signal to the control unit 190. The voice processing unit 140 also provides the voice signal to the speaker 142. The voice processing unit 140 is realized, for example, by a processor for voice processing. The microphone 141 accepts a voice input and provides a voice signal corresponding to the voice input to the voice processing unit 140. The speaker 142 converts the voice signal provided from the voice processing unit 140 into a voice and outputs the voice to the outside of the terminal device 10. For example, the terminal device 10 can accept an input operation by the user's voice by receiving a voice uttered by the user through the microphone 141 and having the control unit 190 perform a voice recognition process.

[0025] The position information sensor 150 is a sensor that detects the position of the terminal device 10, and is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module. The GPS module is a receiving device used in a satellite positioning system. In the satellite positioning system, signals are received from at least three or four satellites, and the current position of the terminal device 10 equipped with the GPS module is detected based on the received signals.

[0026] The camera 160 has a photographing function and is a device for generating a photographed image. The terminal device 10 can detect the movement of the user's body based on the photographed image. For example, the terminal device 10 detects the movement of the user's head, facial expression, and hand based on the photographed image of the camera 160. As a result, the terminal device 10 can process the movement of the user's hand in the same manner as the user's operation on a pointing device. For example, the terminal device 10 may detect the movement of the user's hand and move the pointer. In addition, the terminal device 10 may detect the movement of the fingers of the user's hand and detect the action of the user fisting the hand (in the shape of a "rock") or opening the hand (in the shape of a "paper"), thereby determining that a click (tap) operation has been performed on the pointing device. As a result, it is possible to determine that an operation equivalent to drag and drop has been performed by the user moving the hand while fisting the hand.

[0027] Furthermore, the user's facial expression (emotions such as joy, anger, sadness, and happiness) may be determined based on the image captured by the camera 160. That is, the terminal device 10 can accept the determination result of the user's facial expression as an input operation.

[0028] The storage unit 180 is configured, for example, with a flash memory or the like, and stores data and programs used by the terminal device 10. The storage unit 180 stores, for example, user information 181. The user information 181 indicates settings for the user of the terminal device 10 to use the service provided by the server 20. For example, the user information 181 includes a user profile, a history of past questions saved by the user, and the like, in the service provided by the server 20.

[0029] The control unit 190 reads a program stored in the storage unit 180 and executes instructions included in the program to control the operation of the terminal device 10. The control unit 190 is, for example, an application processor. The control unit 190 operates according to the program to fulfill the functions of an input operation reception unit 191, a transmission / reception unit 192, a data processing unit 193, and a display control unit 194.

[0030] The input operation reception unit 191 performs a process of receiving a user's input operation on an input device such as the touch-sensitive device 131. The input operation reception unit 191 determines the type of operation, such as whether the user's operation is a flick operation, a tap operation, or a drag (swipe) operation, based on information on the coordinates where the user touches the touch-sensitive device 131 with a finger or the like.

[0031] The transmission / reception unit 192 performs processing for the terminal device 10 to transmit and receive data to and from an external device such as the server 20 in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0032] The data processing unit 193 performs a process of performing calculations on the data received by the terminal device 10 according to a program and outputting the calculation results to a memory or the like.

[0033] The display control unit 194 performs processing such as displaying the display image on the display 132 .

[0034] <1.2 Functional configuration of server 20> 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the server 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the server 20 fulfills the functions of a communication unit 201, a storage unit 202, and a control unit 203.

[0035] The communication unit 201 performs processing for the server 20 to communicate with external devices.

[0036] The storage unit 202 stores data and programs used by the server 20. The storage unit 202 stores a user information database 281, a candidate answerer information database 282, a past question information database 283, a past answer information database 284, and an external network information database 285.

[0037] The user information database 281 indicates various pieces of information related to users who create questions and request answers from answerer candidates. Details will be described later.

[0038] The answerer candidate information database 282 shows various information related to answerer candidates who will answer questions received from users. Details will be described later.

[0039] The past question information database 283 shows various information related to questions received in the past, as will be described in detail later.

[0040] The past answer information database 284 shows various information related to answers previously presented to the user, as will be described in detail later.

[0041] The external network information database 285 indicates various information related to other services linked to the service provided by the server 20. Details will be described later.

[0042] The control unit 203 exerts functions shown as various modules by the processor of the server 20 performing processes according to the programs.

[0043] The transmission / reception module 2041 performs processing for the server 20 to transmit and receive signals to and from external devices via the communication unit 201 .

[0044] The operation determination module 2042 performs processing to determine the content of an operation performed by the user of the terminal device 10. For example, in response to a user performing an input operation on an object displayed on a screen displayed on a browser or the like, the terminal device 10 transmits a signal from the terminal device 10 to the server 20 as processing associated with the object. The operation determination module 2042 determines the content of the operation performed by the user (such as which object was specified) based on the received signal.

[0045] The screen generation module 2043 performs processing for generating a screen to be displayed by the server 20 on the browser of the terminal device 10 or the like.

[0046] The user information database acquisition module 2044 acquires various pieces of information about the user who creates a question and requests an answer from an answerer candidate.

[0047] The answerer candidate information database acquisition module 2045 acquires various information related to answerer candidates who will answer the question received from the user.

[0048] The past question information database acquisition module 2046 acquires various information related to questions received in the past.

[0049] The past answer information database acquisition module 2047 acquires various information related to answers previously presented to the user.

[0050] The external network information acquisition module 2048 acquires various information related to other services linked to the service provided by the server 20.

[0051] <Data Structure> FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the data structures of the user information database 281 and the answerer candidate information database 282 stored in the server 20. As shown in FIG.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 4, the user information database 281 includes an item "user ID", an item "company", an item "industry", an item "department", an item "language", an item "number of questions asked", an item "user rating", an item "disclosure of user information to respondents", etc.

[0053] The item "user ID" is information for identifying each user who creates a question and requests an answer from a candidate answerer.

