Collaborative activities in on-line commerce

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10997642-B2
Application number	US-202016850543-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 16, 2020
Priority date	May 21, 2009
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

Computer based systems and methods allow collaborative shopping for and/or designing of (e.g., customization) consumer products, such as articles of footwear, apparel, athletic equipment, etc., by plural users using different computing devices. The users' computing devices may be in communication with one another in various manners, such as over networked connections (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), an internet connection, etc.); via peer-to-peer communications; through a common server or combination of servers that establish a communications link; etc.). The various parties may participate in an on-line or other computer communicative session to create and buy customized products. Additionally, user interfaces for providing these collaborative sessions are described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for collaborative designing of a product comprising:
in response to receiving a session request, initiating, by one or more computing devices, a collaborative design session for a plurality of users;
receiving input indicating a selection of the product from a first user of the plurality of users;
enabling multiple users of the plurality of users to provide, during any time period of the collaborative design session, product design input;
receiving, by the one or more computing devices, product design input from one or more of the plurality of users; and
transmitting, to the plurality of users and based on the received product design input, a modified appearance of the product.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a request to join an additional user to the collaborative design session; and
transmitting an invite to the additional user based on the request.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the product design input is received from the one or more of the plurality of users at the same time.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the product design input comprises one or more data packets, the method further comprising:
determining, based on the one or more data packets, whether to accept the product design input from the first user and a second user.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
initiating a first in time modification to the product; and
disregarding, for a predetermined time period, subsequent product design input provided by other users of the plurality of users.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
initiating a last in time modification to the product.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining, based on the plurality of users, a user hierarchy; and
initiating one or more modifications to the product based on the user hierarchy.

8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
initiating, based on product design input provided by the first user, a modification to the product; and
prompting one or more other users, of the plurality of users, to view subsequent modifications to the product.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein received data packet includes at least one of a timestamp, indication of a user providing the product design input, indication of a portion of the product being modified by the product design input, or a data payload indicating a modification to the product.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a recommendation of available design alternatives for the product.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a communication indicating an anticipated effect on a first performance characteristics of the product.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the product comprises at least one of an article of apparel or a piece of athletic equipment.

13. A system for collaborative designing of a product comprising:
an input system configured to:
receive input indicating a selection of the product from a first user of a plurality of users; and
receive product design input from one or more of the plurality of users; and

one or more computing devices comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more computing devices to:
initiate a collaborative design session for the plurality of users;
enable multiple users of the plurality of users to provide, during any time period of the collaborative design session, product design input; and
transmit, to the plurality of users and based on the received product design input, a modified appearance of the product.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more computing devices to:
receive a request to join an additional user to the collaborative design session; and
transmit an invite to the additional user based on the request.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the product design input comprises one or more data packets, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more computing devices to:
determine, based on the one or more data packets, whether to accept the product design input from the first user and a second user.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more computing devices to determine whether to accept the product design input by:
initiating a first in time modification to the product; and
disregarding, for a predetermined time period, subsequent product design input provided by other users of the plurality of users.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more computing devices to determine whether to accept the product design input by:
initiating a last in time modification to the product.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more computing devices are to:
determine a recommendation of available design alternatives for the product.

19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more computing devices to:
generate a communication indicating an anticipated effect on a first performance characteristics of the product.

20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the product comprises at least one of: an article of apparel or a piece of athletic equipment.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Chen Roger D
• Pacholke Timmy L
• Pool Stacey J
• Wood Michael J

Classifications

• G06Q10/40

  Business processes related to social networking or social networking services · CPC title

• G06Q30/0605 Primary

  Pooling transaction partners, e.g. group buying or group selling · CPC title

• G06Q30/0601

  Electronic shopping [e-shopping] · CPC title

• G06Q30/0621 Primary

  by configuring or customising goods or services · CPC title

• G06Q30/0641

  utilising user interfaces specially adapted for shopping · CPC title