Client Device Inquiry Governance via Cooling-Off Periods

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing software applications face user dissatisfaction due to frequent and uncoordinated feedback inquiries, often triggered by user activities across different components or applications, leading to overwhelming user experiences and inefficient resource utilization.

Innovation Solution

A system dynamically governs the frequency of feedback inquiries by implementing a 'cool-off' duration, prioritization, and classifier-based mechanisms to prevent simultaneous displays of inquiries with the same classifier, ensuring a minimum time gap between successive inquiries and optimizing their display across applications and components.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If multiple feedback inquiries are displayed to solicit user input across different application components, then user feedback collection is improved, but user satisfaction deteriorates due to overwhelming frequency

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefeedback collection efficiencyVSAvoiduser satisfaction

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a cooling-off period mechanism that enforces a minimum time interval between displaying feedback inquiries to the same user. This periodic action prevents continuous or frequent inquiries by introducing a mandatory wait period, thereby resolving the contradiction between collecting feedback efficiently and avoiding user overload.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The system tracks and monitors user exposure to feedback inquiries, using this information to govern future inquiry displays. By maintaining state information about when inquiries were previously shown and applying cooling-off rules based on this feedback, the system dynamically adjusts inquiry frequency to balance feedback collection with user satisfaction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Loss of time

If surveys are displayed immediately after triggering activities, then feedback timeliness is improved, but user experience deteriorates due to frequent interruptions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefeedback timelinessVSAvoiduser experience

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The cooling-off period enforces a minimum time interval between surveys, creating a periodic pattern that prevents back-to-back interruptions. This ensures that even when multiple trigger events occur in succession, surveys are spaced out appropriately, maintaining user experience while still providing timely feedback opportunities within the constraints of the cooling-off period.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-establishes cooling-off period rules and checks them before displaying each survey. By performing this preliminary check against the cooling-off period constraint, the system prevents disruptive sequences of surveys while still allowing timely feedback when appropriate time intervals have elapsed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Productivity

If multiple applications independently display surveys, then individual application feedback is improved, but overall system efficiency deteriorates due to redundant inquiries

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveindividual application feedbackVSAvoidsystem resource utilization

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The cooling-off period mechanism serves as a universal governor that applies across multiple applications and components. This single system-wide rule prevents redundant surveys by any application, as all applications must adhere to the same cooling-off constraints, thereby eliminating wasted resource expenditure on duplicate or overlapping feedback inquiries.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent combines the feedback governance functions across multiple applications into a unified cooling-off period system. Instead of each application independently managing its own survey frequency, the system merges these functions under a common governor that coordinates inquiry displays across the entire application suite, reducing redundancy and improving overall system efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS11455644B2Dynamic governance of exposing inquiries and notifications at client devices

Publication Date: 2022.09.27 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A system to obtain multiple feedback inquiries associated with an application and to ensure that at least a minimum duration passes between successive inquiries being shown to a user. The system may receive dynamic inquiries from an inquiry server that is external to the client device running the application and also receive static inquiries included within computer code of the application. The system may order (e.g., rank) the multiple inquiries according to priority to generate a prioritized inquiry sequence. The system may then refrain from exposing low priority inquiries if higher priority inquiries have yet to be exposed to solicit user input. Individual inquiries can include a classifier to enable the system to determine associations between discrete inquiries and to govern a rate at which groups of associated inquiries are shown to a user.