[0054] The item "Company" is information about the company to which each user belongs. For example, it indicates that the user with user ID "U001" belongs to "AA Company." Here, the server 20 may acquire information by accepting registration of information by input operation from the user. In addition, the server 20 may cooperate with a service provided by the server 20 and acquire information by referring to a database of an external service in which the user registers various information. Similarly, for other items described later, the server 20 may acquire information by referring to a database of an external service.

[0055] This allows the user to refer to and register various pieces of information from external services linked to the services provided by the server 20, thereby reducing the effort required for registering various pieces of information.

[0056] The item "industry" is information about the industry to which each user belongs. For example, the user with the user ID "U001" is in the "IT" industry. When the server 20 receives a question from a user, the server 20 may identify information about a candidate answerer based on the content of the question and the information.

[0057] This means that when a user requests an answer to a question that is close to the industry to which the user belongs, the user can check the candidate respondents identified based on the information, allowing the user to ask the question with confidence.

[0058] The item "department" is information about the department of the company to which each user belongs. For example, a user with user ID "U001" belongs to "AA Company" and belongs to the department "Marketing." As with the item "industry," when a question is received from a user, the server 20 may identify information about potential answerers based on the content of the question and the relevant information.

[0059] This means that when a user requests an answer to a question related to the work they are involved in in their department, they can check the candidate respondents identified based on the information, allowing them to ask the question with confidence.

[0060] The item "Language" is information about the language used by the user. For example, a user with a user ID "U001" indicates that the language is "Japanese", and a user with a user ID "U002" indicates that the languages ​​are "Japanese" and "English". Based on this information, the server 20 may identify information about candidate respondents who use the same language as the user.

[0061] The item "Number of Questions Asked" is information regarding the number of times a user has requested an answer to a question in the service provided by the server 20. For example, it indicates that a user with user ID "U001" has requested an answer to a question "five times." In a certain aspect, the server 20 may, based on the information, identify a user who should be given priority as an answer by a candidate answerer, and present the user to the candidate answerer.

[0062] This allows users to get answers to their questions more quickly the more they use the service, which is expected to encourage more people to enter questions. On the other hand, the server 20 may preferentially present questions from users who have asked fewer questions as potential answerers. This allows users who have started using the service provided by the server 20 to enjoy the experience of getting answers to their questions immediately, which provides motivation for continuing to use the service.

[0063] The item "user rating" is information regarding the rating of each user. Specifically, the server 20 may identify the information as the user's own rating based on the number of times the user has used the service provided by the server 20, or the user's track record in external services (e.g., whether a posted article has been highly rated, etc.). For example, the user with user ID "U001" has a user rating of "A." In a certain aspect, the server 20 may identify a user who should be given priority as a respondent candidate based on the information, and present the user to the respondent candidate.

[0064] This allows users to receive services based on their own ratings, which is expected to improve the user experience.

[0065] The item "disclosure of user information to respondent" is information regarding whether or not user information can be disclosed to the respondent. Specifically, when a user requests an answer to a question and the respondent answers the question, the server 20 may accept an input operation by the user regarding how much of the user's registered information to disclose to the respondent. For example, the user with user ID "U001" indicates "no" (i.e., the user's registered information will not be disclosed to the respondent), and the user with user ID "U002" indicates "partially allowed." At this time, the server 20 may accept an input operation from the user regarding whether or not to disclose each piece of registered information.

[0066] This allows the user to select how much of his or her own information to disclose to the respondent, which leads to protection of the user's privacy and allows the user to ask questions with peace of mind.

[0067] In some cases, the user may be the respondent. In this case, when registering information on the candidate respondent, the server 20 may refer to the above-mentioned user information database 281 and register the information on the candidate respondent.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 4, the answerer candidate information database 282 includes an item "answerer ID", an item "company", an item "area of ​​expertise", an item "department", an item "career", an item "language", an item "evaluation value", an item "registered network", etc.

[0069] The item "answerer ID" is information for identifying each of the answerer candidates who will provide an answer to the question received from the user.

[0070] The item "Company" is information about the company to which each of the candidate answerers belongs. For example, the candidate answerer with the answerer ID "A001" belongs to "Company AB". Here, the server 20 may acquire information by accepting registration of information by input operation from the candidate answerer. In addition, the server 20 may acquire information by referring to a database of an external service in which the candidate answerer registers various information in cooperation with a service provided by the server 20. Similarly, for other items described later, the server 20 may acquire information by referring to a database of an external service. In addition, in a certain aspect, when a user is registered as a candidate answerer, the server 20 may register related information as information of the candidate answerer by referring to the above-mentioned user information database 281.

[0071] This allows the answerer candidates to refer to and register various pieces of information from external services linked to the services provided by the server 20, thereby reducing the effort required for registering various pieces of information.

[0072] The item "Specialty" is information about the specialty of each of the answerer candidates. For example, the answerer candidate with the answerer ID "A001" has the specialty of "chemistry." When the server 20 receives a question from a user, the server 20 may identify the answerer candidate who will present the question based on the content of the question and the information.

[0073] This will enable potential respondents to efficiently answer questions that are close to their own areas of expertise, thereby increasing their opportunities to receive rewards for their answers and is expected to increase their motivation.

[0074] The item "department" is information about the department of the company to which each of the candidate answerers belongs. For example, the user with the answerer ID "A001" belongs to "AB Company" and belongs to the department "Basic Research." As with the item "specialty," when the server 20 receives a question from a user, the server 20 may identify a candidate answerer who will present the question based on the content of the question and the information.

[0075] This allows the potential answerer to answer questions related to the work he or she is engaged in, which can encourage more answers from the answerers.

[0076] The item "career" is information indicating the career of the candidate answerer. Specifically, it indicates information regarding the companies to which the candidate answerer has belonged. For example, it indicates that the candidate answerer with the answerer ID "A001" has worked for "Company B" for "2 years" and "Company AB" for "5 years." In a certain situation, the server 20 may identify the candidate answerer who will present the question based on the information, even if the question is from a questioner in a different industry from the company to which the candidate answerer currently belongs.

[0077] This allows potential respondents to answer a variety of questions based on the type of work they have previously experienced, which increases their opportunities to receive rewards and is expected to increase their motivation.

