Poll-Based Networking System Real-Time User Matching
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing social networking sites do not provide real-time matching of users based on their progressive poll responses, only relying on predefined categories and not utilizing all user data for matching.
Innovation Solution
A poll-based networking system that uses multiple match servers and a match aggregator to compare user responses in real-time, generating a likelihood of match between users based on their answers to multiple polling questions, and displaying profiles of users with a high match percentage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a single centralized matching system is used to compare user responses, then the system logic is simple to implement, but the matching speed and real-time performance deteriorate due to processing bottlenecks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the user database into multiple segments, with each match server responsible for a specific segment. When a user answers polls, the system splits the matching task across multiple match servers (e.g., match server 1, match server 2) that simultaneously compare the user's responses against their assigned segments. This segmentation enables parallel processing, dramatically improving matching speed while distributing system complexity across modular components.
2Measurement precision
If all user poll responses are stored and compared in real-time, then the matching accuracy improves, but the processing time and computational resources worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-generates compatibility scores or indices for users based on their poll responses and stores them in advance. When a user answers new polls, the system performs rapid comparison against pre-processed data rather than recalculating all matching criteria from scratch. This preliminary action maintains high matching accuracy by considering all user responses while dramatically reducing real-time processing time.
3Productivity
If multiple match servers are deployed to improve matching speed, then the real-time connection capability improves, but the system complexity and coordination overhead worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a match aggregator as an intermediary component that coordinates between multiple match servers. The match aggregator receives poll responses, distributes them to appropriate match servers, collects the matching results, and aggregates them into final compatibility scores. This intermediary layer simplifies the complexity of managing multiple servers by providing a unified interface and centralized coordination logic, while still enabling parallel processing for high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Described is a poll-based networking system. The system provides an on-line network of friends that are determined through polling each of the users. This system polls a user with a variety of questions. After providing an answer to each question, the system compares, in real-time, the current user's responses with all other users' responses to identify those users that most similarly answered the questions to that of the current user. As the current user progressively answers additional questions, the system progressively updates the matching and presentation of similar users. As such, as the current user navigates the website by answering polling questions, the selected answers are compared against the selected answers of other users to generate a likelihood of match between the user and each of the other users. The user profiles of other users that have a likelihood of match within a predetermined threshold are then presented.