Contextual Policy Weighting for Identity Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Identity management systems face challenges in efficiently searching and managing permissions due to large quantities of policies, leading to user frustration and potential misappropriation of permissions, as conventional techniques rely solely on query term matching and lexicographical ordering, which can result in irrelevant policies being displayed at the top.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a weighted policy search system that ranks policies based on context information such as identity information, existing attached policies, related identities, usage history, and browsing history, allowing for more relevant results to be displayed at the top, and providing a policy creation interface with inferred feature suggestions based on search context.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If policies are ordered lexicographically and filtered by query term matching, then the search system is simple to implement, but relevant policies may not be displayed at the top of results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the ordering parameter from simple lexicographical ordering to a weighted ranking system that considers multiple factors including query term matching, policy metadata, identity context, and usage history. This allows relevant policies to be prioritized in search results while maintaining system manageability through structured weighting mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops where usage history and identity context information are continuously fed back into the ranking algorithm. This enables the system to learn from user interactions and improve policy relevance over time, with usage patterns and contextual information influencing future search rankings.
2Loss of information
If all available policies are displayed in search results, then users have complete information, but users must scroll through large quantities of irrelevant policies
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by displaying a prioritized subset of policies at the top of search results based on relevance weighting, rather than showing all policies equally. This allows users to quickly access the most relevant policies without scrolling through the entire list, while still providing access to complete policy information if needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the policy results into priority tiers based on relevance weighting. High-relevance policies appear at the top, followed by medium and lower relevance policies. This segmentation allows users to efficiently find relevant policies in the prioritized section while maintaining access to the complete policy set.
3Device complexity
If conventional query term matching is used, then the search system is easy to implement, but user intent may not be accurately understood
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds another dimension to query processing by incorporating identity context, policy metadata, and usage history into the ranking algorithm. This multi-dimensional approach enables more accurate understanding of user intent beyond simple query term matching, considering the user's role, existing policies, and historical interactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces contextual information as an intermediary layer between the query and the policy results. This intermediary processing layer analyzes identity context, metadata, and usage patterns to bridge the gap between simple query terms and accurate policy matching, improving intent understanding without overly complicating the system.
Data Source
AI summary
An indication to perform a permissions policy search may be received by an interface of an identity management service. A context may be determined associated with the permissions policy search. A plurality of weights for a plurality of permissions policies may be calculated based on the context. An order for display of the plurality of permissions policies may be determined based on the plurality of weights. The plurality of permissions policies may be presented, in a display area within the interface, in the order that is based on the plurality of weights. A selection of a first permissions policy from the plurality of permissions policies may be received by the interface. The first permissions policy may be attached to a first identity based at least in part on the selection of the first permissions policy.