Graphical Interface for Determining User Preferences
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing music services struggle to effectively determine user preferences for new users, leading to inadequate music suggestions and increased user frustration, as they lack initial listening history or library data to build upon.
Innovation Solution
A graphical user interface is implemented on electronic devices that presents a clustered arrangement of icons representing various music genres or categories, allowing users to interactively indicate preferences by resizing or deleting icons, which are then used to build a user profile and generate personalized music recommendations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If music services use listening history or song library to compile suggestions, then music suggestions become more effective, but new users cannot benefit until they create substantial listening history
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary preference assessment through an interactive graphical interface that presents multiple music items and captures user selections before any listening history is accumulated. This preliminary action establishes a baseline user profile that enables immediate music suggestions rather than waiting for listening history to accumulate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary preference assessment mechanism (the graphical interface with multiple selections) that mediates between the lack of listening history and the need for accurate suggestions. This intermediary process captures explicit user preferences to substitute for the absence of implicit preferences from listening history.
2Measurement precision
If music services wait for users to create substantial listening history, then suggestion accuracy improves, but user frustration increases and retention decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary preference assessment through an interactive graphical interface that presents multiple music items and captures user selections before any listening history is accumulated. This preliminary action establishes a baseline user profile that enables immediate music suggestions rather than waiting for listening history to accumulate.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring user interactions with the graphical interface (selections, modifications, deletions) and using this feedback to refine the user profile in real-time. This feedback loop enables the system to adapt suggestions dynamically, improving user engagement from the first interaction.
3Productivity
If the graphical interface presents multiple icons for user selection, then user preferences can be determined quickly, but the interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the preference assessment into discrete, manageable interactions with individual music item icons. Each icon represents a distinct selection unit that users can independently evaluate, select, or delete. This segmentation breaks down the complex task of building a user profile into simple, rapid icon-based interactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The graphical interface is designed to be dynamic, allowing users to freely add, remove, or modify icon selections during the preference assessment. This dynamic flexibility enables users to express preferences naturally without being constrained by a fixed questionnaire structure, improving both speed and accuracy of preference capture.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques of determining user preferences are described. One embodiment can include a user's electronic device receiving, from a server, icons assigned to a category. The icons may be presented on a display associated with the electronic device. Next, the device may receive inputs via a user interface associated with the device. Each of the inputs may correspond to a selected one of the icons and includes at least one of a plurality of input types. In response to each input, a display status of a selected icon may be adjusted on the display based on the corresponding input type. The display status of each icon indicates a user preference level for the category assigned to the icon. The device can send the user preference levels for the plurality of categories to the server. Other embodiments are also described.