Method and apparatus for implementing user feedback

A feedback visualizer for organizing and presenting user feedback, the feedback including a portrayal of a user cogent about the user's experiences in the user's context within the product, process, or service, where the feedback is to be evaluated by a reviewer who is interested in user feedback so that the reviewer can provide help to a user or improve the product, process, or service, the feedback being arranged into a multiplicity of independent feedback records, each feedback record being arranged to contain information indicative of a user's context within a product, process, or service when the feedback associated therewith was made and a plurality of predefined attribute identifiers that identify the nature of the feedback made by the user, wherein the attribute identifiers are arranged into a plurality of predefined attribute categories, each category organizing a plurality of the attribute identifiers into a related group to readily describe and categorize the feedback entered by the user, such that a plurality of said attribute identifiers are arranged as different options for the user within each category, and wherein just one of each attribute identifier can be stored in each category in each feedback record to describe the user's experiences as related to the particular category of feedback in which each one attribute is included, the feedback visualizer comprising:

• means for retrieving the feedback records;
• filter means for filtering the retrieved feedback records in accordance with specified visualization preferences to create a combined set of feedback records that includes each of the feedback records having each of the characteristics required in the specified visualization preferences, wherein the visualization preferences include selections of the predefined attribute identifiers that the reviewer desires to review and the required characteristics include the selected attribute identifiers;
• means for displaying a visualization window that includes an indication of the characteristics of the feedback records in the combined set, said visualization window displaying the associated attribute categories for the attribute identifiers indicated by the reviewer and all of the attribute identifiers in each of the associated attribute categories such that the distribution of feedback records having indicated attribute identifiers within the displayed categories can be readily ascertained and analyzed by the reviewer with respect to each category;
• and
• means for receiving changes to the specified visualization preferences, the means for receiving changes being arranged to cause the filter means to update the combined set to reflect the new visualization preferences when a change is received.

A method for implementing a feedback system in a computer environment, wherein said feedback system is used by at least one user using a software program in said computer environment and at least one reviewer, said method comprising the steps of:

• collecting a feedback item from a user while said user is interfacing with said computer environment on a first computer system, said feedback item being collected from said user after said user inputs an enter feedback command in a displayed feedback interface on said first computer system, wherein said feedback item includes a portrayal of a user comment about the user's experiences in a product, process, or service, said comment including attributes selected by said user from lists of provided predefined attributes, and a context identifier indicative of the context of said user within said product, process, or service, wherein the attribute identifiers are arranged into a plurality of attribute categories such that said user can assign only one attribute from each category to the feedback item to describe the user's experiences as related to the particular category of feedback in which each one attribute is included, each of said categories organizing a plurality of the attribute identifiers into a related group to readily describe and categorize the feedback entered by the user;
• providing said feedback item to a reviewer using a feedback visualization interface separate from said software program on a second computer system;
• and
• presenting said feedback item to said reviewer on said second computer system when said feedback item is included in preferences of said reviewer by displaying a viewing interface for said reviewer on said second computer system, said preferences including designated attributes, wherein said feedback item is organized and displayed within an appropriate feedback category displayed on said second computer system among a plurality of other feedback items displayed within said categories to provide a visual and organized distribution of said feedback items to said reviewer, wherein said feedback item is presented independently of said product, process or service, and wherein said feedback items are evaluated by said reviewer to improve said reviewer's knowledge of help required by the user or improvement required within said product, process, or service.

