Information Processing System and Program

Abstract

This information processing system has a processing unit and a storage unit. The storage unit stores a plurality of user IDs respectively designating a plurality of users. The processing unit performs group generation processing in which the plurality of user IDs are sorted into groups on the basis of a predetermined reference value, displays a timeline in accordance with the groups and the user IDs, and along with said timeline, displays information expressing the users who are associated with the user IDs and a comment input field for receiving the input of comments.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system and a program. For example, it relates to a system for assisting communication within an organization. Also, for example, it relates to a technology for promoting non-face-to-face communication.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, issues related to work in companies and the like have been attracting attention, and as the value of a company, not only the accounting soundness but also the fact that the company is managed with employees being in a healthy state both physically and mentally is increasingly being evaluated by society as the value of the company. Among them, employee communication is one of the elements for maintaining the healthy state of employees.

[0003] The promotion of communication is an essential element in building trust relationships between people, and is particularly important in companies as it is also related to improving productivity and suppressing employee turnover. However, in recent years, remote work has become widespread, and while face-to-face communication has decreased, non-face-to-face communication online has increased.

[0004] Non-face-to-face communication rarely occurs accidentally like face-to-face communication, and in many cases, the target partner is selected with a certain communication purpose. Therefore, while it is easy to communicate with direct superiors and related parties with whom one has a business relationship, opportunities for conversations with colleagues in the workplace with whom one has little business relationship and small talk unrelated to work are often lost.

[0005] As a company, it is necessary to increase communication among employees, reduce employees who are lonely or anxious, and maintain the healthy state of employees. As a means, for example, more and more companies are promoting the introduction of SNS (Social Networking Service) within the company. By introducing SNS, users can implement information sharing, etc. across the entire organization through postings, and cross-sectional communication can be expected to be promoted when other participants view and comment on them. Therefore, it is important to activate the use by employees, and related inventions have been made even in general SNS.

[0006] For example, from the perspective of activating actions such as comments, Patent Document 1 visualizes and displays the action amount information between users on SNS, enabling users to grasp their own action amounts, and promoting actions and suppressing over-activation. Also, for example, from the perspective of efficiently acquiring information, Patent Document 2 determines and filters users who display comments and users who do not display comments based on the relevance between users.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] When considering the utilization of SNS within the company, cross-sectional communication within the organization is not necessarily promoted by simply visualizing the action amount or filtering users.

[0009] First, in an organization such as a company, since people in management positions are required to support the organization, it is desirable to actively comment on employees' posts. However, generally, management positions are busy with daily work, and in larger organizations, the number of employees to be supported is also larger. Therefore, it is a high burden to execute comments only by management positions. On the other hand, when veteran employees other than management positions support instead, it is psychologically difficult to execute comments to colleagues with whom they have little business interaction. As a result, there is a risk of bearing the burden of decision-making in determining the person to whom comments should be made, or having comments concentrated on some employees.

[0010] Next, people in positions such as subordinates or new employees who need support may encounter problems such as not receiving sufficient support from their superiors or veteran employees for the reasons mentioned above, being isolated within the organization, or having difficulty building good relationships with understanding people. By recognizing that there are few comments from others on their own posts, there is a risk of falling into a vicious cycle of not having a sense of belonging to the organization or the desire for approval satisfied, and further suppressing communication.

[0011] As described above, when trying to activate the use of SNS in an organization such as a company, just visualizing the amount of action and filtering users only amounts to arbitrarily controlling the person to whom comments are sent or displayed, and there is a possibility of promoting bias, such as communication being concentrated only among specific individuals. In order to promote cross-cutting communication, it is necessary to activate the communication of each employee while equally activating it throughout the organization.

[0012] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to efficiently promote communication and eliminate bias throughout the organization by reducing the burden of executing comments and making it easy for any user to receive comments from others.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0013] An example of the information processing system according to the present invention is An information processing system having a processing unit and a storage unit, The storage unit stores a plurality of user IDs that respectively identify a plurality of users, The processing unit, Performs group generation processing for classifying the plurality of user IDs into groups based on a predetermined reference value, Displays a timeline according to the group and the user ID, Displays information representing a user related to the user ID and a comment input field for receiving input of a comment together with the timeline.

[0014] An example of a program according to the present invention causes a computer to function as the above-described information processing system.

Effect of the Invention

[0015] According to the present invention, while activating communication by users, it is possible to efficiently promote cross-sectional communication by eliminating the bias in communication within the organization.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0017] [Example 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration and functions of an SNS-type communication promotion system. Each function in the figure is realized by the cooperation of hardware and software. Here, the system overview will be described, and the details of each function will be described later using other drawings.

[0018] The SNS-type communication promotion system is an information processing system including a client 111 operated by a user 110, an application system 161 operated by an administrator 160, and a management server 130 that can be connected to the client 111 and the application system 161 through a wireless or wired network 170.

[0019] Note that a user 120 and a client 121 are shown in FIG. 1, and a plurality of users can operate different clients and connect to the network 170. Unless otherwise specified, the following descriptions regarding the user 110 and the client 111 are common to the user 120 and the client 121, and further common to other users and clients not shown in the figure.

[0020] The client 111 is a general smartphone, PC terminal, etc., and has a transmission / reception unit 112, an input / output unit 113, a control unit 114, and a storage unit 115. The transmission / reception unit 112 is composed of a network interface such as wired or wireless. The input / output unit 113 exchanges information with the user and is composed of input / output devices such as a screen, a touch panel, and a keyboard. The control unit 114 is composed of a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU) of a normal computer, etc. The processing of each computer described in this specification can be executed by each processing unit. Also, the storage unit 115 is composed of a memory device such as a semiconductor storage device or a magnetic storage device.

[0021] The control unit 114 has a user authentication function 116, a posting function 117, and an inter - user behavior function 118, which are realized by executing a predetermined program held by the storage unit 115. The user authentication function 116 authenticates whether the user is a pre - registered person using means such as password requests. If the authentication is successful, login is permitted, and after successful login, the user ID is held in the storage unit 115.

[0022] The posting function 117 enables the user's posting activity on the SNS by transmitting the data input by the user 110 operating the input / output unit 113 to the management server 130 by the transmission / reception unit 112. Similarly, the inter - user behavior function 118 realizes communication with other users on the SNS when the user 110 operates the input / output unit 113 to perform actions such as "liking" or "commenting" on the posts of other users and transmits the data to the management server 130.

[0023] The management server 130 has a control unit 131, a storage unit 132, a transmission / reception unit 133, and a mail server 134. The control unit 131 composed of a normal CPU etc. has a group setting reception unit 140, a group management unit 141, a UI providing unit 142, a user management unit 143, a posting / behavior management unit 144, a group status providing unit 145, and a mail management unit 146. These are realized by the control unit 131 executing a predetermined program stored in the storage unit 132 composed of a memory device etc.

[0024] Also, the database in the storage unit 132 has a user table 150, a tenant table 151, a posting history table 152, an action history table 153, a group setting table 154, a group table 155, a group member table 156, and an external relationship table 157. The data exchange with the client 111 and the application system 161 is performed via the transmission / reception unit 133 composed of a network interface.

