Geographic Boundary Layer Stitching for Service Area Definition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Providers face difficulties in easily and intuitively defining and communicating geographical areas for service offerings to customers, and there is a need for methods to incentivize users based on service contracts and referrals.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows users to select and define geographical areas by stitching together unique line segments from constituent areas, providing a geographical map interface for display, and offering incentives and referral credits based on the number of customers within those areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If providers manually define geographical areas using traditional user interfaces, then service area selection is possible, but the process is difficult and not intuitive
Solution Approach 1:
The geographical area definition process is segmented into discrete selectable zones displayed on a map interface. Providers can individually select or deselect specific geographical zones rather than manually drawing boundaries, simplifying the operation while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
Pre-defined geographical area templates or boundary data are copied and applied to the service area selection. Instead of creating areas from scratch, providers can select from existing geographical templates or copy boundary definitions, reducing the complexity of the interface and ease of use.
2Loss of information
If geographical areas are displayed to customers, then communication of service areas is achieved, but efficient and effective presentation is challenging
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple geographical boundary data layers are merged into a single composite boundary layer for display. This combines constituent area boundaries into one unified visual representation, reducing information loss while managing display complexity through automated layer integration.
Solution Approach 2:
A boundary layer acts as an intermediary between the raw geographical data and the customer display. This intermediate layer processes and renders boundary information in an optimized format, ensuring clear communication of service areas without overwhelming the interface with raw data complexity.
3Productivity
If providers serve multiple customers in the same neighborhood, then transportation costs and time are saved, but mechanisms to incentivize this behavior are needed
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms that track the number of customers scheduled within each geographical area. When thresholds are met, automatic incentives such as discounts are applied, creating a closed-loop system that encourages providers to consolidate services in specific areas, improving productivity while simplifying incentive management.
Data Source
AI summary
Responsive to receiving an indication of a geographical area, one or more constituent areas associated with the geographical area are identified. Boundary data corresponding to the constituent areas is accessed. The boundary data for each constituent area comprises a plurality of geographical location points defining line segments that define the boundary of the corresponding constituent area. Unique portions of line segments are identified. A unique portion of a line segment is a portion of a line segment defined in the boundary data of one and only one of the constituent areas. The geographical area boundary layer is defined. The geographical boundary layer comprises a set of line segments consisting of the unique portions of line segments. A geographical map is provided for display via a user interface. The geographical map comprises a plurality of layers. The plurality of layers comprise one or more map layer sand the geographical area boundary layer.