Patent Application
20220180427
This application relates generally to computing device input interfaces, and in particular to, but without limitation to graphical user interfaces for facilitating challenge-based transactions.
Users may use graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to keep track of data such as a to-do lists, grocery lists, etc. Databases may store the data later presentation to the user. For example, users may input a number of items into a text field input element of a GUI. The items may be stored in one or more entries in the database. Upon request, an application running on a computing device may query the database for the items.
In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.
Existing systems fail to provide the necessary data structures and user interfaces to solve the problem of building desired habits, such as resource-saving behavior habits, which may be tied to maintaining financial health for an individual. For example, financial health often requires a balance of near term expenditures and long term savings. With the burden of daily and monthly expenses and the natural desire to use money for discretionary spending, the act of saving may easily be deprioritized. While most people have some sense for the importance of saving money for future financial needs, many have difficulty actually doing it.
Establishment of a habitual behavior may be supported by periodic prompts to report a resource-conserving challenge, which may be tied to an automatic transaction that is dependent on a response to the prompt. In various examples described herein, an electronic system may be configured to provide a periodic prompt to provide a report on a challenge and authorize an automatic transaction, such as an electronic funds transfer, and automatically execute the transaction when the challenge is met or the transfer is authorized. By prompting a user to engage in a resource-conserving behavior and making an automatic transfer to a savings account when the behavior is confirmed, the system may support development of a desired habit.
An example electronic system may electronically challenge a user to participate in a resource-saving behavior, such as a money-saving behavior, which may eventually develop into a saving habit. When the user elects to participate in a challenge, the system may remind a user to think about building financial habits as part of his or her daily routine. For example, an example system may provide a push notification as a reminder about building the financial habit. The push notification may include a prompt to perform or report some desired money-saving activity, which may include refraining from an undesired activity (e.g. a non-budget friendly expense). The push notification may also prompt a user to log in to a financial health savings app and make a transfer to a savings account. In some examples, when a user logs in to a financial health savings application, the application may pre-fill transfer forms to make it easy and quick to transfer money to savings or authorize future transactions. Some examples may monitor and report on progress, e.g., acknowledge a particular successful execution of a challenge, or a series of success (e.g., “Congratulations, you saved on five days in a row.”)
In various examples, an electronic system can, for example, challenge a user to refrain from a particular behavior, or substitute a desired behavior in place of a less-desired behavior. Example challenges opportunities that may be supported by an electronic system include avoiding the purchase of bottled water and instead drinking free water, e.g., tap water, avoiding purchasing ready-to-drink coffee at a counter (and optionally drinking free coffee or coffee brewed at home), avoiding purchase of a meal at a restaurant (and optionally instead making a “brown bag” lunch at home at take lunch to work, or making a meal to eat at home to avoid the additional expense of purchasing food from a restaurant, taking a less expensive transportation option, e.g. biking or walking in lieu of paid transit or driving, or taking a car pool or public transportation in lieu of driving and paying to park.
The money saved by engaging in such challenges may be allocated as savings by the electronic system. For example, when a user reports successful execution of a savings challenge on a particular day, an example electronic system may transfer the savings amount—e.g., the money saved by avoiding an expense—to a savings account. The transfer may occur automatically, without further user input, when the user confirms that a savings transaction should occur, for example based on the successful achievement of a money-saving behavior as part of a savings challenge. In some examples, sensors on a computing device may be used to determine if the challenge was met. In some examples, a GPS sensor on a computing device reports a geographic position of a user, or a series of geographic positions, and a processor on the device analyzes the data from the GPS sensor and determines whether a user avoided a particular establishment, such as a coffee shop or other physical location that is related to completion of a challenge, such as refraining from buying coffee. In some examples, the processor determines from sensor data whether a user visited an establishment related to completion of a challenge, such as a train station, park and ride facility, bike path, walking route to assess whether a transportation challenge has been met. In some examples, a series of geographic locations are received from a sensor on the device and analyzed to determine a mode of transportation from location, movement pattern, or velocity. In some examples, sensors of a device provide information to a processor on the device, and the processor determines a query from the sensor data, such as inquiring whether a desired activity such as biking to work was completed. In some examples, a processor receives information from a computing device and infers from such information that an establishment such as a coffee shop was visited, and the device queries the user regarding completion of a challenge while the user is at the location or within a specified time, e.g. 10 minutes, after the user visits the establishment. For example, the computing device may detect from sensor data that a user is approaching, is at, or recently visited a coffee shop, and query whether the user successfully avoided a transaction at the establishment, such as a food or beverage purchase.