[0078] The item "Language" is information about the language used by the answerer candidate. For example, the answerer candidate with the answerer ID "A001" indicates that the languages ​​are "Japanese" and "English." Based on this information, the server 20 may present to the answerer candidate questions from users who use the same language as the answerer candidate uses.

[0079] The item "evaluation value" is information on the evaluation of each of the answerer candidates. Specifically, the server 20 may identify the evaluation value of the answerer candidate based on any of the following information: (1) the number of times the answerer candidate has answered a question, (2) the time it took the answerer candidate to answer a question, (3) the order in which the answerer candidate answered a question, (4) the user's evaluation of the answer presented by the answerer candidate to the user, etc. For example, the answerer candidate with the answerer ID "A001" is "B+". In a certain aspect, the server 20 may identify the answerer candidate to whom a question is to be presented preferentially based on the information. In another aspect, the server 20 may present the answerer candidate with a notification such as an offer to introduce the answerer candidate to an external network affiliated with the service provided by the server 20 based on the information.

[0080] This will allow potential respondents to expect increased rewards by being presented with more questions based on their own evaluation, and increased name recognition by being introduced to external networks, which is expected to encourage more respondents to respond.

[0081] The item "Registered NW" indicates information on the network in which each of the candidate answerers is registered. Specifically, it indicates information on the candidate answerers' registration in a network consisting of specific experts based on their own industry, occupation, language used, etc. For example, it indicates that the candidate answerer with the answerer ID "A001" is registered in the "Chemist NW" and the "English NW". In a certain aspect, the server 20 may not only prompt the candidate answerer to answer based on the content of a question from a user, but also suggest to the user that he or she should ask a question on the network. At this time, the server 20 may present the question text received from the user to the network, or may prompt the user to ask a question on the network by presenting to the user information such as a URL link to access the network.

[0082] This allows users to obtain answers to their questions not only through the services provided by the server 20, but also from a network of specific experts.

[0083] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the data structures of the past question information database 283 and the past answer information database 284 stored in the server 20. As shown in FIG.

[0084] As shown in FIG. 5, the past question information database 283 includes an item “question ID”, an item “receipt date”, an item “question user”, an item “question content”, an item “field”, an item “whether to disclose to other questioners”, an item “tag”, etc.

[0085] The item “Question ID” is information for identifying each question received by the server 20.

[0086] The item "receipt date" is information indicating the date on which the server 20 received the question.

[0087] The item "Questioning User" is information about the user who input the question. For example, question ID "Q001" indicates that the question was input by a user with user ID "U001." In some aspects, server 20 may accept questions from users who are not registered with the service provided by server 20, in which case the item may be left blank or may be stored in the database as "anonymous," for example.

[0088] The item "Question" is information about the content of the accepted question. For example, the question ID "Q001" indicates that the question is "About AA." In a certain aspect, the server 20 may respond to a user's input operation of a question sentence, refer to the information, identify the content of the input question, and present related information to the user.

[0089] This allows the user to not only request an answer to a question from a candidate answerer, but also to refer to information about a similar question if such a question has been asked in the past.

[0090] The item "field" indicates information on the field of the received question. Specifically, it indicates information for identifying the field to which the received question belongs. For example, it indicates that the field of the question ID "Q001" is "IT". In a certain aspect, the server 20 may identify a suitable candidate of an answerer for the question based on the information and the answerer candidate information database 282. At this time, the information on the field of the question may be related to only one field for one question, or may be related to multiple fields for one question. When accepting the input of a question sentence, the server 20 may identify the field of the question by analyzing the question sentence (item "question content") (for example, frequently appearing words are associated with each field, and the field of the question is identified based on the distribution of words included in the question sentence). In addition, when accepting the input of a question sentence from a user, the server 20 may also accept a designation of the field.

[0091] The item "Can this be made public to other questioners?" is information that indicates whether the content of the question asked by the user and the content of the answers given by the candidate answerers to the question are to be made public to other users. For example, the question with question ID "Q001" indicates that the option to make the content public to other questioners is "Yes."

[0092] This allows users to ask highly confidential questions without disclosing the content of those questions to other users, allowing them to ask questions with peace of mind, which is expected to further encourage the acceptance of questions from users.

[0093] The item "tag" indicates a tag assigned to a question by the server 20. When the server 20 accepts input of a question from the terminal device 10, the server 20 analyzes the content of the question without waiting for the input to be completed (completion of the question), and assigns a tag based on the analysis result.

[0094] For example, the server 20 divides the content of the question into words by morphological analysis, etc. The server 20 holds information on the degree of association (that is, the context in which the word appears) with a field (technical field, job field, etc.), region, language, and industry (for example, the construction industry, IT industry, company name, etc.) for each word (for example, the server 20 may manage company information, industry information, technology information, economic news, etc., and calculate the degree of association with a company, industry, field, etc. for each word). The server 20 may assign tags such as field, region, language, industry, etc. to the question being input, based on the words constituting the question and the information on the degree of association indicated in the context in which these words appear.

[0095] In addition, the server 20 may create a trained model based on a large number of documents, such as economic information, that have been tagged in advance (by field, industry, region, language, etc.), and then assign tags to the question based on the order of the words that make up the question and the trained model. The server 20 stores the tag assigned to the question in the past question information database 283 under the item “tag”.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 5, the past answer information database 284 includes an item "answer ID," an item "answer date," an item "question ID," an item "answerer," an item "answer content," an item "field," an item "answer range," an item "time from receipt to answer," an item "rating," and the like.

[0097] The item “answer ID” is information that identifies each answer to a question received by the server 20.

[0098] The item "answer date" is information indicating the date on which the server 20 received the answer text.

[0099] The item "Question ID" is information that indicates the question associated with each accepted answer. For example, the answer with answer ID "AN001" indicates that the answer is an answer to question ID "Q001."

[0100] The item "Answer" is information about an answerer to a question accepted by the server 20. For example, it indicates that the answerer to the question ID "Q001" linked to the answer ID "AN001" is "A003", etc.

