Relational Database for Web Calculator Data Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic commerce web sites fail to save customer data entered into calculators for future use and do not allow data sharing between different calculators, leading to repetitive questions for customers and inadequate analysis by customer service representatives.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a relational database to collect, manage, and share data generated by users across multiple calculators, allowing data to be saved and searched for future use, and enabling data mining for marketing purposes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If data is not saved between calculator sessions, then customer service representatives can analyze customer needs in real-time, but customer time is wasted repeating information and data cannot be shared across calculators
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically saving calculator input and output data to a database during the customer's session. This preliminary data capture eliminates the need for customers to repeat information later, resolving the time loss problem while preserving all calculator data for future retrieval and analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
A database serves as an intermediary between multiple calculators and the customer's browser. The database stores and retrieves data, enabling seamless data sharing across different calculators without requiring direct connections between them. This intermediary solution preserves information while enabling efficient data access.
2Ease of operation
If calculator data is not shared between calculators, then each calculator remains simple and independent, but customers must answer the same questions multiple times and data cannot be utilized across different tools
Solution Approach 1:
The database acts as an intermediary that handles all data sharing operations between calculators. Each calculator independently stores data to the database using standard web technologies, avoiding direct calculator-to-calculator complexity. This approach improves ease of operation by enabling seamless data sharing while keeping individual calculators simple and independent.
Solution Approach 2:
The database provides universal data storage and retrieval capabilities that serve all calculators on the website. This multi-functional system allows any calculator to store and retrieve data needed by any other calculator, improving customer interaction efficiency without requiring complex point-to-point data sharing arrangements between individual calculators.
3Productivity
If calculator data is not stored, then the system remains simple and fast, but customer service representatives cannot analyze customer needs and marketing opportunities are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The database serves as an intermediary that automatically captures and stores calculator data without adding complexity to the calculator logic itself. Customer service representatives can query this stored data to analyze customer needs, improving productivity while the database handles all the complexity of data management, retrieval, and analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by automatically saving and organizing calculator data in the database without requiring manual intervention. This automated data capture and storage mechanism improves customer service efficiency by making data immediately available for analysis while keeping the data management system simple through automatic rather than manual processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of sharing user data with a plurality of web-based financial calculators includes obtaining a user request for a selected web-based financial calculator from the plurality of web-based financial calculators and identifying at least one input data element required by the selected web-based financial calculator. The method also includes searching a relational database, storing data shared by the plurality of web-based financial calculators, for the at least one identified input data element and determining whether there are any values in the relational database for the at least one identified input data element that are associated with the user. The method further includes populating the at least one identified input data element in the selected web-based financial calculator with a value associated with the user for the at least one identified input data element and providing the selected web-based financial calculator to the user.