Proactive Multitask Workflow Module Presentation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users often experience reduced interaction performance and efficiency when engaging in multitask workflows due to ad blindness, as they tend to ignore advertisements and other content irrelevant to their immediate tasks, leading to decreased productivity and focus.

Innovation Solution

A system that proactively identifies likely multitask workflows based on user context and presents relevant, visually enticing modules sourced from multiple authors, allowing for seamless task execution across multiple devices, enhancing user interaction and efficiency by providing tailored, graphically engaging interfaces.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If users manually proceed through each task and manually cycle between tasks, then users can complete multitask workflows, but user interaction performance and efficiency are reduced due to ad blindness and manual cycling

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser efficiencyVSAvoidtime spent on manual task cycling

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system proactively identifies and presents modules for upcoming tasks in the predicted multitask workflow before the user actually needs to perform them. This preliminary presentation of task-related modules allows users to prepare or pre-load information, reducing the time spent manually cycling between tasks and improving overall workflow efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system monitors user interactions with presented modules and uses this feedback to dynamically adjust and refine predictions of the user's multitask workflow. This feedback mechanism allows the system to learn from actual user behavior, improving the accuracy of workflow predictions and the relevance of proactively presented modules, thereby reducing time loss from manual task cycling.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Adaptability or versatility

If advertisements are presented to diverse audiences, then advertisers can reach potential customers, but users experience ad blindness and ignore irrelevant advertisements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadvertising relevanceVSAvoiduser attention

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system tailors the presentation of advertisements and modules to the specific local context of each user's predicted workflow and current task. Rather than presenting generic advertisements to all users, the system adapts content to match the user's immediate needs and context, making advertisements more relevant and less likely to be ignored due to ad blindness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system proactively presents task-relevant modules and advertisements before users encounter them in their natural workflow, when their attention is already focused on the relevant task context. This timing increases the likelihood that users will notice and engage with the content rather than ignoring it as irrelevant.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Adaptability or versatility

If multiple modules from multiple authors are presented to users, then user choice and customization increase, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemodule selection flexibilityVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system introduces an intermediary layer (the prediction and selection mechanism) that manages the complexity of multiple modules from multiple authors. This intermediary proactively identifies the user's workflow, selects the most relevant modules, and presents them in a coordinated manner, shielding users from the underlying complexity while maintaining flexibility in module selection.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from user interactions to continuously refine its selection and presentation of modules from multiple authors. This feedback-driven approach allows the system to manage complexity dynamically, presenting only the most relevant modules based on actual user behavior, thereby maintaining adaptability without overwhelming system or user complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS10303511B2Proactive presentation of multitask workflow components to increase user efficiency and interaction performance

Publication Date: 2019.05.28 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A multitask workflow is proactively identified based upon user context information. For discrete tasks of the multitask workflow, modules directed to such tasks are identified from among other modules also directed to the same task, and are proactively presented to the user. Modules are selected based upon predetermined values associated with such modules, which can be indicative of capabilities, relationships, incentives associated with presentation of the modules to the user, and other like valuations. The modules offer visually enticing experiences to aid the user in performing a task, of the multitask workflow, and thereby increasing the user's interaction performance. Additionally, the modules exchange information to increase user efficiency in performing the multitask workflow. Multiple computing devices associated with a user can execute different modules of the multitask workflow, enabling two or more users to collaborate on the multitask workflow or otherwise research and perform tasks associated with the multitask workflow.