[0101] The item "Answer Content" is information on the answer content of each of the candidate answerers to the accepted question. For example, the answer content of the answerer "A003" to the question content "About AA" of the question ID "Q001" linked to the answer ID "AN001" indicates that "AB would be good", etc. In a certain aspect, the server 20 may specify the evaluation value of the candidate answerer based on the answer content.

[0102] This allows potential answerers to receive evaluations for the answers they provide, and these evaluations contribute to increased compensation, etc., which is expected to encourage more people to answer questions.

[0103] The item "Field" indicates information about the field of the answer to the received question. In this case, the field may be the same as the field of the question ID linked to the answer ID, or it may be a different field.

[0104] The item "answer range" indicates information regarding the range of answers given by the answerer candidate to the question received from the user. Specifically, the answerer candidate may input an answer to all or part of the content of the question received from the user into the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate and transmit it to the server 20. For example, it indicates that the answer range is "all" to the question with question ID "Q001" linked to answer ID "AN001". In a certain aspect, when receiving an evaluation of the answerer candidate from the user, the server 20 may receive both an evaluation of the answer to all of the question and an evaluation of part of the question.

[0105] This allows potential respondents to provide answers if they are able to answer only part of a question, even if they find it difficult to answer all of the questions. In addition, if it is only a part of a question, they may be able to provide an answer based on their own field of expertise, which is expected to maintain and increase the motivation of potential respondents.

[0106] The item "Time from acceptance to answer" is information on the time required from accepting a question from a user until each of the answering candidates presents an answer to the user. Specifically, the server 20 may acquire information on the time required for each of the answering candidates to present an answer to a part or all of the questions. For example, the answerer "A003" took "10 hr" for the answer range "all" as the time required to answer the question content "About AA" of the question ID "Q001". In a certain aspect, the server 20 may specify an evaluation value of the answering candidates based on the information on the required time. In addition, in a certain aspect, the server 20 may specify, as the evaluation value of the answering candidates, an evaluation value on the time required to answer all answers and an evaluation value on the time required to answer some answers (for example, answers about some fields).

[0107] As a result, the faster the answerer candidate answers a question, the higher his / her own evaluation can be, and the user can quickly obtain an answer to the question. Therefore, it is expected that both the acceptance of questions from users and the presentation of answers from answerer candidates will be promoted. In addition, the server 20 can provide the answerer with evaluation values ​​for all questions and evaluation values ​​for some fields, so that the answerer can be evaluated according to the field.

[0108] The item "Evaluation" indicates information regarding the evaluation of the answer presented by the answerer candidate. Specifically, the server 20 may receive an evaluation of the answer to the question presented by the answerer candidate from the user and store it as the item. For example, the evaluation of the answer by the answerer "A001" to the question ID "Q001" linked with the answer ID "AN001" in the answer range "All" is "B". In a certain aspect, the server 20 may determine the priority of presenting questions to the answerer candidate based on the evaluation. In addition, the server 20 may determine the expertise of the answerer candidate based on the evaluation, and introduce the answerer candidate to related external networks.

[0109] This means that the more questions potential respondents answer, the more information they will accumulate about their own evaluation, which will enable them to earn more rewards and build their careers by being introduced to external networks.

[0110] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the data structure of the external network information database 285 stored in the server 20. As shown in FIG.

[0111] As shown in FIG. 6, the external network information database 285 includes an item "external NWID", an item "field", an item "service content", an item "introduction conditions", an item "area", an item "remuneration", and the like.

[0112] The item "External NWID" is information for identifying each external network that is affiliated with the service provided by the server 20 and is a target for the server 20 to inquire about information on candidate respondents. Here, specific examples of external networks may include networks that distribute news, networks that publish papers, etc., which are different in type from the service provided by the server 20 but in which experts in a specific field provide information.

[0113] The item "field" is information about the field that the external network mainly deals with. Specifically, for example, the external network with external NWID "N001" indicates that the field is "IT."

[0114] The item "Service Content" is information about the service content that an external network mainly provides to users who use the network. Specifically, this item may indicate information such as a network that mainly handles the latest world news, or a network that mainly handles technical papers, etc. For example, the external network with external NWID "N001" indicates that its service content is "news distribution" and "column distribution."

[0115] This allows the potential respondents to be introduced to various networks affiliated with the services provided by the server 20, which can increase their own name recognition and career development, and is expected to encourage more responses to questions.

[0116] The item "Introduction Conditions" is information regarding conditions for introducing a candidate answerer to an external network. Specifically, the server 20 may refer to the "evaluation value" in the candidate answerer information database 282 and identify information of an external network to which a candidate answerer is to be introduced based on the evaluation value. For example, an external network with an external NWID "N001" indicates that the inquiry condition is "evaluation B+ or higher." In a certain aspect, the server 20 may introduce information of a candidate answerer who satisfies the inquiry condition to an external network without going through approval from the candidate answerer, or may accept an input operation regarding approval from the candidate answerer before introducing the candidate answerer to the external network.

[0117] This is expected to encourage more responses from potential answerers, as the more questions they answer, the higher their evaluation value will be, and the more their name recognition will increase through introductions to external networks. Also, by approving the introduction of their information depending on the type of external network, potential answerers can prevent their information from being introduced to external networks that they do not intend.

[0118] The item "Region" is information about the region in which the external network is the main focus. Specifically, it is information indicating in which country the services deployed on the external network are mainly provided. For example, an external network with an external NWID "N001" indicates that the region is "Japan-mainly".

[0119] This allows potential respondents to know what regions are primarily focused on external networks to which their information may be introduced. This allows them to aim for introductions to external networks primarily focused on the regions they are aiming for in their career development, which is expected to increase the motivation of potential respondents.

[0120] The item "Reward" is information about rewards in a service on an external network. Specifically, it may show information about rewards paid to a candidate answerer when the candidate answerer posts an article or the like on the service. For example, the external network with external NWID "N001" shows that the reward is "Column 1 Report *** Yen."