[0025] The user management unit 143 receives user information input by the administrator 160 from the application system 161 and stores it in the user table 150. The posting / behavior management unit 144 receives information regarding postings and behaviors input by the user 110 from the client 111 and stores them in the posting history table 152 and the behavior history table 153, respectively.

[0026] The group setting reception unit 140 receives group settings (such as settings regarding the number composition and schedule of a group) input by the administrator 160 from the application system 161, stores them in the group setting table 154, and registers them. Based on the stored setting data, the group management unit 141 determines the assignment of the target user group to groups and stores it in the group table 155 and the group member table 156.

[0027] The UI providing unit 142 receives a user ID and a screen display request from the client 111, and displays a dedicated timeline of the group to which the user 110 belongs on the screen of the client 111. With these basic configurations, the target user group is periodically assigned to groups based on the number composition, schedule, etc. set by the administrator 160, and is presented as the target for sending comments to each other.

[0028] Also, the group management unit 141 can determine the group assignment by considering the past group assignments and the amount of behavior between users by using the information stored in the group member table 156 and the behavior history table 153. Furthermore, the group assignment may be determined by considering the relationship and communication volume outside the system between users. For example, it may use the email sending / receiving history and chat history obtained from the logs of a PC or mobile phone, and face-to-face information obtained by a sensor device, etc. These information are prepared as external relationship data 180, and the administrator 160 operates the application system 161 to store them in the external relationship table 157 of the management server 130, so that they can be used for group assignment.

[0029] The group status providing unit 145 receives a screen display request from the application system 161, aggregates the information stored in the group member table 156 and the action history table 153, and displays information such as the member composition and the number of comments of each group on the screen of the application system 161. The mail management unit 146 aggregates the member composition and the posting status based on the information stored in the group member table 156 and the posting history table 152, and distributes an electronic mail to the e-mail address associated with the target user via the mail server 134. Note that the user 110 may be able to view the electronic mail using the client 111.

[0030] The application system 161 is a system used by the administrator 160 to manage users and group settings. The application system 161 is a general PC terminal or the like. The application system 161 includes a transmission / reception unit 162 configured by a network interface, an input / output unit 163 configured by a screen, a keyboard, etc., a control unit 164 configured by a CPU, etc., and a storage unit 165 configured by a memory device, etc.

[0031] The control unit 164 has an administrator authentication function 166, a user management function 167, and a group management function 168, which are realized by executing a predetermined program held by the storage unit 165. The administrator authentication function 166 authenticates whether the administrator is a pre-registered person using means such as password request. If the authentication is successful, login is permitted, and after successful login, the administrator ID is held in the storage unit 165.

[0032] The user management function 167 enables the administrator 160 to manage users by pre-registering users or assigning predetermined labels to users by transmitting the data input by operating the input / output unit 163 to the management server 130 through the transmission / reception unit 162. Similarly, the group management function 168 enables the administrator 160 to set the number composition and schedule of a group, view the group assignment status, etc. by transmitting the data input by operating the input / output unit 163 to the management server 130 through the transmission / reception unit 162.

[0033] As described above, the management server 130, the client 111, and the application system 161 have a hardware configuration as a known computer and have respective control units and storage units. The control unit includes a processing unit and controls the computer. The storage units each store a program, and when the processing unit executes the corresponding program, the computer functions as the management server 130, the client 111, and the application system 161, respectively. That is, each program causes the corresponding computers to cooperate and function as a communication promotion system.

[0034] FIG. 2 is a diagram outlining an example of grouping users in the communication promotion system. The target user group 200 represents the target users to be grouped and is a group including a plurality (for example, a certain number or more) of users. The target user group 200 is the target for promoting communication, aims to activate the exchange of comments and the like among users, and connect an equal communication network so as not to concentrate only among some users. It may form an enterprise, community, organization, etc. As an example, 10 users are illustrated.

[0035] Each user in the target user group 200 is assigned to each group by group allocation processing 220 (group generation processing) based on the information set by the administrator 160. The number of groups can be determined as a value such that the number of members in each group is equal to or greater than the lower limit 210 per group and the number of groups is maximized. The example in FIG. 2 shows the case where the lower limit 210 of the number of people is set to "3", and 10 users are assigned to three groups 201.

[0036] In an environment with a small number of people where communication cannot be established unless a person always participates, people are likely to have psychological pressure to execute comments. On the contrary, in a large number of people, people are likely to become negative about communication or feel a burden in executing comments. Therefore, it is important to control the number of people in the group. By setting the lower limit value, it is possible to ensure that each group has the minimum number of people necessary for smooth communication, and at the same time, by maximizing the number of groups, it is possible to prevent the number of members from becoming too large.

[0037] Furthermore, regardless of the scale of the number of people in the target user group 200, the administrator 160 can set an appropriate number of people that makes it easy for users to communicate with each other while considering it. Therefore, it is easier for the administrator 160 to make a judgment by specifying the lower limit value rather than simply specifying the number of groups. In practical use, it is desirable to set the lower limit value within the range of 3 to 5 people as an appropriate number of people for easy communication.

[0038] Users who are in the same group recognize each other as targets for mutually commenting on each other's posts. The activities of the group end after a certain period of time and are reallocated to a new group 202 by group allocation processing 221 (group generation processing). In this embodiment, a certain period of time during which the group activities are carried out is called the first cycle 230 or the second cycle 231. The period of each cycle can be, for example, one week, and can be set by the administrator 160 in advance. Also, the number of times the cycle is repeated can be set by the administrator 160 as well.

[0039] In this way, by making users belong to an appropriate-sized group that is easy to communicate with, it can be expected that each user will easily receive a certain number or more of comments. Also, since the target users for comments are automatically determined and the number of such users is small, the load of comments is reduced, and it is possible to expect the promotion of communication within the group. Furthermore, by periodically changing the group composition, the bias in the communication network among users can be eliminated, and it is possible to support the construction of cross-sectional human relationships in the organization.

[0040] In addition, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 12, by considering information such as the most recent group member composition and the amount of comments in the group assignment process, users with little communication are preferentially assigned to the same group, etc., and the activation and equalization of the organization's communication can be more efficiently realized.

[0041] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the usage procedure and the overall flow of processing in the communication promotion system.

[0042] In the sequence diagram, the user and the client operated by the user are designated as 301, the management server as 302, and the administrator and the application system operated by the administrator as 303, and the processing content for each target and the data exchange between the targets will be briefly described.

[0043] In step 304, the administrator inputs group settings (such as the target users for grouping, the lower limit of the number of people, and the setting of the cool-down period, etc.) through the application system. In step 305, the input group settings are sent from the application 303 to the management server 302. In step 306, the sent group settings are stored (registered) in the database within the management server 302.

[0044] The saved group settings contain data on the first cool start date 307, and at the timing when this date arrives, step 308 (group assignment process or group generation process) is executed. In step 308, a group assignment process is performed based on the group settings, and the group to which each user belongs during the period of the first cool is determined. Also, in parallel, the end date of the first cool is calculated. In step 309, an email describing the member composition of the determined group is distributed to the email address associated with the target user. Note that the notification of the member composition may be directly displayed on the client screen as well as by email.

