Serialized Objects in Emails for Automated Task Execution
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional email client applications are unable to efficiently automate repetitive tasks, such as replying to emails with specific content or performing actions like opening web addresses, without substantial manual configuration, limiting user productivity and efficiency in handling action-provoking emails.
Innovation Solution
Embedding actionable serialized objects into email messages that can be parsed by the recipient's email client to automatically perform defined tasks, such as generating replies, scheduling follow-ups, or displaying notifications, thereby enhancing user interaction and automation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If conventional email client applications use rules engines for automation, then basic organizational tasks can be assisted, but higher-order repetitive tasks cannot be automated without substantial manual configuration and testing
Solution Approach 1:
The email system performs self-service automation by extracting actionable information directly from email content and automatically executing defined actions without requiring manual configuration or testing by users. The system serves itself by interpreting embedded action indicators and autonomously completing tasks such as scheduling meetings, replying to emails, or opening attachments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by embedding action indicators and contextual information into email messages before they are received. This pre-packaging of actionable data allows the receiving system to immediately execute tasks without requiring subsequent manual configuration, testing, or interpretation by the user.
2Productivity
If email clients manually process each email task, then customization is possible, but user productivity and efficiency are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual processing system with an automated information processing system. Instead of users manually reading and acting on each email, the system uses automated parsing, pattern recognition, and action execution mechanisms to substitute human manual intervention with machine-based processing, thereby increasing productivity and reducing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary automated processing layer between email reception and user action. This intermediary system extracts actionable information from emails, determines appropriate actions, and executes them automatically, serving as a mediator that eliminates the need for direct manual user intervention while maintaining customization capabilities.
3Extent of automation
If actionable information is embedded in emails, then automated actions can be performed, but email protocol complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the nested doll principle by embedding actionable information within the existing email structure. Actionable data, context, and action definitions are nested inside standard email messages as attachments or embedded fields, allowing the email protocol to maintain its familiar outer structure while containing automated execution capabilities within nested layers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves universality by designing an email action system that can handle multiple types of actions (replying, scheduling, opening files, notifying) through a single unified protocol structure. This multi-functional approach allows diverse automated tasks to be executed through the same embedded action framework, reducing overall system complexity despite the added automation capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
A system in which existing email protocols are leveraged to exchange information between two or more client devices. An email includes an embedded serialized object that comprises instructions to inform one or more behaviors of an email client application performed upon receiving the email or at a later time.