A system for implementing user feedback used by at least one user and at least one reviewer, the system comprising:

• means for displaying a feedback interface in response to a received enter feedback command;
• means for collecting feedback data entered in said feedback interface by a user, where said feedback data includes a context identifier identifying a context of said user within a product, process, or service when said feedback data is collected, and wherein said feedback data includes a portrayal of a user comment about the user's experiences in said context within said product, process, or service, said collecting means collecting at least one feedback attribute selected by said user from predefined and displayed lists of attributes, said collected attribute describing said user's experiences in said context;
• means for sending at least a portion of said feedback data to a viewing interface;
• means for organizing said at least a portion of feedback data according to preferences of a reviewer after said at least a portion of feedback data has been received by said viewing interface, said preferences of said reviewer including the attributes by which the reviewer desires to organize the feedback data and a context which is of interest to said reviewer, said context being selected by said reviewer from a displayed list of predetermined contexts;
• means for displaying said organized feedback data in said viewing interface independently of said product, process, or service when said feedback data is included in said preferences of said reviewer, said feedback data being displayed with reference to the same predefined feedback attributes as provided in the feedback interface so that the reviewer can readily analyze and ascertain a distribution of the displayed feedback data with respect to the predefined attributes and with respect to the reviewer's preferences, and wherein said feedback data is evaluated by the reviewer who is interested in said feedback data to provide help to the user or improve said product, process, or service.

A method for implementing a feedback system in a computer environment, wherein said feedback system is used by at least one user using a software program in said computer environment and at least one reviewer, said method comprising the steps of:

• collecting a feedback item from a user while said user is interfacing with said computer environment on a first computer system, said feedback item being collected from said after said user inputs an enter feedback command in a displayed feedback interface on said first computer system, wherein said feedback item includes a portrayal of a user comment about the user's experiences in a product, process, or service, said comment including attributes selected by said user from lists of provided predefined attributes to describe said feedback, and a context identifier to classify the feedback under a descriptive subject context, said context identifier being selected by said user from a plurality of displayed user subject categories and subcategories that provide lists of predefined subject contexts;
• providing a plurality of feedback items, including said feedback item, to a reviewer using a feedback visualization interface separate from said software program on a second computer system;
• and
• presenting those ones of said feedback items to said reviewer on said second computer that are included in preferences of said reviewer by displaying a viewing interface for said reviewer on said second computer system, said preferences including the desired subject context of feedback records which said reviewer desires to review, said desired context being selected by said reviewer from a plurality of reviewer categories and subcategories that are equivalent to said user subject categories and subcategories so as to provide the reviewer with a readily ascertainable distribution of feedback records having the desired context, wherein said presented feedback items are evaluated by said reviewer to improve said reviewer's knowledge of help required by the user or improvement required within said product, process, or service.

A feedback visualizer for organizing and presenting user feedback, the feedback being arranged into a multiplicity of independent feedback records, each feedback record being arranged to contain information indicative of a user's context within a product, process, or service when the feedback associated therewith was made and characteristics including a plurality of attribute identifiers that identify the nature of the feedback made by the user, where just one of each attribute identifier can be stored in each feedback record, the information and characteristics contained in the feedback record being accessible and displayable independently from the product, process, or service, the feedback including a portrayal of a user comment about the user's experiences in the user's context within the product, process, or service, where the feedback is to be evaluated by a reviewer who is interested in user feedback so that the reviewer can provide help to a user or improve the product, process, or service, the feedback visualizer comprising:

• filter means for filtering the feedback records in accordance with specified visualization preferences to create a combined set of feedback records that includes each of the feedback records having each of the characteristics required in the specified visualization preferences, wherein the specified visualization preferences include selected attribute identifiers;
• means for displaying a visualization window that includes an indication of the characteristics of the feedback records in the combined set, wherein a plurality of attribute categories and all attribute identifiers included within each of the attribute categories are displayed by the means for displaying, wherein for each attribute identifier selected in the visualization preferences, the means for displaying is arranged to display an indication of the number of records in the combined set that include that specific attribute identifier, and wherein, for each deselected attribute identifier, the displaying means is further arranged to display an indication of the number of records that would be added to the combined set if that deselected attribute identifier were to be selected;
• and
• means for receiving changes to the specified visualization preferences, the means for receiving changes being arranged to cause the filter means to update the combined set to reflect the new visualization preferences when a change is received.