Patent Application
20170255455
The present invention generally relates to customizing software feature availability, and more particularly, to automatically customizing software feature availability based on usage patterns and history.
An application (e.g., a computer software application) may include a group of various features, etc. relating to the functions of the application. The features are often selectable via a toolbar and menu included in the application. Certain users may find that they do not utilize certain features, while other users may find that they may benefit from additional features not currently installed or available in the application. Underutilized or unused features that are currently installed can waste computing resources, such as disk space, processing resources, memory resources, etc. Conversely, productivity and user experience may be suboptimal when certain features exist that a user may wish to use, but when these features are unknown to the user (e.g., if these features are not currently installed).
In an aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method includes: monitoring, by a computing device, usage of an application by a user; detecting, by the computing device, satisfaction of a customization rule based on the monitored usage of the application; and customizing, by the computing device, the application based on the detecting. The customizing may include at least one of: adding a feature to a menu of the application, and adding at least one of a file and link associated with the added feature; and removing a feature from the menu of the application, and removing at least one of a file and a link associated with the removed feature.
In an aspect of the invention, there is a computer program product for customizing available features in an application. The computer program product comprises a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to: monitor features historically used in an application; detect that a feature has been used less than a threshold number of times within a particular period of time; and remove the feature from the application based on the detecting that the feature has been used less than the threshold number of times within the particular period of time.
In an aspect of the invention, a system includes: a CPU, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium associated with a computing device; program instructions to store historical usage information for an application; and program instructions to add a related feature to the application that is associated with a feature that is used at a threshold frequency as identified by the historical usage information, where the program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory.
The present invention is described in the detailed description which follows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way of non-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
The present invention generally relates to customizing software feature availability, and more particularly, to automatically customizing software feature availability based on usage patterns and history. As used herein, the term “automatically” refers to the performance of an action in connection with aspects of the present invention without user interaction. For example, automatically customizing software features availability refers to the modification of features in which the modification is performed without the explicit instruction of a user to modify or customize the features.
Aspects of the present invention may automatically customize software feature availability by removing features that are underutilized or unused by a particular user. For example, aspects of the present invention may include a system and/or method to monitor a user's patterns and usage habits when using an application, determine that certain features in the application are unused (e.g., based on a set of customization rules), and automatically remove/uninstall the unused features. Advantageously, the presentation of menus within the application is improved, as the menus are automatically modified to include a truncated and customized list of features based on the user's usage patterns of the application. Further, the removal of unused features may save computing resources, such as disk space, memory, loading/processing resources, start-up time, shut-down time, etc.
In alternative embodiments, aspects of the present invention may “reveal” additional features based on features routinely used by the user. For example, aspects of the present invention may automatically install or add features that are associated with features that are commonly used by a user. As an example, if a user commonly uses a debugging feature, aspects of the present invention may add or install additional features that relate to the debugging feature.
In embodiments, aspects of the present invention may be used for cloud-based applications and/or locally installed applications. For cloud-based applications, links to features hosted by a cloud server may be removed in menus of the application, thereby truncating the presentation of the menus. Similarly, links to features residing on a cloud server may be added to menus (e.g., to permit the user to access the added features via the links) based on features that are commonly used by a user.
For locally installed applications (e.g., when the features are available on a local storage medium of a computing device implementing the application), files may be installed in order to add a feature. Similarly, files may be uninstalled or removed in order to delete a feature. In embodiments, files may be downloaded from a remote or cloud server to locally install features.
As described herein, systems and/or methods in accordance with aspects of the present invention may dynamically manage software features by executing a monitoring service to monitor usage of features of a software application; analyzing the monitored usage to identify features of the software application that do not satisfy threshold usage criteria (e.g., have not been used more than a threshold number of times in a threshold period of time); automatically removing menu items for the identified features from the menus of the software application; and automatically uninstalling (i.e., deleting from a storage device) the identified features. Further, the software application may include a microservice architecture (e.g., a single application as a suite of small services, each running in its own process and communicating with lightweight mechanisms, often an HTTP resource API). In embodiments, the identified features may be microservices. In embodiments, the systems and/or methods may identify additional features of the software application to install based on the usage of similar and/or related installed features of the software application; and automatically install the additional features and adding menu items for the additional features to the menus of the software application.
In implementations including a microservice architecture, the added features may include microservices that are added to an application. Similarly, removed features may include microservices that removed from the application. If a microservice to be added is not locally available, it may be accessed from a remote location. For example, files associated with the microservice may be downloaded from the remote location. Additionally, or alternatively, links to the microservice may be added so that the microservice can be accessed via cloud-based techniques.
The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product at any possible technical detail level of integration. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.
The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.
Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.
Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.
These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes a detailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known or later developed.
Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four deployment models.
Characteristics are as follows:
On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with the service's provider.
Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).
Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).
Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.
Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.
Service Models are as follows:
Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).
Deployment Models are as follows:
Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.
Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds).
A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes.