[0045] Step 310 is that the user performs user authentication through the client to log in, and the client makes a screen display request. In step 311, the user ID is sent from the client 301 to the management server 302. In step 312, based on the sent user ID, the group to which the user belongs in the first cool is verified. In step 313, the posted data of the members of the group to which the user belongs is acquired and sent to the client 301 to display a group-specific timeline.

[0046] In step 314, the user can, at any timing through the client, input a post or perform user-to-user actions such as a "like" action or a "comment" action on the posts of other users. A post means, for example, a user entering a message assuming that other users will view it, or data including the message. Also, a post may include an image or other data input or specified by the user.

[0047] In step 315, immediately after the user executes step 314, the data of the post or action is sent from the client 301 to the management server 302. Note that steps 314 and 315 may be executed multiple times by the user.

[0048] In step 316, an email (reminder email) describing the posting status for each group is distributed to the email addresses associated with the members of each group. Note that step 316 may be executed at regular intervals after the start date of the first course. For example, the administrator may be able to set it to be distributed at a predetermined time every day.

[0049] The above steps 310 to 316 may be repeatedly executed a plurality of times within the period of the first course. Then, at the timing when the start date 317 of the second course arrives, a new group assignment is executed in the next step 318, and the user is assigned to a new group. Thereafter, although not shown in the figure, the start date of the course visits the number of times set by the administrator, and the same processing is executed in each course period. In this way, the management server 302 performs group generation processing at regular intervals. Therefore, the composition of the group changes periodically, the bias of the communication network among users can be eliminated, and the construction of cross-sectional human relations in the organization can be supported.

[0050] Also, after the end date of the final course has passed, group assignment may not be executed thereafter, and the user may not belong to any group.

[0051] With the overall processing flow as described above, the target user group specified by the administrator is grouped based on the number composition, schedule, etc. specified by the administrator. Each user will regularly belong to a group with a new member composition, and it can be expected that communication among the members within the group will become closer through the display of the group-exclusive timeline and the distribution of emails, etc.

[0052] Note that the group assignment may be executed all at once for all the courses immediately after step 306, for example, instead of at the timing of each course start date as shown in this sequence diagram. However, when performing the group assignment in consideration of the relationship between the latest users as described later with reference to FIG. 12, it is desirable to execute it at the timing of each course start date. Also, by executing the assignment each time for each course, it is possible to cope with an increase or decrease in the number of target users during the process, and flexible responses such as changing the number of groups can be made according to the number of target users at the timing of the start date of each course.

[0053] The user table 150 in FIG. 4 is a table for managing user information and is stored in the storage unit 132 of the management server 130. The user ID 401 is associated with the user name 402, the affiliated tenant 403, the email address 404, the login password 405, and the affiliated team 406.

[0054] The user ID 401 is information used to uniquely identify a user within the management server 130. The data stored in the user ID 401 can be omitted by designating any one of the columns used in this table or a combination of multiple columns. Also, the management server 130 may automatically assign an ascending identification number as an identifier to each user. In this way, the storage unit 132 stores a plurality of user IDs for respectively identifying a plurality of users.

[0055] The user name 402 stores the name of the user as information representing the user. This information is displayed on the client 111 and the application system 161 and is used for humans to identify the user.

[0056] The tenant ID 403 stores the ID of the tenant to which the user belongs in the tenant table 151 (corresponding to the tenant ID 501 in FIG. 5). A tenant is a dedicated area on the system where only the users belonging to it can view and comment on each other's posts. In practical terms, it is set in units such as the company or community to which the user belongs. A user may belong to multiple tenants.

[0057] The email address 404 is information provided when the user 110 registers an account with the management server 130, and is used as login information when accessing the management server 130 from the client 111, or when sending an email to the user from the email server 134.

[0058] The login password 405 is password information used as login information when the user 110 accesses the management server 130 from the client 111.

[0059] The affiliated team 406 is a label assigned to the users belonging to a tenant for each tenant, and is used when classifying users into certain group units. The affiliated team 406 can be a unit corresponding to the target user group 200 (FIG. 2) when distributing users into groups. By grouping users by affiliated team, for example, when there is a combination of user groups that you do not want to be grouped together, it is possible to handle this by separating the affiliated teams of each user group, enabling flexible handling. If you want to treat all users belonging to a tenant as the same target user group, you can set all users to the same affiliated team.

[0060] In practical terms, to avoid information leakage between tenants, it is desirable to form affiliated teams only with users belonging to the same tenant. That is, it is desirable that all of the multiple users included in one target user group 200 belong to a specific company (for example, a specific single company). Note that one user may belong to multiple teams.

[0061] Note that the user table 150 is just an example, and if there is information necessary for managing user information, it is preferable to add it.

[0062] The tenant table 151 in FIG. 5 is a table for managing tenant information and is stored in the storage unit 132 of the management server 130.

[0063] The tenant ID 501 is information used to uniquely identify a tenant registered in the management server 130. The data stored in the tenant ID 501 can be omitted by designating any one of the columns used in this table or a combination of multiple columns. Also, the management server 130 may automatically assign an ascending identification number as an identifier to each tenant.

[0064] The tenant name 502 stores the name of the tenant. This information is displayed on the client 111 and the application system 161 and is used for humans to identify the tenant.

[0065] The administrator ID 503 stores the user IDs of the tenant administrators of the corresponding tenant. Multiple user IDs may be registered as the administrator ID.

[0066] Note that the tenant table 151 is just an example, and if there is information necessary for managing tenant information, it is preferable to add it.

[0067] The posting history table 152 in FIG. 6 is a table for managing data of user postings and is stored in the storage unit 132 of the management server 130.

[0068] The submission history ID 601 is information used to uniquely identify data representing a submission stored in the management server 130. The data stored in the submission history ID 601 can be omitted by designating any one of the columns used in this table, or a combination of multiple columns. Also, the management server 130 may automatically assign an ascending identification number as an identifier to each submission history.

[0069] The user ID 602 stores the user ID corresponding to the client 111 that transmitted the submission data to the management server 130. Note that in the case where the client 111 and the user ID do not have a one-to-one correspondence, the relationship between the submission and the user ID can be clarified by associating the user ID with the submission data for transmission and reception.

[0070] The submission date and time 603 stores the date and time when the client 111 transmitted the submission data to the management server 130.

[0071] The submission content 604 is a character string input by the user 110 through the input / output unit 113 of the client 111, and is the data that is the subject of the submission. By the UI providing unit 142 acquiring the submission content 604 from the submission history table 152 and displaying it as a timeline on the screen of the client 111 or the like, the submission is shared with other users.

[0072] Note that the submission history table 152 is an example, and it is preferable to add any information necessary for managing the submission history information.

[0073] The action history table 153 in FIG. 7 is a table for managing user action data, and is stored in the storage unit 132 of the management server 130.

[0074] The action history ID 701 is information used to uniquely identify user actions within the management server 130. Actions include, for example, "like" actions and "comment" actions. The data stored in the action history ID 701 can be omitted by specifying any one of the columns used in this table, or a combination of multiple columns. Further, the management server 130 may automatically assign an ascending identification number as an identifier to each action history.

[0075] The user ID 702 stores the user ID of the client 111 that transmitted the action data to the management server 130. Note that when the configuration is such that the client 111 and the user ID do not correspond one-to-one, the relationship between the action and the user ID can be clarified by associating the user ID with the action data for transmission and reception.

