Role-Agnostic Interaction Management for Real-Time Workflow Sequencing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional document collaboration tools lack the ability to manage interactions and sequence workflows effectively in real-time, particularly for multiple users with varying roles, leading to inefficiencies and the need for complex, time-consuming workflow creation and management processes.
Innovation Solution
A role-agnostic interaction management system that embeds within a document editor to dynamically generate permissions and sequence workflows based on user interactions, allowing for real-time management of permissions and workflow sequencing independent of user roles, and providing a unified dashboard for tracking and displaying document interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional document collaboration tools are used, then basic document sharing and commenting are enabled, but real-time workflow sequencing and interaction management are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges workflow management, permission control, and document collaboration into a single integrated system. The interaction management system combines multiple functions (workflow sequencing, permission generation, interaction tracking) into one unified platform, eliminating the need for separate external tools and reducing overall system complexity while improving collaboration efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The interaction management system is designed as a universal platform that handles multiple types of user interactions (comments, approvals, edits, delegations) and various workflow stages within a single system. This multi-functional approach allows the system to manage diverse collaboration scenarios without requiring separate specialized tools, thereby reducing complexity while maintaining high productivity.
2Reliability
If role-based workflow creation is implemented, then user permissions are controlled, but workflow creation becomes time-consuming and requires substantial effort
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically generating permissions and sequencing workflows based on pre-defined templates and interaction patterns. When a user initiates a document collaboration, the system proactively sets up the workflow structure and permission framework in advance, eliminating the need for manual, time-consuming workflow creation while maintaining reliable permission control.
Solution Approach 2:
The interaction management system enables self-service workflow creation by allowing users to define their own interaction sequences and permission rules directly within the platform. The system automatically captures user interactions and converts them into structured workflows without requiring external intervention or complex configuration, thereby reducing workflow creation time while ensuring proper permission management.
3Adaptability or versatility
If external workflows are used for additional permissions, then user access is extended, but tool integration and maintenance become burdensome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates external workflow functionality directly into the document collaboration platform. By merging permission management and workflow sequencing into the core system, the platform eliminates the need for separate external tools while maintaining flexible permission control. This integration reduces system complexity by removing multiple connection points and maintenance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The interaction management system provides universal permission control that handles various access scenarios (viewing, editing, approving, delegating) within a single unified framework. This multi-functional permission system replaces the need for multiple specialized external tools, thereby maintaining adaptability and versatility while reducing integration complexity and maintenance burden.
4Ease of operation
If permissions are applied to the entire document, then control is simplified, but region-specific control and collaboration freedom are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments document permissions by region or section, allowing different permission sets to be applied to different parts of the same document. This segmentation enables fine-grained control where specific users can have different access levels for different document regions, thereby maintaining ease of operation through structured permission management while increasing collaboration flexibility through region-specific controls.
Solution Approach 2:
The interaction management system implements local quality by applying customized permission rules to specific document regions based on local collaboration needs. Each region can have its own set of allowed interactions and user permissions, allowing the system to maintain overall simplicity while providing localized flexibility for different collaboration scenarios within the same document.
5Reliability
If collaborators are forced to respond within controls, then compliance is enforced, but modification freedom and innovation are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic permission controls that adapt based on workflow stage and user role. Controls are not static but evolve throughout the collaboration process, allowing collaborators to modify certain aspects of the document as the workflow progresses. This dynamic approach maintains compliance with essential controls while providing freedom for modifications and innovations at appropriate stages.
Solution Approach 2:
The interaction management system establishes preliminary controls that define the framework for collaboration, but these controls are designed to be progressive rather than restrictive from the start. The system sets initial boundaries for compliance while allowing collaborators to expand and modify their work within and beyond these boundaries as the workflow evolves, thereby maintaining both compliance and collaboration freedom.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an interaction management system (IMS) embedded into a document editor/publisher define codified decision rules associated with actions, manage interactions, and automatically sequence a workflow independent of a participant's role from a live document in real time. The IMS generates an actionable element for execution of a response action(s) to a request action, by another participant(s) invoked in the live document. Using the codified decision rules, the IMS dynamically generates a permission set for the live document, comments, and regions within the live document. The IMS contextually anonymizes the participants invoked to act on the live document based on an anonymity requirement. The IMS tracks and maps the actions performed along the interaction path of the live document in real time, while transmitting and executing the permission set, until the live document reaches an intended closure and the comments reach a resolution to generate a re-deployable workflow sequence.