Unified Support Interface Context Mapping Across Applications

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Solution Overview

Problem

End users face challenges in obtaining consistent and integrated support across diverse software applications, leading to inefficiencies in resolving issues and managing transactional tasks due to the lack of a unified user experience and context awareness.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of an integrated support interface, referred to as CoPilot, which provides a unified frontend for business users, connects to multiple software applications, and offers contextual support by mapping user input to support tickets, enabling chats with internal and external support systems, and searching for relevant information, while also providing a floating UI that maintains context across applications.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If multiple separate support systems are used for different software applications, then each application can have its own specialized support, but users face inconsistency and fragmentation in the support experience across applications

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesupport customization per applicationVSAvoiduser experience consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple separate support systems into a single integrated support interface that unifies the user experience across different software applications. The integration layer aggregates support functionality from multiple applications while presenting a consistent interface to users, resolving the contradiction between application-specific customization and cross-application consistency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The integrated support interface serves multiple functions across different software applications through a universal platform. It provides chat support, ticket management, and information retrieval capabilities that work consistently across various applications while adapting to application-specific contexts through the integration layer.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Ease of operation

If an integrated support interface is implemented across multiple applications, then users experience consistency and unified access, but the system complexity increases due to integration requirements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser experience consistencyVSAvoidintegration architecture complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an integration layer as an intermediary component that mediates between the integrated support interface and multiple software applications. This intermediary handles the complexity of connecting to different applications, managing data formats, and coordinating support operations, thereby shielding users from the underlying system complexity while maintaining unified access.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Productivity

If the integrated support interface maintains context across multiple applications, then personalized support is improved, but information management and processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepersonalized support effectivenessVSAvoidcontext information volume

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The integration layer extracts only the essential context information needed for personalized support from multiple applications, rather than managing all possible data. It selectively retrieves application context, user role information, and system state data that are relevant to support operations, reducing the information volume while maintaining personalization effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Productivity

If comprehensive search capabilities are provided across all applications, then information retrieval is improved, but search system complexity and processing time increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation retrieval efficiencyVSAvoidsearch processing time

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the search functionality by organizing support information into structured categories and indexes maintained by the integration layer. Instead of searching through all application data simultaneously, the system divides search queries into targeted searches across different information types (tickets, chat histories, application documentation), improving retrieval efficiency while reducing processing time.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS10540661B2Integrated service support tool across multiple applications

Publication Date: 2020.01.21 SAP SE

AI summary

A system for an integrated support interface across multiple different software applications includes an integrated support user interface, an application connector and a first support integration module. The integrated support user interface includes received user input. The application connector interfaces with multiple different software applications and receives from at least one of the software applications an application context, a user role and a system context. The first support integration module maps existing received user input to at least one support ticket and enables a chat with a user operating on an internal support system and enables a search of a customer support system for information related to the support ticket, the application context, the user role and the system context for display of results from the customer support system on the integrated support user interface. The integrated support user interface displays the results.