[0076] The action date and time 703 stores the date and time when the client 111 transmitted the action data to the management server 130.

[0077] The action type 704 represents the type of actions such as "like" and "comment" that the user 110 performed on other users. It is one form of communication in the SNS, and one of the aims of this embodiment is to activate these action frequencies and make them evenly distributed without being biased towards specific users.

[0078] The target post ID 705 is an ID used to identify the post data that is the target of actions such as "like" and "comment", and corresponds to the post history ID 601 in the post history table 152.

[0079] The target user ID 706 is a user ID used to identify the user who transmitted the post data that is the target of the action, and corresponds to the user ID 602 in the post history table 152.

[0080] The description content 707 is a character string input by the user 110 through the input / output unit 113 of the client 111, and in the case of a "comment" action, the text of the comment is stored.

[0081] Note that the table itself may be divided according to action types such as "Like" and "Comment". In this case, the column of description content 707 may not be necessary in the "Like" table. In addition, the action types may include not only actions targeting posted content such as "Like" and "Comment", but also actions targeting direct users such as direct mail sending and giving peer bonuses. Other than that, if there is information necessary for managing the action history information, it is preferable to add it.

[0082] FIG. 8 shows an application screen which is an example of a GUI for group setting input in the application system 161. On this screen, the administrator 160 considers and inputs grouping settings for the users belonging to the tenant managed by himself / herself. This input is performed in step 304 of FIG. 3.

[0083] The application screen 800 shows a screen displayed by the application system 161 and is displayed on a display such as a PC used by the administrator 160.

[0084] The application screen 800 is divided into a side screen 810 and a main screen 820.

[0085] The side screen 810 has a tenant information box 811 and a menu box 812. The side screen 810 displays information that continues to be displayed even when the information in the main screen 820 changes.

[0086] The tenant information box 811 displays the tenant name stored in the tenant table 151. Thereby, the administrator 160 can confirm whether he / she can perform operations on the tenant that is the management target. If necessary, other than that, the administrator information logged in may be displayed.

[0087] The menu box 812 displays a list of functions executable by the administrator 160, and by selecting it, the screen transitions to the screen for using the function. In the illustrated example, group management is selected. Although not shown, when user management is selected, a screen for inputting tenant registration and affiliated team settings of users may be displayed.

[0088] The main screen 820 has a group setting creation box 830 and a save button 821. When the administrator 160 inputs information into the group setting creation box 830 and presses the save button 821, the grouping setting is completed.

[0089] The group setting creation box 830 has a participating team setting 831, a start date setting 832, a one-cooling period setting 833, a cooling times setting 834, a minimum group size setting 835, a reminder usage setting 836, a reminder delivery time 837, and an external relationship data setting 838.

[0090] In the participating team setting 831, a list of teams existing within the tenant is displayed, and the administrator 160 can select the teams to be grouped. If subsequent settings are to be common, multiple teams can be selected and set collectively. Also, the number of members belonging to each team may be totaled and displayed for reference when setting the minimum group size setting 835 described later.

[0091] The start date setting 832 is an item for setting the start date for assigning users to groups, and refers to the start date of the first cooling period. The administrator 160 may arbitrarily set a date after the current date on which this screen is displayed. The one-cooling period setting 833 is an item for setting the time length per cooling period as a fixed period, and basically specifies the number of days. The cooling times setting 834 is an item for setting the number of times the cooling is repeated. By setting these, the start date, one-cooling period, and cooling times, the schedule for the entire period of grouping is determined.

[0092] The lower limit setting 835 of the group size is an item for setting the minimum number of users to be assigned to each group. The effects are as described during the explanation of FIG. 2. Here, however, the relationship with the selection status of the participating team setting 831 will be explained. Although it is desirable that the set value of the lower limit of the group size be about 3 to 5 people, it may be set to any number according to the situation.

[0093] However, due to its nature, it is not possible to set a value exceeding the number of members belonging to the participating team. Therefore, it is necessary to limit the input range according to the selection status of the participating team. For example, by making a determination such as in step 903 of FIG. 9, it is desirable to set a registration error so that a lower limit value exceeding the number of team members is not set.

[0094] In this way, the lower limit setting 835 of the group size is a predetermined number and is a reference value when distributing users to groups. That is, the management server 130 distributes a plurality of user IDs to groups based on a predetermined reference value. In this embodiment, the lower limit value of the number of people is specified as the reference value, but it is not necessary to be a numerical value directly representing the lower limit of the number of people, and it may be a value indirectly representing the lower limit of the number of people. Furthermore, not limited to the lower limit, any reference value representing the standard of the number of people can be used.

[0095] The reminder usage setting 836 is an item for setting whether information can be received even when the user is not logged in. For example, by selecting an email, the administrator can determine whether to execute steps 309 and 316 by the mail management unit 146. The reminder distribution time 837 is an item for arbitrarily setting the distribution time of emails or the like when the above reminder usage setting 836 is selected and executed.

[0096] The external relationship data setting 838 is an item for arbitrarily designating a file of the external relationship data 180 for considering the relationship between users constructed previously when distributing users to groups. The designated file is uploaded to the management server 130 together with other setting data.

[0097] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing performed by the group setting reception unit 140 of the control unit 131 of the management server 130. This processing is executed in steps 304 to 306 of FIG. 3.

[0098] The group setting reception unit 140 receives the group setting information input by the administrator 160 in the application system 161, determines whether it can be registered, and registers it in the management server 130.

[0099] In step 901, the group setting reception unit 140 displays a group setting creation screen such as the application screen 800 shown as an example in FIG. 8 on the application system 161. In step 902, the group setting information input by the administrator 160 is acquired from the application system 161.

[0100] In step 903, it is determined whether the value of the lower limit of the number of group members input as the group setting information is less than or equal to the number of members belonging to the participating team also selected as the group setting information. If it is less than or equal to the number of members belonging, the process proceeds to step 904. If the value is greater than the number of members belonging, an error occurs and the process returns to step 901. When there are multiple selected participating teams, the number of members belonging to the team with the smallest number of members is used as the determination criterion.

[0101] In step 904, the group setting information is saved and registered in the group setting table 154. In step 905, it is determined whether the administrator 160 has uploaded the external relationship data 180 during the group setting. If so, the process proceeds to step 906 additionally. In step 906, the external relationship data 180 is saved in the external relationship table 157, and its ID is saved (for example, additionally registered) in the group setting table 154.

[0102] Note that the group settings already registered may be displayed on the screen of the application system 161, and the administrator 160 may select them to edit or delete the setting contents.

[0103] The group setting table 154 in FIG. 10 is a table for managing group setting information registered by the group setting reception unit 140.

[0104] The group setting ID 1001 is information used to uniquely identify a group setting within the management server 130. The data stored in the group setting ID 1001 can be omitted by designating any one of the columns used in this table, or a combination of multiple columns. Also, the management server 130 may automatically assign an ascending identification number as an identifier to each group setting.