[0121] This allows potential respondents to know in advance information about rewards in external networks and then decide whether or not to introduce their own information to those networks.

[0122] <Operation> (Accepting questions from users and presenting information on potential respondents) 7 is a flowchart showing a process of presenting information on candidate answerers to a user in response to the user's input operation of a question sentence, without waiting for the completion of the input of the question sentence by the user. For example, the user's terminal device 10 accesses a service provided by the server 20 through a browser or the like.

[0123] In the following example, the server 20 identifies the content of the input question based on answers by answerers to past questions, and presents answerer candidates to the user of the terminal device 10. On the other hand, the server 20 may assign tags to the question input in the terminal device 10 without waiting for the input of the question to be completed, as described above, and identify answerer candidates for the question based on the tag assigned to the question and the answerer candidate information database 282. The server 20 may display the identified answerer candidates to the user of the terminal device 10 without waiting for the input of the question to be completed (by identifying answerer candidates while assigning tags to the question as needed in response to the input of the question).

[0124] In step S701, the control unit 190 of the user's terminal device 10 accesses the server 20 in response to an input operation of a question sentence from the user, and transmits the information to the server 20. For example, the terminal device 10 accesses the server 20 by a browser or the like. The server 20 generates information for displaying a screen on the terminal device 10, and transmits the generated information to the terminal device 10. The terminal device 10 accepts an operation of inputting a question sentence from the user in a predetermined area of ​​the screen displayed on the browser or the like. In a certain aspect, the control unit 190 of the user's terminal device 10 may transmit the information to the server 20 without waiting for the completion of input of the question sentence from the user. That is, every time the control unit 190 of the terminal device 10 accepts input of information related to the question sentence (for example, input of words constituting the question sentence) from the user, it transmits the accepted information (for example, the question sentence in the middle of being input) to the server 20.

[0125] In step S751, the server 20 identifies the content of the question sentence that the user is about to input based on the acquired information on the content of the question and information on past questions and answers to the questions stored in the past question information database 233. In a certain aspect, the server 20 sequentially receives a question sentence that is being input by the terminal device 10 (a question sentence that the user is in the middle of inputting) from the terminal device 10 (for example, each time the terminal device 10 receives input of a word that constitutes the question sentence). The server 20 extracts information that represents the characteristics of the question sentence based on the information received from the terminal device 10. For example, the server 20 extracts words that constitute the question sentence based on dictionary data or the like as information that represents the characteristics of the question sentence. Also, for example, the server 20 calculates a sentence vector related to the question sentence. The server 20 identifies the content of the question sentence that the user is about to input based on the extracted information that represents the characteristics of the question sentence by referring to the past questions stored in the past question information database 233. For example, the server 20 may identify the content of the question currently being received from the user by comparing words contained in the question currently being received from the user with words contained in past questions. Here, in a certain aspect, the server 20 may identify information such as a region where an expert on that information is located based on information such as keywords contained in the acquired question content.

[0126] In addition, in a certain aspect, the server 20 may specify information related to the question that the user is about to input based on information on the words that constitute the question every time the server 20 receives input of a word that constitutes a question from the user. That is, the server 20 may specify information such as the industry or field from information on the words that constitute the question that the user is about to input, and specify candidate answerers based on the specified information.

[0127] In step S752, the server 20 identifies potential respondents to the question based on the content of the identified question and information on past questions and answers to the questions stored in the past question information database 233, and transmits the identified information to the user's terminal device 10.

[0128] In a certain aspect, in step S752, the server 20 may specify information on a network to which the answerer candidate belongs, instead of the answerer candidate, and transmit the specified information to the user's terminal device 10. At this time, the server 20 may present the user with a link or the like for accessing the network.

[0129] This allows users to ask questions to a network of experts who have the same expertise as the potential answerers, so they can expect to receive more specialized answers.

[0130] In step S702, the control unit 190 of the user's terminal device 10 presents to the user potential respondents to the user's question, obtained from the server 20, without waiting for the user to complete input of the question, for example by displaying them on the display 132 of the terminal device 10.

[0131] This allows the user to know what kind of answerers are likely to provide an answer to his / her question without waiting for the completion of inputting the question. Therefore, if the presented information on the candidate answerers is not the information on the candidate answerer that the user intended, the user can check the following points, etc. (1) whether the question entered will get an accurate answer, (2) whether accurate technical terms are used, etc. Therefore, the user can input a question that will get a more accurate answer while checking the information.

[0132] In step S703, the control unit 190 of the user's terminal device 10 accepts an input operation for a response request to an answerer for the question, upon completion of the user's input operation of the question, and transmits the received result to the server 20.

[0133] In step S753, the server 20 transmits information about the question acquired from the user to the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate. In one aspect, the server 20 may refer to the user information database 281, identify a priority for answering the question based on the value of the user evaluation, and transmit the information to the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate together with information about the identified priority.

[0134] This allows users to expect to receive a prompt response based on their own evaluation.

[0135] (Answer submission from candidate respondents and evaluation of candidate respondents)

[0136] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a series of processes for presenting information about a question received from a user to a candidate answerer, presenting information about the candidate answer to the question to the user, and identifying an evaluation value for the candidate answerer.

[0137] In step S851, the server 20 acquires information about the question from the user.

[0138] In step S852, the server 20 identifies a target answerer candidate and a period during which the answerer candidate can answer preferentially based on the content of the acquired question and the evaluation value of the answerer candidate acquired by referring to the answerer candidate information database 282. After that, the server 20 transmits information related to the content of the question to the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate. In a certain aspect, the server 20 may transmit information related to the content of the question to the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate without identifying a period during which the answerer candidate can answer preferentially.

[0139] This allows the candidate answerers to give priority to answering questions based on their own evaluation value, which is expected to encourage the candidate answerers to give more proactive answers.

[0140] In step S801, the control unit 190 of the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate particularly highlights unanswered questions and questions with few answers, and displays them on the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate. At this time, the control unit 190 may present the information of the question to the answerer candidate by popping up the information of the question on the display 132 of the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate, changing the manner of the question (for example, making it bold, making it red, highlighting it by surrounding it with a figure, etc.), or the like.