An example electronic system may help a user build a habit of savings by inviting the user to participate in a challenge to consistently exhibit healthy financial behavior, e.g., a take a budget-friendly mode of transportation to work, in a plurality of time segments, such as once a day for a specified number of days. In various examples, the system may track and report progress for review by the user, such as by presenting a chart or other graphic that shows the days on which the challenge was successfully met. For a ten-day challenge, each day in which the challenge is met may be marked with a checkmark, and each day in which the challenge is not met may be marked with a different symbol, such as an X. Such reporting system may recognize a user's success in meeting the challenge, and provide a disincentive for failure (e.g., by displaying an X corresponding to a missed day).
In an example, the mobile electronic device 200 may be a handheld device that has a touch-screen interface, such as a mobile phone. In other examples, the mobile electronic device 200 may be a tablet, a virtual reality headset, such as goggles or glasses, a component of an automobile, such as a touch screen display or heads-up display.
Example computer system 300 includes at least one processor 302 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both, processor cores, compute nodes, etc.), a main memory 304 and a static memory 306, which communicate with each other via a link 308 (e.g., bus or interconnect). The computer system may also include a clock (not shown.) The computer system 300 may further include a video display unit 310, an input device 312 (e.g., an alphanumeric keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 314 (e.g., a mouse). In one embodiment, the video display unit 310, input device 312 and UI navigation device 314 are incorporated into a touch screen display. The computer system 300 may additionally include a storage device 316 (e.g., a drive unit), a signal generation device 318 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 320, and one or more sensors (not shown), such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, location sensor, or other sensor.
The storage device 316 includes a machine-readable medium 322 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures and instructions 324 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 324 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 304, static memory 306, and/or within the processor 302 during execution thereof by the computer system 300, with the main memory 304, static memory 306, and the processor 302 also constituting machine-readable media.
While the machine-readable medium 322 is illustrated in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more instructions 324. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present disclosure or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable media include non-volatile memory, including, but not limited to, by way of example, semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.
The instructions 324 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 330 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 320 utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP). The communications with the communication network 800 optionally may occur using wireless transmissions sent via one or more antennas 328. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, mobile telephone networks, plain old telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Wi-Fi, 10, and 4G LTE/LTE-A or WiMAX networks). The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.
A financial health savings application may be embodied as an application (i.e. “app” or mobile app) on the mobile electronic device 200. In an example where the device 200 includes a touch screen, input may be received through specified areas on the touch screen—referred to herein as electronic “buttons”—that are associated with a specified input. Various other types of selectable input techniques may be substituted for the buttons. For simplicity, the methods and system described herein will be described in the context of buttons.
An example financial health savings system can, for example, deliver an invitation to participate in a challenge that involves resource-saving behavior, such as saving money by avoiding or reducing certain expenses. The system may deliver the invitation by displaying on an invitation interface a message that offers the opportunity to participate in a challenge.
In an example, the invitation interface 400 may receive input from a user via selection of a first button 402 (“See All Challenges”) to see information about available challenges, or a second button 404 (“About Challenges”) to learn more about participation in a challenge through the system.
