In-App Feedback Extension for Real-Time User Input
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Solution Overview
Problem
Enterprise applications lack a single point of contact for end-users in the production environment to submit feedback, leading to inefficiencies in gathering usability suggestions and visual representations of issues, as existing methods require users to leave the application and use different channels like email or web forums.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that enable end-users to submit feedback directly within the application using an extension, allowing real-time submission of textual and visual feedback, including screen representations, without leaving the application, with central storage and analysis tools, and the ability to rebuild the user's screen for application owners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If end-users use existing feedback channels (email, web forms, web forums), then feedback can be submitted, but users must leave the application and use different programs or media, reducing ease of operation and increasing loss of time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the feedback submission functionality directly into the enterprise application by adding a feedback button and feedback form as components within the application interface. This allows users to submit feedback without leaving the application, combining the application usage and feedback submission into a single integrated workflow, thereby improving ease of operation and reducing time loss.
2Adaptability or versatility
If end-users submit feedback through multiple different channels, then feedback can be collected, but the system complexity increases and there is no single point of contact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal feedback mechanism that can be embedded in any enterprise application through a standardized feedback button and form component. This multi-functional approach allows the same feedback infrastructure to serve multiple applications and purposes, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining adaptability across different contexts.
3Loss of information
If end-users provide visual representation of feedback, then clarity of feedback improves, but the mechanism for transmitting application screen and location is complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses screenshot copying technology to capture the user's current application screen and embed it directly within the feedback form. This creates a visual copy of the screen state that accompanies the textual feedback, significantly improving feedback clarity without requiring complex manual screen transmission mechanisms. The screenshot is automatically captured and attached to the feedback submission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a feedback component as an intermediary element that mediates between the user interface and the feedback collection system. This component automatically captures screen information, identifies the current screen context, and transmits it along with the user's feedback text, simplifying the overall process of providing visual feedback representations.
4Productivity
If feedback is collected in real-time within the application, then productivity improves, but the application requires additional extensions and components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the feedback functionality into distinct, modular components including a feedback button, feedback form, screenshot capture module, and submission handler. This segmentation allows the feedback system to be added as discrete functional units to the existing application, improving productivity through real-time feedback collection while managing application structure complexity through modular design.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for enabling submission of user feedback includes an extension to an application that is configured for execution on a computing system. The extension is for operation with the application and may be invoked during execution of the application in order to submit user feedback on a feature of the application substantially contemporaneously with a presentation of the feature to the user during execution of the application. The extension may visually identify a location of the feature on a user's screen and display on the user's screen textual input, received from the user, concerning the feature.