Collaborative Document Polls With Cryptographic Vote Attribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Collaborative online document editors face inefficiencies in collecting user feedback due to excessive data entry and duplication, and existing methods for gathering preferences, such as manual comments or external surveys, can lead to false attribution and resource waste.
Innovation Solution
Implementing interactive poll elements within documents that enforce strict vote attribution integrity and security, using cryptographic digital signatures to verify votes and prevent impersonation, and validate copied elements to ensure traceability and accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If users manually enter comments into the document to indicate preferences, then feedback can be collected, but excessive data entry and duplication of data occur, wasting user time and computer storage resources
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses poll elements that can be copied and pasted between documents while maintaining vote attribution integrity. The poll element is a reusable template that automatically tracks the original voter's identity, eliminating the need for manual comment entry in each document while preserving feedback accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The poll element acts as an intermediary between users and feedback collection. Instead of directly entering comments, users interact with the poll element which automatically records and attributes votes, reducing manual data entry effort and improving feedback collection efficiency.
2Productivity
If users manually specify names and email addresses when completing external surveys, then feedback can be collected, but false attribution of votes occurs and excessive data entry is required
Solution Approach 1:
The poll element maintains a cryptographic link to the original voter's account through copy-paste operations. When a poll element is copied to another document, the system validates that vote state and ensures any votes included are traceable back to their original vote caster, preventing false attribution while enabling efficient feedback collection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual specification of names and email addresses with automated account-based identification. Users are identified through their logged-in account credentials rather than manual entry, and cryptographic signatures verify vote authenticity, eliminating false attribution while reducing data entry burden.
3Adaptability or versatility
If poll elements are copied into different documents without validation, then feedback can be reused, but misrepresentation of survey results occurs and vote attribution integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables copying of poll elements between documents while implementing validation mechanisms. When a poll element is copied, the system confirms that the pasted voting state previously existed within the source document and that any votes are traceable back to their original vote caster, maintaining integrity while enabling reusability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback through cryptographic validation when poll elements are copied. The validation process verifies vote attribution integrity and provides confirmation or rejection signals, preventing misrepresentation of survey results while allowing legitimate reuse of poll elements across documents.
4Reliability
If cryptographic validation is implemented for each vote, then vote attribution integrity is ensured, but computational resources and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary cryptographic validation when poll elements are copied and pasted, rather than validating each individual vote transaction. The validation confirms that the voting state was legitimately created in the source document, establishing trust upfront and reducing subsequent computational overhead for individual vote operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are described herein for implementing collaborative poll elements within a document in a document editing application. A method includes: receiving first user interface input that indicates a first vote, associated with a first user, in an interactive poll element embedded in a first document; determining that the first user interface input is received via a first instance of the document editing application; and in response to determining that the first user interface input is received via the first instance of the document editing application: updating a list of votes associated with the interactive poll element by adding the vote, corresponding to the first user, to the list of votes associated with the interactive poll element; updating a cryptographic digital signature associated with the interactive poll element; and providing the updated list of votes and the updated cryptographic digital signature to each of the plurality of users.