[0105] The tenant ID 1002 stores the ID of the tenant targeted by the group setting. The team ID 1003 stores the ID of the team targeted by the group setting. There may be multiple team IDs. The start date 1004 stores the start date of the first cycle of the group setting. The one-cycle period 1005 stores the number of days per cycle of the group setting as a fixed period. The number of cycles 1006 stores the number of times the cycle of the group setting is repeated. The lower limit of group size 1007 stores the set value of the minimum number of people as a reference value for the number of people belonging to each group in the group setting. Reminder use 1008 stores a flag value indicating whether to use a reminder in the group setting. The delivery time 1009 stores the scheduled delivery time of reminder emails, etc. in the group setting. The external relationship ID 1010 is an ID for uniquely identifying external relationship data used in the group setting, and is used as a key when associating with the external relationship table 157.

[0106] FIG. 11 shows an example of the data format of the external relationship data 180 uploaded in the external relationship data setting 838 on the application screen 800. Here, the description will be based on data derived from the transmission and reception history of emails and chats.

[0107] Date 1101 represents the sending date of the email or chat. Sending user 1102 is the email address that sent the email or chat, and receiving user 1103 is the email address that received the email or chat. By matching them with the email address 404 stored in the user table 150 respectively, it is possible to link them with the user IDs within the communication promotion system.

[0108] Type 1104 is information representing the relationship between users and the content of communication. In the example of FIG. 11, it shows which records are the email history and which records are the chat history. Action point 1105 is an example of the points assigned to type 1104, and it may be set arbitrarily by an administrator 160 or the like. By aggregating the action points 1105 over a certain period, the relationship and communication volume outside the system between each user can be quantified and used for the group allocation process.

[0109] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the group management unit 141 performed by the control unit 131 in the management server 130 at the timing of the start date of each cool. This processing is executed in steps 308 and 318 of FIG. 3.

[0110] The group management unit 141 executes a process of allocating target users to groups based on the information registered in the group setting table 154.

[0111] In step 1201, based on the target group settings registered in the group setting table 154, the number of groups and the cool end date for the current cool are calculated. As described with reference to FIG. 2, the number of groups is determined such that the number of members in each group is equal to or greater than the lower limit value of the group size and the number of groups is maximized. As an example of the calculation method, a method of aggregating the number of members in the target team and adopting the integer part when dividing it by the lower limit value of the group size can be considered. For example, when the team size is 8 and the lower limit of the group size is 3, 8 / 3 ≈ 2.66, and the integer part 2 becomes the number of groups.

[0112] In addition, since the number of group members is calculated based on the number of members of the target team at the start time of cooling, it is possible to flexibly handle the case where the number of members of the target team has increased or decreased immediately before. In the previous example, when the number of team members increases by 1 to 9, the number of groups is 9 / 3 = 3. Conversely, when the number of team members decreases to 5, the number of groups is 5 / 3 ≈ 1.66, and the number of groups is 1.

[0113] In this way, even when target users are added or excluded after the administrator 160 registers the group settings, the management server 130 can automatically handle it. Note that when the number of groups is calculated to be 0 as a result of the decrease in the number of team members, the group assignment process may be terminated at that time and notified to the screen of the application system 161.

[0114] The cooling end date can be calculated using the value of one cooling period stored in the group setting table 154. After calculating the number of groups and the cooling end date, they are stored in the group table 155.

[0115] In step 1202, step 1203, and step 1204, a relationship matrix representing the relationship between target users in a specific period is calculated for the group of target users to be assigned.

[0116] The relationship matrix is an example of user relationship information representing the relationship between users. The relationship matrix represents the relationship values between each pair of n target users in an n×n matrix. Each row and each column are assigned target users in order. For example, when the relationship value between user #i and user #j is m, m is entered in the element at the i-th row and j-th column of the relationship matrix.

[0117] The relationship matrix is calculated as two types: an internal relationship matrix M1 representing the relationship between target users within the communication promotion system and an external relationship matrix M2 representing the relationship between target users outside the system, and the sum (for example, addition) of them is used as the comprehensive relationship matrix.

[0118] The internal relationship matrix M1 is generated by aggregating the user-to-user performance within the system for the target user group during the validity period T1. The user-to-user performance may well target, for example, the number of times of sending "likes" or "comments", or the number of times of belonging to the same group in the past, and is obtained by acquiring and aggregating the information of the target two users from the behavior history table 153 and the group member table 156. The more such performance there is between two users, the stronger the relationship between those users can be regarded as.

[0119] In step 1202, for all pairwise combinations of the target user group, the user-to-user performance during the validity period T1 is aggregated, and they are summed up to calculate the relationship value between users. Note that the user-to-user performance may be weighted according to the type. For example, by preparing a correspondence table 1210 or the like, the total value of the points defined for each action instead of the frequency of actions may be used as the relationship value.

[0120] The correspondence table 1210 may be automatically defined and held in advance within the system, or may be made definable or changeable by the administrator 160. Also, the validity period T1 may be specified by the number of days such as "the most recent 7 days", or the previous cool period may be specified if it is a group assignment after the second cool. By utilizing the internal relationship matrix M1 generated as above, it becomes possible to determine the next group assignment in consideration of the communication frequency between users in the immediately previous period.

[0121] The external relationship matrix M2 is generated by aggregating data representing the relationships outside the system for the target user group during the validity period T2. When the administrator 160 uploads the external relationship data 180 at the time of registering the group settings, it can be calculated based on that information. In step 1203, the total value of the action points 1105 in the external relationship table 157 during the validity period T2 for all pairwise combinations of the target user group may be aggregated.

[0122] Note that the validity period T2 may be specified by a specific date or by the number of days, such as "the latest 30 days of history". By utilizing the externally related matrix M2 generated as described above, even in a scenario where the target user group uses the communication promotion system for the first time, it is possible to infer the relationships between users that have already been established from data such as email transmission and reception history and in-person history, and use this to assist in determining the group assignment.

[0123] The comprehensive relationship matrix is obtained by combining (for example, adding) the internal relationship matrix M1 and the external relationship matrix M2. In step 1204, each element of M1 and M2 is added together and output as the comprehensive relationship matrix. Note that the calculation method is not limited to addition, and it may be weighted and summed or input into a specific calculation formula for calculation.

[0124] As an example, the comprehensive relationship matrix is represented in a format such as the relationship value table 1211. #1 to #6 represent the target users, and the other elements represent the relationship values between each pair of the target users. In the representation on the relationship value table 1211, when the value of an element is 0, the display is omitted. By utilizing the comprehensive relationship matrix generated as described above, it is possible to determine the group assignment by comprehensively considering the relationships inside and outside the system.

[0125] Hereinafter, steps 1205 to 1209 show an example of the specific process for assigning the target user group to groups. However, the assignment method is not limited to this.

[0126] Steps 1205 to 1208 are iterative processes for creating multiple group assignment patterns.

[0127] In step 1206, a user is selected one by one from the target user group and randomly assigned to any one of the groups with the smallest number of members among the groups generated in step 1201. By performing the assignment for all users, it is possible to determine the member composition while reducing the variation in the number of members in each group. The group assignment at this stage is memorized as one of the patterns in the memory and is not yet officially adopted and not stored in the group member table 156.

