Mobile Search Refinement via User Profile Pre-filtering

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users face information overload when searching for specific information on mobile devices, as search engines return a plethora of irrelevant results, requiring additional input to refine searches, which can be distracting and time-consuming, especially in situations like driving where minimal input is desired.

Innovation Solution

A method and device that intercepts search requests on mobile communication devices, refines them based on user profiles, and prioritizes search results, adding relevant terms and modifying the display to highlight relevant information, thereby providing more targeted and efficient search results without requiring additional user input.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If search engines return comprehensive search results, then information completeness is improved, but information overload and irrelevance increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenumber of search resultsVSAvoidirrelevant information
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by accessing the user profile before search execution to pre-identify relevant criteria and constraints. This allows the search results to be pre-filtered and prioritized based on user preferences, ensuring that comprehensive results are delivered while eliminating irrelevant information before the user needs to process it.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by customizing search results according to individual user profiles and preferences. Instead of treating all users uniformly, the system tailors the search result presentation to each user's specific needs, highlighting relevant information and suppressing irrelevant content based on stored user preferences and behavior patterns.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Measurement precision

If users provide additional input to refine searches, then search precision is improved, but time consumption and distraction increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesearch precisionVSAvoidtime to refine search
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements self-service by automatically using the user profile to refine search queries without requiring additional user input. The profile contains pre-stored preferences, historical data, and constraints that enable the system to autonomously optimize search results, eliminating the need for users to manually adjust search parameters while maintaining high search precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The user profile is built and maintained in advance through preliminary actions, capturing user preferences and search patterns before actual search queries are executed. This pre-prepared profile enables the system to automatically refine searches in real-time without requiring users to spend time on manual refinement, thus achieving high precision without time loss.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If search results are heavily refined and prioritized, then relevance is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesearch result relevanceVSAvoidsearch refinement system
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The user profile serves as an intermediary component that mediates between the search engine and the user. Instead of making the search engine itself complex, the profile acts as a simple data structure that stores user preferences and constraints, allowing the search system to remain relatively simple while achieving high relevance through the profile's filtering and prioritization capabilities.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

Complex refinement logic is performed in advance during profile creation and maintenance, rather than during actual search execution. By pre-processing and storing user preferences, the system avoids the need for complex real-time calculation during searches, reducing operational complexity while maintaining high result relevance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS8818986B1Onboard advance search refinement
Publication Date: 2014.08.26 T MOBILE INNOVATIONS LLC
  • US8818986B1 patent drawing
  • US8818986B1 patent drawing
  • US8818986B1 patent drawing

AI summary

A method of refining a search comprising receiving, by a mobile communication device, a user input, the user input defining a search request; refining, by the mobile communication device, the search request based on a user profile; sending, by the mobile communication device, the refined search request to a search engine; receiving, by the mobile communication device, a search result from the search engine; displaying, by the mobile communication device, the search result.