In an example system, at least two accounts are required to participate in a challenge, to enable the user to transfer money from one account, such as a checking account, to another account, which may be a savings account. When the invitation interface receives a selection of the first button 402 (“See All Challenges”) in
When the invitation interface receives a selection of the first button 302 (“See All Challenges”) in
The challenge selection interface 600 may receive input in the form of selection of a button on a touch screen interface. Selection of a first challenge button 602 on the challenge selection interface 600 may indicate a selection of a first challenge (“Take a water break”) to save money by avoiding the purchase of bottled water, for example by using tap water. Selection of a second challenge button 604 may indicate a selection of a second challenge (“Curb the Coffee”) to save money by avoiding purchase of coffee at a counter or coffee shop, and optionally coffee brewed at home or other budget-friendly sources of coffee. Selection of button 606 may indicate a selection of a third challenge (“Brown Bag It”) to save money by avoiding the purchase of a meal at a restaurant, and optionally make a “brown bag” lunch at home to take to work. Selection of button 702 (shown on the challenge selection interface 700 in
The savings challenges may be time-bound, and may be configured to periodically prompt a user to report or engage in behavior related to the challenge. For example, the savings challenge may extend for a challenge period of a specified duration, such as one week, ten days, two weeks, or a month. A savings challenge prompt to a user, such as presentation of the prompt interface shown in
The prompt can, for example, be scheduled to occur at a specified time of day, or multiple times per day, to provide accountability around the time the challenge behavior occurs. For example, a prompt to avoid incurring a restaurant lunch expense may be presented before a lunch period, or after a lunch period. Scheduling a prompt before an activity is likely to occur can act as a reminder of the challenge to engage in money-saving behavior. Scheduling a prompt after an activity is likely to occur can provide timely accountability for reporting success or failure in achieving the challenge. In another example, the prompt may occur around the time of a morning commute, and around the time of an evening commute. The prompt can also be scheduled to occur at a time that a preparatory activity is required. For example, a prompt relating to a brown bag lunch may occur the morning to remind a user to, for example, make a lunch for consumption later in the day. In another example, such a prompt is presented the evening before the money-saving brown-bag lunch, to allow the user to prepare for successful savings activity the next day.
In some examples, a user may elect to take a break or a day off, which may, for example, be communicated or configured through an input into the electronic system, through a response to a prompt, or through a user setting. For example, a user may be permitted a reprieve from a challenge on their birthday. In another example, a user may “earn” a day off after a specified number of days of successful execution of a challenge (e.g., 30 days.) In some examples, a prompt is configured to occur only on certain days or correlated to certain events. For example, a savings challenge that relates to transportation to work may prompt a user only on days that a work commute is known to occur, such as on Monday through Friday, or on a configured work schedule.
In some examples, multiple challenges may run simultaneously, or a single challenge may involve multiple types of challenge behaviors. For example, challenges can be blended together to assure at least one daily prompt to participate in at least one of the savings challenge. For example, a user may be prompted to participate in a transportation-related challenge on work days and a food challenge (e.g. avoid restaurant expense) or entertainment expense challenge on weekends. In some examples, a single challenge may involve different challenge prompts that are relevant for a particular day, such as a food challenge to pack a lunch during the week to avoid restaurant expense, and making a lunch at home on the weekend, again to avoid restaurant, or takeout, expense.
In some examples, location information, such as location information obtained from a mobile device, may be used to inform the timing of delivery of a prompt. For example, a prompt may be delivered when a user is determined from location information to be at home, leaving home, leaving a work place (e.g. to go to lunch or commute home), or at an establishment (e.g. near restaurant.) In some examples, information from a user profile may be used to determine when to deliver a prompt. A user profile may include, for example, user schedule information (e.g. time of commute or time of meals, or days that the user works or does not work), location information (e.g. workplace or home address), or personal preferences (e.g. restaurant preferences or transportation options.) In some examples, a combination of time, location, activity, or user profile information is used together to determine when to deliver a savings prompt.