[0128] In step 1207, based on the comprehensive relationship matrix generated in step 1205 and the group assignment pattern generated in step 1206, an evaluation of the assignment is performed. Taking the assignment pattern 1212 in FIG. 12 as an example for explanation. In the assignment pattern 1212, users #1, #2, and #6 are assigned to the same group 1, and users #3, #4, and #5 are assigned to the other group 2. In this state, this assignment pattern is evaluated based on a certain criterion and an evaluation value is output.

[0129] For example, when performing an evaluation in line with the purpose of eliminating the bias in communication by periodically re-assigning groups, it is desirable to evaluate a pattern in which users with small relationship values are assigned to the same group as much as possible. Therefore, as a simple method, by counting the combinations in which the relationship value is less than the threshold among the pairs belonging to the same group and using it as the evaluation value, it is possible to evaluate whether users with little communication are assigned to the same group.

[0130] In the example illustrated in the assignment pattern 1212 of FIG. 12, users with a relationship value greater than or equal to the threshold are linked and represented. Under this condition, (#1, #6), (#2, #6), (#3, #4), (#3, #5), and (#4, #5) are not linked, and the number of combinations 5 less than the threshold can be used as the evaluation value.

[0131] Repeat the above steps 1206 and 1207 N times (where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, preferably an integer greater than or equal to 2), and output combinations of N allocation patterns and evaluation values. In step 1209, adopt the allocation pattern with the maximum evaluation value among the above, and store the group allocation in the group member table 156.

[0132] In this way, the management server 130 acquires the relationship matrix (user relationship information), and the group generation process is executed based on the acquired relationship matrix. In particular, through the processes from step 1205 to step 1209 as described above, users with weak communication can be preferentially allocated to the same group, and the imbalance in communication within the organization can be efficiently eliminated.

[0133] However, in step 1207, group allocation may be performed by other methods. For example, instead of counting the number of combinations where the relationship value is less than the threshold, the relationship value itself may be summed within each group, and the one with the minimum value may be adopted by comparing each allocation pattern. In addition to the evaluation index aimed at eliminating the imbalance in communication, new evaluation indexes may be added from a new perspective. For example, the combination of users who were in the same group in this cool as in the previous cool may be counted as an evaluation index, and an allocation pattern with a decrease in this may be adopted.

[0134] Or there may be an index that evaluates an allocation that increases the triangles of connections between users. For example, in the example of the allocation pattern 1212, the direct relationship value between user #1 and #6 is low, but the relationship values of both users with user #5 are high, which can be said to be a state where they have common acquaintances. In such a case, it may be considered that the communication between user #1 and #6 is more likely to be activated than usual, and there may be an index that highly evaluates the state where user #1 and #6 are in the same group. When there are multiple evaluation indexes as described above, they may finally be totaled and treated as a comprehensive evaluation index.

[0135] In summary, the group management unit 141 can flexibly respond to increases and decreases in the number of members of the target team in order to determine the number of groups for each cool based on the number of team members at the start time of each cool. Also, by considering the relationship between users based on the user's behavior history, etc., and further inferring the relationship outside the system using external data, it is possible to determine the allocation of new groups according to the amount of communication so far. At the time of group allocation, for example, by preferentially allocating users with little communication between them to the same group, it is possible to efficiently eliminate the imbalance of communication within the organization.

[0136] The group table 155 in FIG. 13 is a table that manages the number of groups and the cool period for each group setting, registered by the group management unit 141.

[0137] The group ID 1301 is information used to uniquely identify a group within the management server 130. The data stored in the group ID 1301 can be omitted by specifying any one of the columns used in this table, or a combination of multiple columns. Also, the management server 130 may automatically assign an ascending identification number to each group as an identifier.

[0138] The group setting ID 1302 is an ID used to uniquely identify the group setting that is the source of the setting for the target group, and corresponds to the group setting ID 1001 in the group setting table 154.

[0139] The team ID 1303 is an ID used to uniquely identify the team to which the group of users to be allocated to the target group belongs. The cool 1304 represents the number of the cool in which the target group is active. The start date 1305 represents the start date of the period in which the target group is active. The end date 1306 represents the end date of the period in which the target group is active.

[0140] In the example illustrated in FIG. 13, for the group with the group setting ID of Gr_conf#1, it means that two groups, Gr#1 and Gr#2, are generated in the first cool. Similarly, Gr#3 and Gr#4 are generated in the second cool, and Gr#5 and Gr#6 are generated in the third cool.

[0141] The group member table 156 in FIG. 14 is a table that manages the member composition of each group and is registered by the group management unit 141.

[0142] The group member ID 1401 is information used to uniquely identify a group member within the management server 130. The data stored in the group member ID 1401 can be omitted by specifying any one of the columns used in this table or a combination of multiple columns. Also, the management server 130 may automatically assign an ascending identification number as an identifier to each group member.

[0143] The group ID 1402 is an ID used to uniquely identify the group to which the target group member belongs and corresponds to the group ID 1301 in the group table 155.

[0144] The user ID 1403 is an ID used to uniquely identify the target group member and corresponds to the user ID 401 in the user table 150.

[0145] In the example illustrated in FIG. 14, three users belong to the group with the group ID of Gr#1 as group members. By associating the group ID 1402 with the group ID 1301 in the group table 155, information on the member composition and activity period of each group can be obtained.

[0146] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the process performed by the UI providing unit 142 of the control unit 131 of the management server 130. This process is executed from step 311 to step 313 in FIG. 3.

[0147] The UI providing unit 142 determines the group to which the user belongs in the relevant cool in response to a screen display request from the client, and displays a group-exclusive timeline and comments.

[0148] In step 1501, the management server 130 receives a screen display request transmitted from the client 111. One user ID (for example, the user ID of the user who performed the login process on the client 111) is associated with the screen display request.

[0149] In step 1502, the management server 130 identifies the group to which the received one user ID belongs. For example, the user ID received in step 1501 is collated with the group member table 156 to obtain the group ID to which the user belongs.

[0150] In step 1503, the post data of all users belonging to the group identified in step 1502 is filtered and obtained from the post history table 152. In step 1504, the post data obtained in step 1503 is displayed on the group-exclusive timeline of the client 111.

[0151] In this way, the client 111 displays a timeline according to the group and user ID. In particular, in this embodiment, the client 111 displays different timelines according to the group. Thereby, communication is efficiently promoted by specializing in a limited group.

[0152] In step 1505, with respect to each post displayed in step 1503, it is determined based on the action history table 153 whether the person of the user ID received in step 1501 has executed a comment. If there is a post for which the comment has not been executed, the process further proceeds to step 1506, and a comment input field (entry location) dedicated to the user is displayed for the post for which the comment has not been executed and is displayed on the timeline.

[0153] Note that the posted data displayed in step 1504 may be limited to the data posted during the relevant cooling period for display. Also, the posted data for which the user-exclusive comment input field is displayed in step 1506 may be limited to the data posted during the relevant cooling period for display.

[0154] FIG. 16 is an example of a GUI (client screen) showing an example of a group-exclusive timeline and a user-exclusive comment input field displayed on the screen of client 111.

[0155] On this screen, user 110 posts by themselves or comments on the posts of others. A part of this screen is displayed by UI providing unit 142 through the steps as described in FIG. 15.

