Dynamic Contact Ranking by Communication Activity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in accessing frequently used contacts in address books and message archives due to alphabetical ordering, which prioritizes less relevant contacts, making it cumbersome to find important data items.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that reorder contacts and data items based on communication activity, prioritizing contacts with whom the user initiates frequent communication and those with mutual relationships, using a weighted ranking system that considers communication format, recency, and content access rights.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If contacts are arranged in alphabetical order, then contacts are systematically organized and easy to locate by name, but frequently used contacts may appear later in the list requiring more navigation inputs
Solution Approach 1:
The contact list dynamically adjusts its ordering based on usage patterns. Frequently accessed contacts automatically move to the top of the list through communication-based ranking, while less used contacts gradually move down. This dynamic reordering occurs without user intervention, adapting the list structure to evolving contact importance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors communication patterns between the user and contacts, using this feedback to adjust contact ranking. Each communication event provides feedback about contact importance, which is processed to update the contact list order, creating a self-improving system that learns from user behavior.
2Ease of operation
If contacts are arranged alphabetically, then the arrangement is simple and consistent, but it does not reflect the actual importance or frequency of contact usage
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the ordering parameter from alphabetical (static) to communication-based ranking (dynamic). Instead of sorting by contact name, the system sorts by a calculated relevance score derived from communication frequency and patterns, preserving systematic organization while incorporating contact relevance information.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact list transitions from a static alphabetical arrangement to a dynamic ranking system that continuously adapts to user behavior. The ranking is not fixed but evolves based on ongoing communications, allowing the system to maintain organization while reflecting current contact importance.
3Stability of the object's composition
If more navigation inputs are required to access less alphabetically-ranked contacts, then alphabetical ordering is maintained, but user effort and inputs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The contact list order becomes dynamic rather than statically alphabetical. Contacts automatically reposition themselves based on usage patterns, with frequently used contacts rising to the top. This eliminates the need for extensive navigation while maintaining a systematic, adaptive organization that reduces user input requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a system and method for providing an ordered arrangement of data items pertaining to contacts. The order of the arrangement may be determined based on a comparison of ranks of the contacts. An exemplary method comprises registering communications between the user and the contacts. The communications may include active communications originating from the user and terminating at a contact and passive communications originating from a contact and terminating at the user. The exemplary method also comprises determining a rank of a contact based on a comparison of occurrences of the active and the passive communications between the user and the contact.