An automatic transaction may be triggered in response to a report that a challenge task has been successfully achieved. In an example, an amount of money saved by engaging in such challenges, such as a reduced or avoided expense, may be allocated as savings by the electronic system. For example, when a user reports successful execution of a savings challenge on a particular day, the savings amount—such as the money saved by avoiding an expense—may be automatically transferred to a savings account from a checking account or other account. In an example, the savings amount that is automatically transferred is a consistent specified amount throughout the challenge, such as five dollars a day in reduced transportation expense, or fifteen dollars a day in reduced food expense. In some examples, the savings amount is reported by a user at the time of a transaction, or deduced from financial data such as electronic transaction data.
When a particular challenge, such as the “Savings Route Challenge 702, is selected through the challenge selection interface, a challenge configuration interface 800 may be presented on the user interface, as shown in
When a challenge is accepted, for example through the challenge acceptance button 812 shown in
During the challenge period, a prompt interface may be presented to remind the user about the challenge activity. The prompt interface may be presented daily, for example. Various other periodic prompt schedules such as weekly or multiple times a day are possible, as discussed above. The prompt interface can serve as a reminder to a user about the commitment to participate in the challenge, and the need to engage in a particular activity to comply with the challenge in a particular time window, such as a day. An example prompt interface 1000 is shown in
Selection of the challenge executed button 1004 may trigger immediate or deferred transfer of the savings amount, e.g. by the processor 205 causing the device 200 shown in
Returning to
When a challenge is complete—for example when all the days in a challenge period have passed, a new challenge interface may be presented.
In some examples, a savings amount may be specified on a periodic (e.g., daily) basis, as opposed to being a fixed amount that it repeated throughout the challenge period.
In an example, the transfer configuration interface 1500, transfer execution interface 1600, and transfer confirmation interface 1700 may be presented as part of a challenge to remember to save money every day, e.g., in response to selection of the button 706 (“Save-Up”) shown in
At 1905, an invitation may be presented to participate in a challenge. The invitation may be delivered, for example, through a user interface of an electronic device, such as in the form of the invitation interface 200 shown in
Example challenges may include avoiding the purchase of bottled water and instead drinking free water, e.g., tap water, avoiding purchasing ready-to-drink coffee at a counter (and optionally drinking free coffee or coffee brewed at home), avoiding purchase of a meal at a restaurant (and optionally instead making a “brown bag” lunch at home at take lunch to work, or making a meal to eat at home to avoid the additional expense of purchasing food from a restaurant, taking a less expensive transportation option, e.g. biking or walking in lieu of paid transit or driving, or taking a car pool or public transportation in lieu of driving and paying to park. In an example, the invitation can include presenting a plurality of challenges, such as the challenge examples above, and enabling a user to select a particular challenge.
At 1910, an acceptance of the invitation may be received. The acceptance may be received through the electronic device on which the interface is presented, for example through a user selection of an acceptance button or other control.
At 1912, a condition relating to the challenge may be received. The condition may be sensed, for example, by a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, location sensor, or other sensor, or operational state of an application (“app”) on a mobile device (e.g. activity of an app that is configured to facilitate or consummate a purchase.) In some examples, a geographic location (e.g., using GPS), velocity or stationary state (e.g. using GPS or an accelerometer or both), proximity to a wireless network, other presence, or engagement in an activity (e.g. app purchase activity or other purchase environment) is sensed by a mobile device. In some examples, the method may progress to step 1915 without sensing or attempting to sense a condition (e.g., step 1912 may be skipped or optional), or a device may attempt to sense a condition and proceed to step 1915 even if the condition is not sensed.
At 1915, a prompt is presented. The prompt may be delivered to and presented on a user interface to obtain an indication from a user of whether to transfer a savings amount. The prompt can include a reminder to a user to participate in an activity related to the challenge, or a reminder or invitation to report participation in the activity. In an example, the prompt can include options to report that a money-saving behavior was achieved, or not achieved, during a time segment.