[0156] Client screen 1600 is an example of a screen displayed after user authentication, and has a logged-in username 1601, a post button 1602, and a timeline 1603. The logged-in username 1601 displays the username associated with the user ID for which user authentication was performed, and is information representing the user. The post button 1602 is a button pressed by logged-in user 110 when using the posting function 117, and a post creation screen or the like is displayed in response to the button being pressed.

[0157] The timeline 1603 displays data posted by a user (the logged-in user or another user). The timeline 1603 includes one or more posts 1606. Also, for each post, the timeline 1603 includes the name of the poster (an example of information representing the user), the post content, the posting time, the number of "like" actions for that post, and the number of comments for that post. Also, when comments exist, the timeline 1603 includes, for each comment, the name of the commenter (an example of information representing the user) and the content of the comment. User 110 can view the posts of other users and perform user-to-user actions such as "like" actions and "comment" actions through this timeline 1603.

[0158] Specific processes for performing "posting", "liking", "commenting", etc. can be appropriately designed by those skilled in the art based on known SNS technologies and the like. As an example, the client 111 receives an input of text as the content of a post and transmits the information shown in FIG. 6 (excluding the post history ID 601) to the management server 130. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, a post is associated with a user ID.

[0159] The management server 130 receives this information, attaches the post history ID 601 to it, and stores it. Also, the management server 130 transmits the content of this post in response to a screen display request from the client, and each client 111 of the users displays the content of the post on the timeline 1603. In this way, the management server 130 receives a post associated with a user ID, generates a timeline based on this post, and displays it on the client 111. In this way, by reflecting and displaying the posts of each user on the timeline, communication is promoted.

[0160] In this way, when the content of a post by another user is displayed on the screen of the client 111, if a user has a favorable impression of the post, the user can input an evaluation of having a favorable impression into the client 111 by performing a predetermined "like" action (such as an operation of clicking on a predetermined area). The client 111 transmits the information shown in FIG. 7 (excluding the action history ID 701) to the management server 130 in response to the "like" action. The management server 130 attaches the action history ID 701 to this information and stores it.

[0161] Also, when the management server 130 transmits the content of the post to the client 111, it refers to the action history table 153, obtains information on the "like" actions for the post, calculates the total number, and transmits it together with the content of the post. The client 111 that receives this displays the total number of "like" actions associated with the post when displaying the post on the timeline 1603.

[0162] The group tab 1604 is a button for switching the display range of the timeline 1603, and is particularly used to switch to a group-exclusive timeline that displays only the posts of the members of the group to which the user 110 belongs.

[0163] When the group tab 1604 is selected, the posts 1606 displayed on the timeline and the user-specific comment input field 1608 are provided by the UI providing unit 142. Also, in relation to the comment input field 1608 (in the example of FIG. 16, immediately above the comment input field 1608), the name of the user using the client 111 (the same as the login user name 1601) is displayed. In this way, the client 111 displays, together with the timeline 1603, information (name) representing the user related to the user ID and the comment input field 1608 for receiving comment input.

[0164] The "comment" action can also be designed in the same way as the above "like" action. However, in the "comment" action, the user can input a text or message as the content of the comment using the comment input field 1608 for the post of another user. The client 111 transmits the information (excluding the action history ID 701) shown in FIG. 7 to the management server 130 in response to the comment action. The management server 130 attaches the action history ID 701 to this information and stores it. Also, when the management server 130 transmits the content of the post to the client 111, it refers to the action history table 153, acquires the comment information for the post, and transmits it together with the content of the post. The client 111 that has received this displays the content of the comment in association with the post when displaying the post on the timeline 1603.

[0165] In addition, in relation to the comment input field 1608, a display prompting the input of comments may be provided. For example, when the user of the client 111 has not yet entered a comment on the post (that is, when no comment associated with the user ID associated with the screen display request has been entered), a message prompting the input of comments is displayed in relation to the comment input field 1608. In the example of FIG. 16, the message "<Let's send support and gratitude>" corresponds to this. By providing such a display, communication between users can be promoted.

[0166] In addition to the group tab 1604, there may be a tab for switching to a timeline where posts of users belonging to the team to which the user 110 belongs can be viewed, or a tab for switching to a timeline where posts of users belonging to the tenant to which the user 110 belongs can be viewed. Also, when the user 110 does not belong to any group, the group tab 1604 may be made unselectable or hidden.

[0167] The group selection pull-down 1605 is used for the user 110 to filter the post data displayed on the group-exclusive timeline. For example, if the user 110 belongs to multiple teams and group settings are registered in each team, the user 110 will belong to multiple groups. Therefore, when the user wishes to view only the posts of a specific group, the pull-down displaying the team name and the cool-down period is selected to display the posts of the corresponding group.

[0168] The post 1606 may include the name of the user who made the post, information regarding the posting timing, and the post content text. The posts 1606 are displayed in chronological order on the timeline 1603, with the most recent post first. The comment 1607 displays the comment content entered by other users in response to the post.

[0169] The user-exclusive comment input field 1608 is an item displayed by the UI providing unit 142, and is displayed when the user 110 has not yet commented on a post by a group member. As an example, the name of the user 110 is displayed in advance, and a message prompting a comment is displayed at the location where the comment of the user 110 is to be displayed.

[0170] In this embodiment, whether to display the comment input field 1608 is dynamically determined. The client 111 does not display the comment input field 1608 when the user 110 has already entered a comment on the post (that is, when a comment associated with the user ID associated with the screen display request has already been entered). By doing so, communication can be efficiently promoted only when a comment has not been entered.

[0171] Also, in this way, by displaying the timeline dedicated to the group to which the user belongs, the user can easily recognize the target users to whom they should send comments to each other, and it becomes easier to view the posts of the target users. Furthermore, when a comment has not been made, by prominently displaying the user-exclusive comment input field, it becomes easier for the user to recognize that a comment has not been made, and it can be expected to promote the writing of comments.

[0172] FIG. 17 shows an application screen which is an example of a GUI for checking the group setting status in the application system 161. On this screen, the administrator 160 checks the list of group settings set in the tenant managed by the administrator himself / herself and the group status in each setting.

[0173] The main screen 1700 is composed of a new creation button 1710, a group setting list 1720, and a group detailed information box 1730.

[0174] The new creation button 1710 is a button that the administrator 160 presses when creating a new group setting. When this button is pressed, the screen switches to the main screen 820 in FIG. 8.

[0175] The group setting list 1720 displays a list of created group settings, allowing the setting details to be confirmed. For example, the ID of the corresponding group setting, the number of participants, the start date, and the end date are displayed. These are displayed when the management server 130 receives a screen display request from the application system 161, and the group status providing unit 145 acquires and displays information such as the group setting table 154. Each group setting may be editable or deletable.

[0176] The detailed confirmation button 1721 is a button for confirming the implementation status of the group setting. By selecting any group setting, the group detailed information box 1730 is displayed.

[0177] The group detailed information box 1730 has a group status list 1731 and cool information 1732. The group status list 1731 displays information such as the member composition and the number of comments of each group in an arbitrary group setting. In the group status list 1731, the management server 130 displays, for each group, the total number of posts of that group (more precisely, the posts related to the user IDs belonging to that group) and the total number of comments on those posts. Also, the total number of "likes" for those posts may be displayed.