Referring now to
In cloud computing node 10 there is a computer system/server 12, which is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with computer system/server 12 include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.
Computer system/server 12 may be described in the general context of computer system executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
Computer system/server 12 may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.
As shown in
Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.
Computer system/server 12 typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer system/server 12, and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.
System memory 28 can include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/or cache memory 32. Computer system/server 12 may further include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, storage system 34 can be provided for reading from and writing to a nonremovable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to bus 18 by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below, memory 28 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention.
Program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42, may be stored in memory 28 by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules 42 generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein.
Computer system/server 12 may also communicate with one or more external devices 14 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system/server 12; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 12 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces 22. Still yet, computer system/server 12 can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter 20. As depicted, network adapter 20 communicates with the other components of computer system/server 12 via bus 18. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with computer system/server 12. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and software components. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62; servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks and networking components 66. In some embodiments, software components include network application server software 67 and database software 68.
Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers 71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual private networks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtual clients 75.
In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions described below. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement of computing resources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82 provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of these resources. In one example, these resources may comprise application software licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloud consumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources. User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment for consumers and system administrators. Service level management 84 provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such that required service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning and fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated in accordance with an SLA.
Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtual classroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94; transaction processing 95; and application customization component 96.
Referring back to
As an illustrative example, assume that features 1-12 are currently installed as shown in interface 400. Over a period of time, certain features may be removed, and other features may be added. As an example shown in interface 410 of
In embodiments, aspects of the present invention may identify features that have been added or removed. For example, referring to interface 420 of
In embodiments, aspects of the present invention may provide the user with an opportunity to confirm removal of certain features, or to confirm the addition of other features based on the user's usage history of the application. For example, the user may select to add or remove identified features (e.g., those features that are under consideration for being added or removed). The identified features may initially be presented as suggested features to add or remove. For example, a suggested added feature may be highlighted or otherwise indicated, and a suggested removed feature may be identified via strikethrough font style or other style. In embodiments, if the user takes no action, then a suggested removed feature may be removed within a particular number of days, the next time the application is started, or at some other time. Similarly, a suggested added feature may be within a particular number of days, the next time the application is started, or at some other time.
The user device 210 may include a device capable of communicating via a network, such as the network 230. For example, the user device 210 may correspond to a desktop computing device, a server computing device, a portable computing device (e.g., a laptop or tablet), or a mobile computing device (e.g., a smart phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA)), or another type of device. The user device 210 may implement one or more applications 215 that a user of the user device 210 may use to perform any number of desired tasks. The user device 210 may also implement an application customization component 96, as described herein.
In embodiments, an application 215 may be a locally installed application that runs entirely locally on the user device 210. In embodiments, an application 215 may be a cloud-based application that communicates with the application server 220 to function. By way of illustrative, non-limiting examples, the applications 215 may include local and/or cloud-based e-mail/communications applications, calendar applications, gaming applications, financial applications, engineering/design applications, etc.
The application customization component 96 may monitor the usage of an application 215, and may customize the available features of the application 215 based on a set of rules and the usage of the application 215. Additionally, or alternatively, the application customization component 96 may customize the available features of the application 215 based on user information, as described in further detail herein. In embodiments, the application customization component 96 may automatically remove or uninstall features of the application 215 (or add features of the application 215) based on the usage of the application 215. For a locally installed application 215, the application customization component 96 may add or remove software packages, scripts, and/or other computer files associated with added or removed features. For a cloud-based application 215, the application customization component 96 may add or remove links to added or removed features implemented on the application server 220.
The application server 220 may include one or more computing devices that hosts applications accessible via the user device 210. For example, the application server 220 may host loud-based e-mail/communications applications, calendar applications, gaming applications, financial applications, engineering/design applications, etc.
The network 230 may include network nodes, such as network nodes 10 of
The quantity of devices and/or networks in the environment 500 is not limited to what is shown in
The usage monitoring module 610 may include a program module (e.g., program module 42 of
The user information repository 620 may include a data storage device (e.g., storage system 34 of
The customization rules repository 630 may include a data storage device (e.g., storage system 34 of
The customization engine 640 may include a program module (e.g., program module 42 of
As shown in
Process 700 may further include detecting the satisfaction of a customization rule based on the application usage and/or user information (step 720). For example, as described above with respect to the customization engine 640 of
Process 700 may also include adding or removing a feature based on the satisfaction of the customization rule (step 730). For example, as described above with respect to the customization engine 640 of
In embodiments, a service provider, such as a Solution Integrator, could offer to perform the processes described herein. In this case, the service provider can create, maintain, deploy, support, etc., the computer infrastructure that performs the process steps of the invention for one or more customers. These customers may be, for example, any business that uses technology. In return, the service provider can receive payment from the customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the service provider can receive payment from the sale of advertising content to one or more third parties.
In still additional embodiments, the invention provides a computer-implemented method, via a network. In this case, a computer infrastructure, such as computer system/server 12 (
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
