Notification System for Collaborative Record Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to effectively notify users of modifications to family tree or research records in a dynamic manner, especially in large datasets, and often overwhelm users with irrelevant information, while also lacking privacy controls for users who do not want their modifications publicized.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that allow users to interact with records, identify and notify relevant users based on existing or predicted relationships, using a scoring system to determine relevance and maintaining user privacy settings, with the ability to update node characteristics and notify users of changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If all modifications to records are notified to all users who accessed the record, then complete information dissemination is achieved, but users are overwhelmed with irrelevant information and system resources are overburdened
Solution Approach 1:
The notification system applies local quality by differentiating notification delivery based on user characteristics. Instead of uniformly notifying all users, the system evaluates individual user relationships to the record (e.g., family relationship strength, research activity level) and selectively notifies only those users for whom the modification is relevant. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining information completeness for interested users while reducing noise for others.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial action by notifying only a subset of users rather than all users. The notification is partially applied based on relevance scoring, where only users exceeding a certain relevance threshold receive notifications. This reduces system burden and information overload while ensuring that sufficient information reaches the right users.
2Loss of information
If modifications are made public to all users, then transparency is improved, but users who wish to keep their modifications private cannot do so
Solution Approach 1:
The notification system segments users into different groups based on their relationship to the modified record and their privacy preferences. Users are divided into those who receive notifications and those who do not, based on segmented criteria such as family relationship closeness, research collaboration status, and explicit privacy settings. This allows transparency for interested users while protecting privacy for others.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts notification delivery based on user preferences and context. Users can dynamically change their privacy settings and notification preferences, and the system adapts its behavior accordingly. This dynamic approach allows users to control their privacy while maintaining transparency when appropriate.
3Measurement precision
If a comprehensive tracking system is implemented to monitor all user interactions with records, then complete modification tracking is achieved, but system complexity and resource requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential information needed for notification decisions rather than tracking all possible interaction details. It focuses on capturing key events (modifications, deletions, additions) and essential user-record relationships, discarding extraneous data. This extraction approach maintains tracking accuracy for notification purposes while reducing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing user relationships with records before modifications occur. It pre-calculates relevance scores and establishes notification preferences in advance, so that when a modification occurs, the system can quickly determine who to notify without complex real-time analysis. This preliminary setup reduces the complexity of real-time tracking.
4Loss of information
If the system notifies users of all potential modifications, then information completeness is improved, but relevant information becomes difficult to recognize due to information overload
Solution Approach 1:
The notification system applies local quality by tailoring the information delivered to each user's specific interests and relationships. Instead of generic notifications, the system provides customized notifications that highlight only the aspects of modifications relevant to each user (e.g., notifying a genealogist about family tree changes but not about unrelated record updates). This improves information recognition ease while maintaining completeness for relevant users.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments relate to methods and systems for building representations of related subjects. The representations may include a plurality of nodes, each being associated with a subject. Users may be able to access records and/or source documents related to a plurality of subjects and add or modify node characteristics based thereon. Users may interact with (e.g., by adding to or modifying) documents, files, and/or records and may also make other changes or additions to nodes in the system. A process may then identify what other users may be interested in such interaction and why. For example, a score may be associated with the interaction and other users based on factors such as whether the users have linked to the document, file or record and/or the node the interaction may apply to. Interacting users, identified users, and interaction details may be stored in a database. Identified users may be notified of the interaction.