[0178] These are displayed when the management server 130 receives a screen display request from the application system 161, and the group status providing unit 145 aggregates and displays information from the group member table 156, the action history table 153, etc. The cool information 1732 indicates the cool that is the target period of the information displayed in the group status list 1731. Other cool can also be selected, and the information displayed in the group status list 1731 may be switched accordingly.

[0179] By displaying this information on the screen, the administrator can use it to review the group settings and to grasp the degree of promotion of communication in each group.

[0180] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail distributed to users belonging to a group in each course. It is distributed when an e-mail is selected in the reminder usage setting 836 of FIG. 8.

[0181] The member notification e-mail 1800 shown in FIG. 18(a) is an example of an e-mail that notifies the member composition to users belonging to each group after group allocation is executed. It is the e-mail distributed in step 309 of FIG. 3. The mail management unit 146 acquires group member information in the relevant course based on the information in the group table 155 and the group member table 156. The mail management unit 146 uses an e-mail to the e-mail address associated with each user ID belonging to the group to send information (such as a name) representing the user associated with each user ID belonging to the group.

[0182] In this way, even when the user is in a non-logged-in state, it is possible to know the group member composition in the relevant course at the timing such as the course start date, and the user can be made aware of communicating with group members.

[0183] The reminder e-mail 1810 shown in FIG. 18(b) describes the posting status of the members of the group to which the user belongs. It is the e-mail distributed in step 316 of FIG. 3. The mail management unit 146 acquires the posting information of group members based on the information in the group member table 156 and the posting history table 152.

[0184] The body text 1812 of the submission email may describe different texts depending on whether the destination user 1811 or group members have made submissions recently. For example, the email management unit 146 transmits, for each group, information indicating whether submissions associated with each user ID belonging to the group have been made within a certain period, using emails to the email addresses associated with each user ID belonging to the group. This "within a certain period" may mean, for example, the time from when the generation process of the group was performed to the current time. In the example of Fig. 18(b), it is shown that Mr. Shiro Takahashi has not made a submission yet, while Ms. Hanako Tanaka has already made a submission. By doing so, it is possible to make non-submitting users aware that they have not submitted and encourage them to submit.

[0185] Also, in the body text 1812 of the submission email, if the destination user 1811 has not made a submission, a message encouraging submission may be described, or if a group member has not made a submission, a message requesting to address the group member may be described. In this way, even when the user is in a non-logged-in state, it is possible to know the submission status of group members, making it easier to self-recognize oversights such as forgetting to comment and promoting communication.

[0186] As described above, based on the settings registered by the administrator, users are automatically assigned to small groups, and through the group-specific timeline, they enter a relationship of sending comments to each other. By belonging to a small group, each user can expect to receive a certain number or more of comments from others, making it less likely for concentration on a specific user to occur. Also, since the person to whom a comment should be sent is automatically determined and the number of such people is limited, the load on the side sending the comment is also reduced. Furthermore, based on the information on the recent communication volume between each user, by preferentially re-assigning users with weak relationships to the same group, it is possible to efficiently eliminate the bias in communication within the organization and promote cross-cutting communication.

[0187] The relationship between the hardware and functions of each computer in the above Example 1 can be changed as appropriate. A person skilled in the art can, for example, transfer any of the functional units shown in FIG. 1 to any of the computers shown in FIG. 1 or to other computers not shown, as appropriate.

Explanation of Signs

[0188] 110…User 114…Control Unit (Processing Unit) 115…Memory Unit 120…User 131…Control Unit (Processing Unit) 132…Memory Unit 164…Control Unit (Processing Unit) 165…Memory Unit 200…Target User Group (Multiple Users) 201…Group 202…Group 210…Lower Limit of Number of People (Reference Value) 220…Group Assignment Process (Group Generation Process) 221…Group Assignment Process (Group Generation Process) 230…First Cool (Certain Period) 231…Second Cool (Certain Period) 308…Step (Group Generation Process) 310…Step (Screen Display Request) 401…User ID 402…User Name (Information Representing User) 403…Affiliated Tenant (Company) 404…Email Address 602…User ID 702…User ID 833…One Cool Period Setting (Certain Period) 835…Lower Limit of Group Size Setting (Reference Value) 1005…One Cool Period (Certain Period) 1007…Lower Limit of Group Size (Reference Value) 1211…Relationship Value Table (User Relationship Information) 1403…User ID 1601… Login username (information representing the user) 1603… Timeline 1606… Post 1607… Comment 1608… Comment input field 1800… Member notification email (email) 1810… Reminder email (email)

Claims

1. An information processing system having a processing unit and a storage unit, wherein the storage unit stores a plurality of user IDs each identifying a corresponding one of a plurality of users, and the processing unit performs group generation processing for classifying the plurality of user IDs into groups based on a predetermined reference value, the type and number of communications, displays a timeline according to the group and the user ID, and displays, together with the timeline, information representing a user associated with the user ID and a comment input field for receiving input of comments on other users belonging to the group, wherein the processing unit calculates a relationship value between the plurality of users, the relationship value increasing as the user-to-user performance between the plurality of users increases, and when users having the relationship value equal to a first value are classified into the same group, the processing unit calculates an evaluation index with a higher evaluation than when users having a second value greater than the first value are classified into the same group, and performs group generation processing for classifying the plurality of user IDs into the groups based on the evaluation index An information processing system.

2. The plurality of users belong to any one of a plurality of affiliated teams, and the group generation processing is executed in units of the affiliated teams. The information processing system according to claim 1.

3. The processing unit receives a screen display request associated with one user ID, identifies a group to which the user ID belongs based on the one user ID, and displays different timelines according to the group. The information processing system according to claim 1.

4. When a comment associated with the one user ID has already been input, the processing unit does not display the comment input field. The information processing system according to claim 3.

5. When no comment associated with the one user ID has been input, the processing unit displays a message prompting input of a comment in relation to the comment input field. The information processing system according to claim 3.

6. The processing unit performs the group generation processing at a predetermined timing. The information processing system according to claim 1.

7. The processing unit For each group, using an email to the email address associated with each user ID belonging to the group, send information representing the users associated with each user ID belonging to the group. The information processing system according to claim 1.

8. The processing unit acquires user relationship information representing the relationships between users. The group generation process is executed based on the user relationship information, and the information processing system according to claim 1.

9. The processing unit receives a post associated with a user ID and generates the timeline based on the post, and the information processing system according to claim 1.

10. The processing unit displays, for each group, the total number of posts associated with the user IDs belonging to the group and the total number of comments on those posts, and the information processing system according to claim 1.

11. The processing unit For each group, using an email to the email address associated with each user ID belonging to the group, send information indicating whether a post associated with each user ID belonging to the group was made within a certain period. The information processing system according to claim 9.

12. A program that causes a computer to function as the information processing system according to claim 1.

13. The information processing system does not display a comment input field for receiving input of comments for users who do not belong to the group related to the timeline, and the information processing system according to claim 1.

14. The processing unit Performs a group generation process of allocating the plurality of user IDs to the group based on the communication performance between the plurality of users.

15. The processing unit Performs a group generation process of allocating the plurality of user IDs to the group based on an evaluation value that evaluates that a relationship value between the plurality of users calculated based on the communication performance between the plurality of users is less than a predetermined threshold.

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