Context-Specific Instant Messaging via Object-Linked Phrases
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Solution Overview
Problem
Enterprise software typically invokes generic chat sessions, requiring users to specify context and purpose, which can be inefficient, and recipients spend time identifying message context due to lack of context-specific communication.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that invokes message sessions based on user actions related to specific object types, displaying context-specific phrases for selection, allowing users to communicate efficiently within their environment by linking messages to relevant objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a generic chat session is invoked without context, then the communication channel is established quickly, but the user must manually specify the purpose and context of the chat
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically detecting the user's current context (such as the document being viewed or calendar event being examined) and pre-populating the chat message with relevant context information before the user sends it. This eliminates the need for users to manually specify context, thereby improving communication efficiency while reducing the time spent on context specification.
2Ease of operation
If context information is included in every message, then the recipient understands the message intent quickly, but the message structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary component that automatically extracts and attaches relevant context information (such as document snippets or event details) to messages based on the user's current activity. This intermediary handles the complexity of context integration transparently, allowing recipients to understand message intent quickly without requiring users to manually structure complex messages with embedded context.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for context-specific instant messaging are presented. A user views a page of data that is segmented into regions. The user performs a user action and, in turn, a message generator displays context-specific phrases for the user to select based upon the region that the user action was performed and a corresponding object type. When a region corresponds to a meeting time, a context-specific phrase may also be time-sensitive. When a region corresponds to meeting participants, a context-specific phrase may include recipient identifiers. The user selects one of the context-specific phrases, and the message generator invokes a message session between the user and a recipient based upon the selected context-specific phrase. The message generator includes a link to the corresponding object such that the message recipient may easily identify the context of the message.