Digital Magazine Server Time Segmentation for Dynamic Content

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing digital content recommendation systems fail to provide users with meaningful content relevant to their interests at specific times due to their inability to detect and adapt to dynamically changing user interests and diverging content topics, often relying solely on past interactions without considering time-based patterns.

Innovation Solution

A digital magazine server logs user interactions, segments time into customizable periods based on reading habits, and ranks topics of interest for each period, predicting likely topics of interest for users and presenting personalized content based on these patterns.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If conventional recommendation techniques are used that rely solely on past user interactions, then the system can provide personalized content recommendations, but the recommendations fail to capture dynamically changing user interests and time-based patterns

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadaptability to dynamically changing user interestsVSAvoidloss of time-based interaction patterns

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the day into multiple time periods (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening) and analyzes user interactions within each segment separately. This allows the system to capture time-based patterns and dynamically changing interests by treating different time periods as distinct analytical units rather than aggregating all interactions uniformly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts topic rankings based on the specific time period being analyzed. Instead of using static historical averages, the patent computes time-specific topic rankings that reflect user interests at different times of day, enabling the recommendations to adapt to dynamically changing preferences throughout the day.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Ease of operation

If manually curated cover pages are used to present content of interest to users, then the system can provide personalized content selection, but the curated pages fail to accommodate dynamically changing interests and diverging topics

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of content curationVSAvoidadaptability to diverging content topics

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces static manual curation with dynamic automated topic ranking that adapts to changing user interests. The system computes topic rankings based on recent user interactions within specific time periods, allowing the content selection to automatically adjust to diverging topics and evolving preferences without requiring manual re-curation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs self-service content curation by automatically analyzing user interactions and generating personalized topic rankings. Instead of relying on manual curators to keep up with changing interests, the patent enables the system to autonomously adapt its content recommendations based on real-time interaction patterns.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Device complexity

If the system analyzes user interactions without time segmentation, then the processing is simpler, but the system cannot predict likely topics of interest at specific times

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecomplexity of time segmentation processVSAvoidprecision of topic interest prediction

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces time segmentation as a structured approach to dividing the analysis period into meaningful segments. By segmenting the day into time periods and analyzing interactions within each segment, the system achieves precise topic interest prediction for specific times while maintaining manageable processing complexity through systematic organization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary analysis by pre-computing topic rankings for each time period based on historical interactions. This preliminary action organizes the data in advance, making the actual recommendation process more efficient and reducing the computational burden during real-time operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS10152547B2Pattern matching for content in digital magazine

Publication Date: 2018.12.11 FLIPBOARD INC

AI summary

A digital magazine server logs user interactions with content provided by the server, including the topic of the content and time of the interaction by the user. For each user of the server, the server segments the time interval (e.g., a day) of the user's interactions with content into time periods, e.g., fixed time periods or automatically determined time periods, and ranks topics of interest for each time period. The server also obtains a list of topics that each user interacted with each day. The digital magazine server uses a time segmentation module based on content interaction data and associated timing information from the users of the server. Upon receiving a request for content from a user, the digital magazine server ranks the content for display to the user based on the match between the content and the ranked topics for the user during the current time associated with the request.