Systems and Methods for Presenting a Topic-Centric Visualization of Collaboration Data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017228445-A1
Application number	US-201615040972-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 10, 2016
Priority date	Feb 10, 2016
Publication date	Aug 10, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods disclosed herein present topic-centric visualizations of collaboration data. An example method includes: obtaining a set of topics based on an analysis of collaboration data and displaying an interactive visualization that includes first UI elements that correspond to each topic (first UI elements corresponding to similar topics are positioned close together). In response to receiving a specified time period for the interactive visualization, the method includes: identifying a subset of the plurality of persons that are associated with the specified time period. The method additionally includes: obtaining a first set of connections between the set of topics and the subset and a second set of connections between related persons in the subset. The method further includes: updating the interactive visualization to include second UI elements corresponding to each respective person of the subset and visual representations of each connection in the first and second sets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of presenting a topic-centric visualization of collaboration data that is associated with a plurality of persons, comprising:
at a computing device with a display, one or more input devices, one or more processors, and memory storing one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors:
obtaining a set of topics based on an analysis of the collaboration data;
displaying, on the display, an interactive visualization that includes first user interface elements that correspond to each topic in the set of topics, wherein the first user interface elements are positioned on the display such that first user interface elements corresponding to similar topics are close together;
receiving, via the one or more input devices, a user selection of a specified time period for the interactive visualization;
in response to receiving the user selection of the specified time period, identifying a subset of the plurality of persons that are associated with the specified time period;
obtaining (a) a first set of connections between the set of topics and the subset of the plurality of persons, wherein each connection in the first set of connections is associated with a person-topic similarity score that indicates similarity of a respective person of the subset of the plurality of persons to a respective topic in the set of topics during the specified time period and (b) a second set of connections between related persons in the subset of the plurality of persons, wherein each connection in the second set of connections is associated with a person-person similarity score that indicates similarity of a respective related person of the related persons to a different respective related person of the related persons during the specified time period;
displaying second user interface elements that correspond to each person in the subset of the plurality of persons; and
for each connection in the first set of connections and the second set of connections, updating the interactive visualization to include a visual representation of the respective connection.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of topics are identified based on an analysis of information about the collaboration data, and further wherein the collaboration data is not displayed in the interactive visualization.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the displayed interactive visualization further includes:
a respective burst activity indication for each topic of the set of topics, wherein the respective burst activity indication for a respective topic provides a visual representation of an intensity level of document creation that is associated with the respective topic during the specified time period.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a respective first user interface element for a respective topic is displayed with: (i) an identifier and (ii) a predefined number of topic component terms that are associated with the respective topic.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the identifier is an editable field and the method further comprises:
detecting a selection of the identifier for the respective first user interface element; and in response to detecting the selection of the identifier, allowing a user to input a descriptive name for the respective topic.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a new user selection, via the one or more input devices, to display the interactive visualization for a new time period, distinct from the specified time period; in response to receiving the new request, determining that a respective connection in the first set of connections is associated with an updated person-topic similarity score that is specific to the new time period, wherein the updated person-topic similarity score is distinct from a respective person-topic similarity score that is associated with the respective connection during the specified time period; and moving a respective second user interface element to a new position on the display and updating a respective visual representation of the respective connection based on the new position.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein updating the interactive visualization does not include modifying display positions for the first user interface elements corresponding to each topic in the set of topics.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the new user selection to display the interactive visualization for the new time period is received at a slide-able user interface element.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the collaboration data includes freely-available metadata about a plurality of documents.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the freely-available metadata about the plurality of documents includes, for a respective document of the plurality of documents, author information, a document abstract, a date of publication, a document title, and metadata keywords.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of persons are authors of a plurality of documents included in the collaboration data and each connection in the second set of connections between related persons indicates a relationship between co-authors.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein visual representations of each connection in the first set of connections are displayed in a visually distinct manner within the interactive visualization relative to visual representations of each connection in the second set of connections.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, receiving a user selection of a respective second user interface element that is associated with a respective person of the plurality of persons and, in response to receiving the user selection, displaying links to collaboration data that is associated with the respective person.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the person-topic similarity scores are computed based on the output of an LDA-based model.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein displaying a respective second user interface element for a respective person includes, in accordance with a determination that at least one assigned person-topic similarity score that is associated with the respective person satisfies a person-topic similarity threshold, updating the interactive visualization to include the second user interface element.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein updating the interactive visualization to include a visual representation of a respective connection in the first set of connections includes, in accordance with a determination that an assigned person-topic similarity score that is associated with the respective connection satisfies a person-topic similarity threshold, updating the interactive visualization to include the visual representation of the respective connection.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein updating the interactive visualization to include a visual representation of a respective connection in the second set of connections includes, in accordance with a determination that an assigned person-person similarity score that is associated with the respective connection satisfies a person-person similarity threshold, updating the interactive visualization to include the visual representation of the respective connection.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a respective second user interface element is positioned on the display based on person-topic and person-person similarity scores that are associated with the respective second user interface element.

19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,

Assignees

• Fuji Xerox Co Ltd

Inventors

• Chiu Patrick
• Chen Francine R

Classifications

• G06Q10/40

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

• G06F16/25 Primary

  Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems · CPC title

• G06F16/248

  Presentation of query results · CPC title

• G06Q10/10

  Office automation; Time management · 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