[0141] This allows potential respondents to check and answer information about questions that are more likely to earn them rewards.

[0142] In step S802, the control unit 190 of the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate accepts an answer to the acquired question from the answerer, and transmits the accepted result to the server.

[0143] In step S853, the server 20 presents the obtained answers to the user, and obtains information regarding one or more of the time required for the answer candidates to present their answers to the question, the order, and the like.

[0144] In step S854, the server 20 identifies information regarding the reward to be paid to the candidate answerer based on the acquired information, and transmits the identified result to the terminal device 10 of the candidate answerer. At this time, the reward may be not only a monetary reward such as ** yen per answer, but also an introduction to an external network, etc., as the information regarding the reward.

[0145] In step S803, the control unit 190 of the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate presents the acquired information to the answerer candidate by displaying it on the display 132 or the like.

[0146] <Screen example> (Example of the screen when a user enters a question) FIG. 9 shows an example of a screen that is displayed when a user inputs a question in a service provided by the server 20. In FIG.

[0147] 9, the screen example may be displayed on the operation receiving unit 130 (display 132). The user performs an operation of inputting a question by inputting characters on the screen. Question input URL 901 indicates a URL for accessing a screen for the user to perform an operation of inputting a question. In a certain aspect, information on the date and time when the user accessed the screen may be described.

[0148] The question input field 902 indicates a field for the user to input a question. Specifically, the user's terminal device 10 presents the user with information on the candidate answerers identified by the server 20 by inputting a question into the field. Here, the user's terminal device 10 may display the information under the field in which the user is inputting the question, without waiting for the completion of the input of the question by the user. In addition, in a certain aspect, the user's terminal device 10 may present the information to the user in a form in which the information on the candidate answerers is entered in a candidate answerer field 804 described later, which is separate from the field. In addition, in a certain aspect, the user's terminal device 10 may display suggestions for corrections to the question that may provide a more accurate answer to the content of the question that the user is about to input.

[0149] For example, when the user writes "cure for influenza" in the field, the user's terminal device 10 may display information such as "A001" as a candidate answerer.

[0150] This allows the user to check the information of potential answerers even while he or she is in the middle of inputting a question, and allows the user to consider whether the content of the question he or she is about to input will yield an accurate answer.

[0151] In addition, in a certain aspect, the user's terminal device 10 may display information on tags (for example, industry, field, technology, region, language, etc.) related to the question text that the user is about to input. In addition, at this time, the user's terminal device 10 may receive an input operation for selecting a tag from the user and transmit the received result to the server 20.

[0152] This allows the user to check the tag information for the content of the question he or she is about to enter, and thereby confirm whether or not the user has entered an accurate question related to the intended field. Therefore, the user can enter a question that will obtain a more accurate answer based on the tag information. In addition, by accepting the tag selection by the user, the server 20 can identify candidate answerers based on the tag information selected by the user. Therefore, it is expected that candidate answerers that are more suitable for the intent of the user's question will be presented.

[0153] The question candidate field 903 indicates a field for displaying the content of the question input by the user and the candidate answers to the question. Specifically, when the user is inputting a question in the question input field 802, the terminal device 10 displays the content of the question identified by the server 20 as a candidate in the field without waiting for the completion of the input of the question by the user. At this time, if an answer has been given by a candidate answerer to the identified candidate question, the terminal device 10 of the user may present the answer information to the user. For a question to which an answer has already been given by a candidate answerer, the user may refer to the answer by performing an operation for referring to the details of the answer (such as accessing a link linked to the information of the answer or opening a tab), or may request a new answer from a candidate answerer. In a certain situation, when requesting an answer to a question input by the user, the terminal device 10 of the user may accept an input operation from the user for selecting whether or not to disclose the question and the answer to other users.

[0154] For example, when the user enters “cure for influenza” in the question input field 902, the user's terminal device 10 may identify candidate questions such as “medicine for treating influenza” in the field and display information on the answers to those questions.

[0155] This allows users to quickly check the answer to their question if the answer to the question they are about has already been given, since they can refer to that answer. Also, when requesting an answer from a candidate answerer, users can select whether or not to disclose the question and answer to other users, so users can feel at ease asking questions even if the question is about something they wish to keep secret.

[0156] The answerer candidate field 904 indicates a field for displaying information of answerer candidates to the question that the user is about to input. Specifically, when the user is inputting a question in the question sentence input field 902, the user's terminal device 10 may display information of answerer candidates identified by the server 20 in the field, without waiting for the user to complete input of the question. In a certain aspect, the user's terminal device 10 may display details of the answerer candidates (e.g., information such as specialty field, evaluation value, etc.) in the field.

[0157] This allows the user to input a question after checking the candidate answerers. Therefore, even if the user is in the middle of inputting a question, the user can check whether the content of his / her question is correct, that is, whether or not the user is likely to receive an answer from a candidate answerer in the intended field, by referring to the information on the candidate answerers.

[0158] The consultation available external network candidate field 905 indicates a field for displaying information on an external network in which a question that the user is about to input can be consulted. Specifically, the user's terminal device 10 may display, in the field, information on the external network to which the answerer candidate belongs, which is specified by the server 20 based on the content of the user's question. In one aspect, the user may access a URL to the external network displayed in the field and input a question at the accessed destination. In another aspect, the server 20 may present the acquired information on the user's question to the network. In another aspect, the user's terminal device 10 may accept an input operation from the user regarding the submission of a question to the network, and transmit the accepted information to the server 20.

[0159] This allows the user to expect a response not only from a specific candidate answerer, but also from a network of experts in a specific field to which the candidate answerer belongs.

[0160] (Example of a screen when a potential respondent accepts a question and presents an answer) FIG. 10 shows an example of a screen displayed when a candidate answerer checks the information of a question received from a user and presents an answer in the service provided by the server 20.

[0161] Answer input URL 1001 indicates a URL for accessing a screen for an answerer candidate to input an answer to a question. In some aspects, information on the date and time when the answerer candidate accessed the screen may be written on the screen.

