Visualizing forecast data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016104176-A1
Application number	US-201514689013-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 16, 2015
Priority date	Oct 11, 2014
Publication date	Apr 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, systems, apparatus, and machine-readable media facilitate visualizing forecast data in a user device. In a device associated with a user, a method is implemented to collect, summarize and display data reported for a user in a summary format according to certain preferences. The method overlays the data in the summary format with a graphical overlay associated with a forecast of the data. Overlaying the data facilitates viewing and interpreting the reported data at a glance, the overlay providing a comparison between the reported data and a forecast represented by the graphical overlay. The method may further include interacting with the displayed data and graphical overlay to adjust/override the forecast. Corresponding methods, systems, apparatus, and machine-readable media for visualizing forecast data can be implemented in servers supporting the user device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for visualizing forecast data, the method comprising:
retrieving a configuration, the configuration identifying one or more categories of data and a forecast related to the one or more categories; collecting reported data; ordering the collected data by category; displaying the ordered data by category in a summary format; and overlaying the displayed data with a graphical overlay representing the forecast, the graphical overlay revealing at a glance whether the reported data meets or exceeds the forecast.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the identified category is sales opportunities; the reported data is any one of sales opportunity revenue and sales opportunity quantity; and the forecast is a quota of any one of sales opportunity revenue and sales opportunity quantity.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical overlay is subdivided at a first point representing the forecasted quota and at a second point representing the reported data, the method further comprising receiving a user input to adjust the forecasted quota represented by the graphical overlay.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the user input to adjust the forecasted quota represented by the graphical overlay is to move a location of the first point subdividing the graphical overlay to a location on the graphical overlay that represents the adjusted quota.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the user input to adjust the forecasted quota represented by the graphical overlay is to:
enter one of a revenue and a quantity, the entered one of the revenue and the quantity to adjust the forecasted quota represented at the first point subdividing the graphical overlay; and change a display of the location on the graphical overlay to a location that represents the adjusted quota.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more identified categories correspond to a plurality of stages of a life cycle through which a sales lead progresses from a prospective customer to a customer; the reported data is sales leads at each stage of the life cycle; and the forecast is a quota of sales leads at each stage of the life cycle.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
collapsing the reported data into multiple categories representing the stages of the life cycle; displaying the multiple categories of data in a summary format; and overlaying the displayed summary format of the data with a graphical overlay subdivided to represent the forecasted quota of sales leads at each stage of the life cycle, the graphical overlay revealing at a glance the progress toward meeting or exceeding the forecasted quota of sales leads at each stage of the life cycle.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving a user input to interact with the subdivided graphical overlay to select one of the plurality of stages of the life cycle; and displaying one or more sub-categories of reported data for the selected stage, the subdivided graphical overlay revealing at a glance how the collapsed reported data of the selected stage breaks down into sub-categories of reported data, the sub-categories of reported data displayed in a detailed format.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving a user input to adjust the forecasted quota of sales leads for one of the stages of the life cycle represented by the subdivided graphical overlay.

10 . A system for visualizing forecast data, the system comprising:
a configuration stored in a memory, the configuration identifying one or more categories of data and a forecast related to the one or more categories; a data source from which reported data is collected; a display interface on which to view the reported data; a processor for generating summaries and visualizations of the reported data for display on the display interface in accordance with the configuration, wherein generating the summaries and visualizations include: collecting reported data; ordering the collected data by category; displaying on the display interface the ordered data by category in a summary format; and overlaying the displayed data with a graphical overlay representing the forecast, the graphical overlay revealing at a glance whether the reported data meets or exceeds the forecast.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the identified category is sales opportunities; the reported data is any one of sales opportunity revenue and sales opportunity quantity; and the forecast is a quota of any one of sales opportunity revenue and sales opportunity quantity.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the graphical overlay is subdivided at a first point representing the forecasted quota and at a second point representing the reported data, the method further comprising receiving a user input to adjust the forecasted quota represented by the graphical overlay.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the user input to adjust the forecasted quota represented by the graphical overlay is to move a location of the first point subdividing the graphical overlay to a location on the graphical overlay that represents the adjusted quota.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the user input to adjust the forecasted quota represented by the graphical overlay is to:
enter one of a revenue and a quantity, the entered one of the revenue and the quantity to adjust the forecasted quota represented at the first point subdividing the graphical overlay; and change a display of the location on the graphical overlay to a location that represents the adjusted quota.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the one or more identified categories correspond to a plurality of stages of a life cycle through which a sales lead progresses from a prospective customer to a customer; the reported data is sales leads at each stage of the life cycle; and the forecast is a quota of sales leads at each stage of the life cycle.

16 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising:
collapsing the reported data into multiple categories representing the stages of the life cycle; displaying the multiple categories of data in a summary format; and overlaying the displayed summary format of the data with a graphical overlay subdivided to represent the forecasted quota of sales leads at each stage of the life cycle, the graphical overlay revealing at a glance the progress toward meeting or exceeding the forecasted quota of sales leads at each stage of the life cycle.

17 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising:
receiving a user input to interact with the subdivided graphical overlay to select one of the plurality of stages of the life cycle; and displaying one or more sub-categories of reported data for the selected stage, the subdivided graphical overlay revealing at a glance how the collapsed reported data of the selected stage breaks down into sub-categories of reported data, the sub-categories of reported data displayed in a detailed format.

18 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising:
receiving a user input to adjust the forecasted quota of sales leads for one of the stages of the life cycle represented by the subdivided graphical overlay.

19 . An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium having content stored thereon, which when executed, cause a machine to perform operations including:
retrieving a configuration, the configuration identifying one or more categories of data and a forecast related to the one or more categories; collecting rep

Assignees

• Salesforce Com Inc

Inventors

• Kama Alon

Classifications

• G06Q30/0202 Primary

  Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/0481

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title