By delivering a timely prompt, a user may be supported in a making a choice that complies with a challenge, which over time may lead to the challenge behavior developing into a habit which may persist beyond the end of the challenge. In an example, if a user has accepted a challenge to engage in a saving behavior, such as refraining from buying coffee from a coffee shop that day, the prompt may inquire whether saving behavior was exhibited, which may indicate whether the savings amount should be transferred. In another example, the prompt may simply provide the user with an opportunity to choose transfer money to savings as a matter of choice, such as described above with respect to the “Save-Up” challenge shown in
At 1920, a response to the prompt is received. The response may be evaluated to ascertain whether to transfer a savings amount. If the challenge has been met, a transaction 1925 is automatically initiated. In some examples, the transaction can be a transfer of a savings amount. If the challenge has not been met, at 1930 the transaction is not initiated. In some examples, the response may include a deferral of the challenge, or an exemption from the challenge, such as use of an earned or granted “free day” in which compliance with the challenge is not required, or exemption on a “savings holiday” such as the user's birthday. In some examples, the method may include repeating delivery of the prompt and receiving a response to give a user another opportunity to achieve a money-saving behavior, or to assure that the response is received after the money-saving behavior is completed or assured.
At 1935, progress on the challenge is optionally reported, for example through a dashboard interface, such as the dashboard interface 1200 shown in
The method steps 1915 through 1935 may be repeated periodically for a plurality of time segments during a challenge time period, e.g., at least once a day for a specified number of days (e.g. seven days), and each the progress during each time segment (e.g. success or failure for each day) may be reported on a dashboard to enable review of the user's progress. In an example, information stored in a memory in a mobile device is retrieved and processed each day to develop a report that is presented on the dashboard. In another example, information stored in a database may be accessed through a server and processed by a back-end system or by the mobile device to develop a report that may be presented on the dashboard. In an example, information stored in a database or in a memory of a mobile device may be accessed on a period basis or at a specified time of day to develop a report for a dashboard. In another example, information in a database or stored in a memory may be accessed as the information changes to develop an up to date report for the dashboard, which may be delivered or announced as a push notification on the mobile device, for example.
In various examples, the saving system and methods described above may be applied to saving money indirectly by saving other resources, such as electricity, water, fuel, or time. In some examples, the methods may be applied to simply saving the resource itself.
Each of the examples described in this document are non-limiting examples. Each of the non-limiting examples may stand on its own, or may be combined in various permutations or combinations with one or more of the other examples.
The above detailed description includes references to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are also referred to herein as “examples.” Such examples may include elements in addition to those shown or described. However, the present inventors also contemplate examples in which only those elements shown or described are provided. Moreover, the present inventors also contemplate examples using any combination or permutation of those elements shown or described (or one or more aspects thereof), either with respect to a particular example (or one or more aspects thereof), or with respect to other examples (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or described herein.
In the event of inconsistent usages between this document and any documents so incorporated by reference, the usage in this document controls.
In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. In this document, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device, article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.
Method examples described herein may be machine or computer-implemented at least in part. Some examples may include a computer-readable medium or machine-readable medium encoded with instructions operable to configure an electronic device to perform methods as described in the above examples. An implementation of such methods may include code, such as microcode, assembly language code, a higher-level language code, or the like. Such code may include computer readable instructions for performing various methods. The code may form portions of computer program products. Further, in an example, the code may be tangibly stored on one or more volatile, non-transitory, or non-volatile tangible computer-readable media, such as during execution or at other times. Examples of these tangible computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, hard disks, removable magnetic disks, removable optical disks (e.g., compact disks and digital video disks), magnetic cassettes, memory cards or sticks, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROMs), and the like.
The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Other embodiments may be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in the above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description as examples or embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment, and it is contemplated that such embodiments may be combined with each other in various combinations or permutations. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