[0162] The question search field 1002 is a field for each of the candidate answerers to search for questions waiting for an answer. In some cases, even when the candidate answerer is not identified by the server 20 as a candidate answerer for a question based on the content of the question acquired from the user, the candidate answerer may search for questions waiting for an answer and answer the question. In some cases, the server 20 may update the information in the candidate answerer information database 282 based on the content of the question that the candidate answerer has searched for and answered. (For example, when a candidate answerer answers a question outside the candidate answer's stored specialty, the specialty may be added to the candidate answerer's information.)

[0163] This allows potential respondents to answer questions other than those based on their own field of expertise, and as a result, they can update information about their own field of expertise, etc. This is expected to encourage more responses from potential respondents, as they are more likely to earn more rewards.

[0164] The answer-awaiting question display field 1003 indicates a field for displaying information on questions awaiting answer that are presented to the answerer candidate. Specifically, the answerer's terminal device 10 may display information on questions to be answered by the answerer candidate, which is identified by the server 20 based on questions from users acquired, in the field. In a certain aspect, the answerer's terminal device 10 may simultaneously display information such as the date the question was received, the answer deadline, and the answering status by other answering candidates in the field, and present it to the answerer candidate. In a certain aspect, the answerer's terminal device 10 may display priority information identified by the server 20 based on user evaluations, to encourage the answerer candidate to give a priority answer.

[0165] This allows the candidate answerers to answer questions while checking various information about each question (such as the answer deadline, the answering status of other candidate answerers, etc.). This allows the candidate answerers to give priority to answering questions that are more likely to earn rewards.

[0166] The recommendation display 1004 is a screen that displays questions that are presented to the answerer candidate and are waiting for an answer, and that have something worth mentioning. Specifically, it displays information such as unanswered questions, questions that have a small number of answered answers, and questions that should be answered with priority. In a certain aspect, when the answerer candidate answers the question for which the recommendation display 1004 is displayed, the server 20 may change the reward value, evaluation value, etc., that is given to the answerer candidate compared to the answers to other questions.

[0167] This increases the likelihood that potential respondents will receive rewards, which is expected to encourage more responses from potential respondents.

[0168] The latest answer history column 1005 indicates a column for displaying information on the latest question among the questions answered by the answerer candidate. Specifically, various information such as the content of the question answered by the answerer, the date of receipt of the question, the date of answering the question, the ranking when the answer was presented, etc. may be displayed. In addition, in a certain aspect, when an answer is evaluated as the optimal answer by a user in the column (e.g., an evaluation called the best answer, etc.), the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate may display a specific indication (e.g., a graphic indication such as ★) next to the ranking on the screen.

[0169] This allows potential respondents to know the ranking of their answer to the most recent question, the evaluation they received, and so on, which is expected to maintain and increase the motivation of potential respondents.

[0170] The registration information field 1006 is a field for displaying information registered by the answerer candidate in the service provided by the server 20. Specifically, the terminal device 10 of the answerer candidate may display in the field information such as the answerer candidate's information acquired by referring to the answerer candidate information database 282, past answer history, and introduction status to external networks.

[0171] The offer request status confirmation field 1007 indicates a field for displaying the introduction status of the answerer candidate to an external network. Specifically, the answerer's terminal device 10 may display information in the field, such as how many more questions the answerer needs to answer in order to increase the answerer's evaluation and be introduced to a specific external network. In a certain aspect, the answerer's terminal device 10 may display information regarding the conditions under which the answerer candidate is introduced to an external network, and if the answerer candidate is not satisfied with the conditions, a separate entry field for negotiating the conditions may be displayed.

[0172] This allows the candidate answerers to not only present answers, etc. in the services provided by the server 20, but also to increase their name recognition in external networks, which is expected to encourage more answers from the candidate answerers.

[0173] <Additional Notes> The matters explained in the above embodiments will be supplemented below.

[0174] <Appendix 1> A program executed by a computer having a processor 29, the program causing the processor 29 to execute the steps of: accepting input of first information, which is a question, based on an input operation from a first user (S751); identifying candidate answerers for the question of the first information by performing a specific process based on the input first information in response to the input of the first information; and presenting the identified candidate answerers to the first user without waiting for completion of input of the first information (S752).

[0175] <Appendix 2> The program described in Appendix 1, in which in the identification step, as a identification process, candidate respondents to the question of the first information are identified based on the input first information and the second information stored in a memory unit, the second information indicating the question and the answer to the question.

[0176] <Appendix 3> The program described in Appendix 2, in which in the identification step, as a identification process, in response to input of the first information, without waiting for completion of input of the first information, the content of the question of the first information is identified based on the first information and the second information, and candidate answerers are identified based on the identified content of the question and third information which is information related to the candidate answerers.

[0177] <Appendix 4> The program according to appendix 1, in which, in the step of specifying, at least one piece of first tag information is added to the input first information as a specifying process, and answerer candidates for the question of the first information are specified based on the first tag information added to the first information and third information that is information related to the answerer candidates. (Past question information database 283)

[0178] <Appendix 5> The program according to appendix 4, in which second tag information on at least one of field, region, language, industry, and information on the company to which the candidate respondent belongs is associated with the candidate respondent as the third information, and in the identifying step, a tag on at least one of field, region, language, and industry is added to the input first information as the first tag information, thereby identifying the candidate respondent based on the first information and the third information. (Candidate respondent information database 282)

[0179] <Appendix 6> The program described in Appendix 5 further causes the processor 29 to execute a step of associating information related to the question to which the answerer candidate has answered as second tag information, when the answerer candidate has answered a question regarding second tag information that is not associated with the answerer candidate.

