Sender-Defined Email Categorization Rules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current email categorization methods are inefficient as they rely on basic metadata and do not consider the context of emails, leading to incomplete categorization and increased unwanted emails, with senders not having a role in the categorization process.
Innovation Solution
A sender-driven framework that allows senders to define rules that refine email categorization at the receiving end by adding contextual information, enabling automatic categorization based on these rules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If basic metadata and data/contents of mails are used for mail categorization, then the categorization process is simple, but the context of emails is missed leading to incomplete categorization
Solution Approach 1:
The sender pre-defines categorization rules and contextual information at the time of sending the email. This preliminary action allows the receiving end to automatically categorize emails accurately without complex real-time analysis, as the categorization logic is already prepared in advance by the sender who understands the context best.
2Productivity
If numerous rules are defined to include more mails in target folders, then more emails are captured, but the risk of inviting unwanted emails increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sender-defined rules as feedback mechanisms that guide automatic categorization. Instead of continuously adding rules at the receiving end, the sender provides feedback in the form of pre-defined categorization rules that accurately reflect their intent, reducing the need for numerous rules and minimizing false positives.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter of rule definition from receiver-side manual rule creation to sender-side automated rule application. This parameter change allows for more precise categorization with fewer rules, as the sender has better contextual understanding of what constitutes relevant versus unwanted emails.
3Ease of operation
If manual mail categorization is performed, then emails can be sorted into folders, but it consumes time and effort
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service automatic categorization where emails are automatically sorted into appropriate folders based on sender-defined rules. This eliminates the need for manual intervention in the categorization process, providing ease of operation without consuming the recipient's time and effort.
4Measurement precision
If the sender defines rules for email categorization, then categorization accuracy improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The email system itself acts as an intermediary that automatically applies sender-defined rules for categorization. This intermediary function handles the complexity of rule management and application, allowing senders to define simple intent-based rules while the system manages the complexity of rule processing and execution automatically.
Data Source
AI summary
A sender-driven framework for enhancing the categorization of emails, wherein the sender is able to create or define rules that refine or augment those at the receiver's end. Particularly, the sender is enabled, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, to add information relating to the context of an email, which can help streamline categorization at the receiver's end.