Providing task assistance to a user

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11537997-B2
Application number	US-201916516073-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2019
Priority date	Jul 18, 2019
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

An intelligent task assistant program can identify tasks associated with a user over a reporting period based on an analysis of, and inferences drawn from, data associated with one or more personal information programs, such as an electronic calendar application, an electronic reminder application, an electronic collaborative application, and/or an electronic communication application. The task assistant may also prioritize the identified tasks based on content associated with the tasks. Some or all of the prioritized tasks can be provided to an output device for perception by the user.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
determining, by a computing device, scheduled tasks associated with a user in a reporting period from personal information program (PIP) data of the user associated with an electronic calendar application, an electronic reminder application, an electronic contacts application, a collaborative application, or an electronic communication application, wherein the reporting period comprises a time period when the user will be unavailable;
generating, for each task in the reporting period, a priority for the task using a machine learning model based on the reporting period, due date, enterprise data, and content associated with the task, wherein the machine learning model was trained at least in part using PIP data for a plurality of users;
ranking the scheduled tasks based on the generated priorities to generate a set of prioritized tasks for the user during the reporting period; and
providing at least a portion of the set of prioritized tasks to an output device for display to the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
determining, by the computing device, a delegatee for a task based on a request to delegate the task; or
determining, by the computing device, a reschedule date for a task based on a request to reschedule the task.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the task comprises a meeting and the reschedule date is determined based on events in an electronic calendar associated with the user and events in an electronic calendar associated with one or more other attendees to the meeting.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to determining the scheduled tasks associated with the user, determining, by the computing device, the user will be unavailable during the reporting based on the PIP data associated with the electronic calendar application, the electronic reminder application, the electronic contacts application, the electronic collaborative application, or the electronic communication application.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises determining, by the computing device, the reporting period has ended and the user is available based on location data associated with the user.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises determining, by the computing device, the reporting period has ended and the user is available based on the PIP data associated with at least one of the electronic calendar application, the electronic reminder application, the electronic contacts application, the electronic collaborative application, or the electronic communication application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the scheduled tasks associated with the user in the reporting period further comprises determining the scheduled tasks associated with the user in the reporting period based on scheduled tasks associated with a time period prior to the reporting period.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the at least the portion of the set of prioritized tasks comprises causing the at least the portion of the set of prioritized tasks to be displayed in a single user interface on a display screen.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content associated with each task comprises one or more of:
data associated with a structure of an organization associated with the user;
other users associated with the task;
one or more documents associated with the task;
a deadline associated with the task; or
a subject of the task.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the enterprise data associated with the task includes a relationship graph comprising a direct or an indirect association between the user and one or more other users.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reporting period comprises a period of time for which the user is out-of-office.

12. A system, comprising:
a processing device; and
a memory storing instructions, that when executed by the processing device, cause the system to:
determine scheduled tasks associated with a user in a reporting period from personal information program (PIP) data of the user associated with at least one of an electronic calendar application, an electronic reminder application, an electronic contacts application, an electronic collaborative application, or an electronic communication application, wherein the reporting period comprises a time period when the user will be unavailable;
generate, for each task in the reporting period, a priority of the task using a machine learning model based on the reporting period, due date, enterprise data, and content associated with the task, wherein the machine learning model was trained at least in part using PIP data for a plurality of users;
rank the scheduled tasks based on the generated priorities to generate a set of prioritized tasks for the user during the reporting period; and
provide the set of prioritized tasks to an output device for display to the user.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the memory stores further instructions for causing the system to:
determine a delegatee for a task based on a request to delegate the task; and
determine a reschedule date for a task based on a request to reschedule the task.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the memory stores further instructions for causing the system to:
determine, prior to determining the scheduled tasks, the user will be unavailable during the reporting period based on the PIP data associated with at least one of the electronic calendar application, the electronic reminder application, the electronic contacts application, the collaborative application, or the electronic communication application.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the memory stores further instructions for causing the system to determine the user is available based on location data associated with the user.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the memory stores further instructions for causing the system to determine the reporting period has ended and the user is available based on the PIP data associated with at least one of the electronic calendar application, the electronic reminder application, the electronic contacts application, the collaborative application, or the electronic communication application.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein determining the tasks associated with the user in the reporting period comprises determining the tasks associated with the user in the reporting period based on tasks associated with a time period prior to the reporting period.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the content associated with each task comprises:
data associated with a structure of an organization associated with the user;
other users associated with the task;
one or more documents associated with the task;
a deadline associated with the task; or
a subject of the task.

19. A method, comprising:
determining, by a processing device, a plurality of scheduled tasks associated with a user in a reporting period by analyzing personal information program (PIP) data of the user associated with an electronic calendar application, an electronic reminder application, an electronic contacts application, or an electronic communication application, wherein the reporting period comprises a time when the user will be unavailable;
generating, for each scheduled task in the plurality of scheduled tasks in the reporting period, a priority of the task based on the reporting period, due date, enterprise data, and content associated with the task using a machine learning mo

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Vangala Vipindeep
• Jaiswal Prabuddh
• Pande Nitin
• Kumar Nishchay
• Kadiyala Sandeep
• Paladhi Sibabrata
• Oberoi Raunak

Classifications

• G06Q10/103

  Workflow collaboration or project management · CPC title

• G06Q10/1097 Primary

  using calendar-based scheduling for task assignment · CPC title

• G06Q10/10 Primary

  Office automation; Time management · CPC title

• G06Q10/1091

  Recording time for administrative or management purposes · CPC title

• G06Q10/1093

  Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups · CPC title