Instant Messaging Contact List Persistent Data Updates
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Users of instant messaging services face annoyance and information retention issues due to frequent updates from service-providing applets, as prior messages are not easily accessible and may be forgotten, leading to a need for improving the user experience in conveying information.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that enable client-controlled information to be persistently conveyed to users, allowing data services to update contact lists with relevant information, such as share prices or weather reports, without interrupting the user, by using applets associated with instant messaging services to render client-controlled information available for continuous observation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If applets send frequent instant message updates to users, then users receive timely information about data services, but users experience annoyance and information retention difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves information display from the temporary instant messaging dimension to the persistent contact list dimension. Contact lists are permanently stored in the user's instant messaging client, allowing information to be displayed continuously without requiring repeated message transmissions. This dimensional shift from transient messages to permanent contacts resolves the contradiction between timely information delivery and user annoyance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the applet's information within the user's contact list. Instead of repeatedly sending the same information via instant messages, the system copies relevant data (such as stock prices, weather information) into the user's persistent contact list, where it remains continuously accessible without requiring further transmissions.
2Loss of information
If prior instant messages are made accessible for review, then users can recall information, but message accessibility and retrieval complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by proactively adding applet information to the user's contact list before the user needs to retrieve it. This eliminates the need for users to search through message history, as the information is already positioned in an easily accessible location (the contact list) where it can be viewed at any time without retrieval operations.
3Reliability
If contact lists are updated with data service information, then users can continuously monitor information, but applet and contact list complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the contact list multi-functional by using it not only for storing contact information but also for displaying data service information. This universal approach allows a single existing structure (the contact list) to serve multiple purposes: maintaining contact relationships and providing continuous information display, thereby avoiding the need for additional complex structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of contact list entries by adding data service information fields to existing contact structures. Instead of creating a entirely new complex system, the approach modifies existing contact list parameters to include additional information types, allowing continuous monitoring while maintaining compatibility with the original contact list structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A method comprising: providing a first client of an instant messaging service, the first client enabling a data service; receiving a request for the data service from a second client of the instant messaging service; and rendering client-controlled information regarding the first client available for persistent conveyance to the second client, the client-controlled information regarding the first client including data related to the data service. This allows a user associated with the second client to become aware of the data in a non-intrusive manner.