[0180] <Appendix 7> The program according to any one of appendices 3 to 6, in which the third information associates information on the candidate answerer with information on the network to which the candidate answerer belongs, and the program causes the processor 29 to execute, in the presenting step, a step of identifying the candidate answerer or the information on the network based on the first information and the information on the network, and presenting the identified result to the first user. (Candidate answerer information database 282)

[0181] <Appendix 8> A program described in any of Appendices 1 to 7, which causes the processor 29 to execute a step of identifying and presenting a specific evaluation value based on the track record of answers provided by candidate answerers to the first information, identifying an order in which the candidate answerers will be presented to the first user based on the evaluation values, and presenting the candidate answerers to the first user based on the identified order.

[0182] <Appendix 9> The program according to any one of appendices 1 to 8, which causes the processor 29 to execute the steps of: in the receiving step, presenting options regarding the disclosure of the question text of the first information and the answer content to the question text; and in the presenting step, identifying answerer candidates based on the information of the option selected by the first user, and presenting the identified results to the first user. (Past question information database 283)

[0183] <Appendix 10> The program according to appendix 8 or 9, further causing the processor 29 to execute a step of identifying candidate answerers to whom the first information is to be presented and a specific period during which the candidate answerers can preferentially answer the first information based on the evaluation value, and presenting the first information to the candidate answerers based on the identified results. (Candidate answerer information database 282)

[0184] <Appendix 11> The program according to any one of appendices 1 to 10, further causing the processor 29 to execute the steps of acquiring information on at least one of the time required for the candidate answerer to present an answer to the first information, the order in which the candidate answerer presented the answer, and identifying information on a remuneration to be paid to the candidate answerer based on the acquired information, and presenting the identified information on the remuneration to the candidate answerer. (Past answer information database 284)

[0185] <Appendix 12> The program according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the program is associated with the external network 30, and the program causes the processor 29 to execute a step of presenting third information to a user of the external network 30 based on the evaluation value. (External network information database 285) [Explanation of symbols]

[0186] 10 terminal device, 20 server, 30 external network, 281 user information database, 282 candidate answerer information database, 283 past question information database, 284 past answer information database, 285 external network information database, 2041 transmission / reception module, 2042 operation determination module, 2043 screen generation module, 2044 user information database acquisition module, 2045 candidate answerer information database acquisition module, 2046 past question information database acquisition module, 2047 external network information acquisition module.

Claims

1. A program executed by a computer having a processor, The program causes the processor to: receiving an input of first information, which is a question sentence, based on an input operation from a first user; a step of performing a specific process based on the input first information in response to the input of the first information, thereby identifying candidates for an answerer to the question sentence of the first information; presenting the identified candidate respondents to the first user without waiting for completion of input of the first information.

2. In the step of specifying, the specific processing is The program according to claim 1, further comprising: a program for identifying a candidate respondent for a question in the first information based on the input first information and second information stored in a memory unit, the second information indicating a question and an answer to the question.

3. In the step of specifying, the specific processing is in response to the input of the first information, without waiting for completion of the input of the first information, identifying the content of the question of the first information based on the first information and the second information; The program according to claim 2 , further comprising: identifying the candidate answerers based on the identified content of the question sentence and third information related to the candidate answerers.

4. In the step of specifying, the specific processing is adding at least one piece of first tag information to the input first information; The program according to claim 1 , further comprising: identifying a candidate respondent for a question sentence of the first information based on the first tag information assigned to the first information and third information that is information related to the candidate respondent.

5. As the third information, second tag information is associated with the answerer candidate, the second tag information being related to at least one of a field, a region, a language, an industry, and information on a company to which the answerer candidate belongs, 5. The program according to claim 4, wherein in the identifying step, a tag relating to at least one of a field, a region, a language, and an industry is added to the first information input as the first tag information, thereby identifying the candidate respondents based on the first information and the third information.

6. The program further causes the processor to When the candidate answerer answers a question regarding the second tag information that is not associated with the candidate answerer, The program according to claim 5 , further comprising: a step of associating information related to the question to which the answerer candidate has been answered, with the answerer candidate as the second tag information.

7. In the third information, information on the candidate answerer and information on a network to which the candidate answerer belongs are associated with each other, and the program causes the processor to Identifying the candidate respondents or the information of the network based on the first information and the information of the network; The program according to claim 3 , further comprising: a step of presenting the identified result to the first user.

8. The program causes the processor to: Identifying a specific evaluation value based on the track record of the answers given by the candidate answerer to the first information; determining an order of the candidate answerers to be presented to the first user based on the evaluation values ​​in the presenting step; The program according to claim 1 , further comprising: a step of presenting the answerer candidates to the first user based on the specified order.

9. The program causes the processor to, in the receiving step, presenting options regarding disclosure of a question sentence of the first information and an answer to the question sentence; identifying the answerer candidates based on the information of the option selected by the first user in the presenting step; The program according to claim 1 , further comprising: a step of presenting the determined result to the first user.

10. The program further causes the processor to identifying, based on the evaluation value, a candidate answerer to whom the first information is to be presented and a specific period during which the candidate answerer can preferentially answer the first information; 10. The program according to claim 8, further comprising a step of presenting the first information to the candidate answerer based on the identified result.

11. The program further causes the processor to acquiring information regarding at least one of a time required for the candidate answerer to present an answer to the first information, an order, etc.; Identifying information regarding compensation to be paid to the potential respondents based on the obtained information; The program according to claim 1 , further comprising: a step of presenting information about the specified reward to the candidate answerer.

12. The program is associated with an external network, and the program causes the processor to:

5. The program according to claim 3, further comprising a step of presenting the third information to a user of the external network based on the evaluation value.

13. 1. A method implemented by a computer having a processor, comprising: The method further comprises the processor: receiving an input of first information, which is a question sentence, based on an input operation from a first user; a step of performing a specific process based on the input first information in response to the input of the first information, thereby identifying candidates for an answerer to the question sentence of the first information; presenting the identified candidate respondents to the first user without waiting for completion of input of the first information.

14. An information processing device including a control unit, receiving an input of first information, which is a question sentence, based on an input operation from a first user; a step of performing a specific process based on the input first information in response to the input of the first information, thereby identifying candidates for an answerer to the question sentence of the first information; presenting the identified answerer candidates to the first user without waiting for completion of input of the first information.

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