Unified Tabular Interface for Benefits Plan Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current human capital management systems face complexity in managing and validating benefits plans, particularly in complying with statutory calculations and handling benefits across assignments, leading to cumbersome plan design and object hierarchies that require intricate understanding and linking of multiple screens.
Innovation Solution
A system with a tabular user interface that validates and displays the configuration of benefits plans by comparing plan elements and relationships to a template, providing a clear and intuitive interface for administrators to understand and manage complex plan structures without requiring intimate knowledge of the underlying application interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple screens and separate linking screens are used to create and link plan objects, then the system provides detailed control over plan configuration, but the user interface complexity and difficulty of understanding increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the plan object creation interface and the linking interface into a single unified screen. This allows benefits specialists to configure plan objects and define relationships between them in one integrated view, eliminating the need to navigate between multiple screens and reducing interface complexity while maintaining detailed control capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The unified screen serves multiple functions simultaneously: it allows creation of plan objects, configuration of object properties, and definition of relationships between objects. This multi-functional approach replaces the previous separate screens for each task, making the system easier to use while providing comprehensive control
2Manufacturing precision
If benefits specialists must understand the order of object creation and linking, then precise plan configuration is achieved, but the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The unified screen presents all plan objects and their relationships in a single view from the beginning, allowing benefits specialists to see the complete plan structure immediately without needing to understand or follow a specific creation sequence. The interface displays the hierarchical relationships visually, enabling users to configure plans intuitively without prior knowledge of the required object creation order
Solution Approach 2:
The unified screen acts as an intermediary that automatically manages the complex relationships and ordering requirements between plan objects. It provides a visual representation and automated handling of the configuration logic, freeing users from needing to understand the underlying sequence dependencies while maintaining precise configuration control
3Reliability
If complex plan designs with multiple objects are created to meet statutory requirements, then compliance capability improves, but the time required for validation and error identification increases
Solution Approach 1:
The unified screen provides immediate visual feedback through indicators that show the validity status of plan relationships. Benefits specialists can quickly identify configuration errors and validation issues directly on the screen without separate validation steps, enabling rapid correction of problems while maintaining complex compliant plan structures
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods provide a tabular interface for validating and analyzing a benefits plan. The tabular interface illustrates how various parts of a benefits plan may be configured or must be configured, and shows the relationships between those elements. One embodiment allows benefits plan administrators to easily and quickly understand the different elements that need to be created, which elements are mandatory, and where these elements should be linked together. Thus, a starting point is provided to users to analyze what elements should be created to meet plan requirements, and how these elements should be configured.