Incentive Item Placement for Content Exploration

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Solution Overview

Problem

The challenge lies in effectively presenting a large number of content items to users on electronic devices with limited screen space, as users often select items from the initial interfaces without exploring subsequent ones, leading to reduced exposure to available content.

Innovation Solution

The system generates and presents 'treasure' items among content items based on user interaction data, adjusting their placement and visibility to increase user interaction, using preference factors that change over time to make incentive items more or less challenging to find, thereby encouraging exploration and selection.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Area of stationary object

If content items are presented in limited screen space, then screen area utilization is improved, but user exploration of content items deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvescreen area utilizationVSAvoidcontent exploration

Core Design Contradiction:

Area of stationary objectVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by strategically placing incentive items in the content presentation before the user arrives. Treasure items are pre-positioned at specific locations (e.g., first, middle, or last positions) in the sequence of content items based on predicted user interaction patterns, encouraging users to explore beyond the initial view without requiring additional screen space.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes parameters by dynamically adjusting the placement position and visibility characteristics of incentive items based on user interaction data. The preference factor modifies the probability distribution of where treasure items appear, and the system adapts these parameters over time to optimize both screen utilization and user exploration motivation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Ease of operation

If incentive items are made more visible early on, then user interaction increases, but difficulty of finding incentive items decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser interactionVSAvoidincentive item discovery challenge

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies dynamics by making the incentive item placement adaptive rather than static. The preference factor creates a dynamic probability distribution that evolves based on user behavior - initially placing items more prominently to encourage interaction, then gradually adjusting positions to maintain optimal challenge levels while sustaining user engagement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback loops by monitoring user interaction data and using it to adjust the placement strategy for subsequent incentive items. The preference factor is updated based on whether users discovered and selected treasure items, creating a closed-loop system that balances ease of interaction with appropriate discovery challenge.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS20240095770A1Systems and methods for incentivizing content exploration

Publication Date: 2024.03.21 VALVE CORPORATION

AI summary

There may be large numbers of content items available at current content provider systems. Incentive items may be inserted among content items, for example, associated with content categories, that may reward uses for viewing content items. When incentive items are selected by a user, the user may be associated with credit towards a bonus item or award a bonus item. Incentive items may have associated preference factors that may be manipulated to increase the probability of such incentive items being presented to the user.