Database evaluation system supporting intuitive decision in complex multi-attributive domains using fuzzy hierarchical expert models

A method for selecting items in a database comprising a plurality of records representing items, each record having at least two or more attributes, each record having a value for each associated attribute, comprising:

• a) selecting a set of records from the database for evaluation;
• b) presenting from the set of records a record of the database to a user;
• c) receiving a user input specifying at least one reason why the user does not select the presented record;
• d) associating the reason with an attribute of the presented item and at least one value of the attribute of the record;
• e) comparing the value of the attribute associated with the reason with a corresponding attribute in the set of records and eliminating from the set of records, records having a corresponding value equal to or less than the value of the associated attribute of the presented record;
• and
• f) repeating steps a) through e) until a limited number of records remain in the set of records.

A database evaluation system comprising:

• a database for storing a plurality records representing items, each record having at least two or more associated attributes for the record, each record having a value for each associated attribute;
• an evaluation engine, the evaluation engine coupling a domain model to the database and allowing a user to inspect, compare, or navigate records in the database;
• a proximity searcher coupled to the evaluation engine, the proximity searcher being capable of determining for a reference record in the database selected by a user the distance of other records in the database with respect to one or more attribute values associated with each record;
• and
• at least one user interface coupled to the proximity searcher for allowing a user to iteratively select a representation of a reference record from records in the database and to display other representations of records found by the proximity searcher to be a predetermined distance from the reference record.

A database evaluation system comprising:

• a database for storing a plurality of records of items, each record having two or more associated attributes, each record having a value for each associated attribute;
• an evaluation engine, the evaluation engine coupling a domain model to the database and allowing a user to iteratively inspect, compare, or navigate records in the database according to at least one user specified search criterion;
• and
• at least one user interface for displaying a short list of scored items, the items being scored according to their degree of match to user set search criteria.

A method of searching a database for records of items similar to a record for a reference item in a database comprising:

• providing a database comprising a plurality of records of items, each record having two or more associated attributes, a domain model, and an evaluation engine having a proximity searcher;
• selecting a reference record from the database;
• specifying one or more attributes associated with the reference record;
• using the proximity searcher to determine the distance between the reference record and other records in the database with respect to the values associated with each record for the specified attributes;
• and
• displaying representations of records on a user interface found to be predetermined distance from the reference record.

A method of searching a database comprising:

• providing a database comprising a plurality of records of items, each record having a plurality of associated attributes, each item having a value for its associated attribute;
• a domain model;
• an evaluation engine;
• and a direct manipulation mechanism for relative weighting of attributes by a user;
• accepting a user's input of at least one search criterion through the evaluation engine;
• processing the search criterion to produce a short list of scored items, the items being scored according to their degree of match to user set search criteria;
• displaying the scored items on a user interface;
• accepting the a users adjustment of the relative weighting of attributes with the manipulation mechanism, the evaluation engine updating the short list according to the change in the relative weighting of the attributes.

A database evaluation system comprising:

• a database for storing a plurality records representing items, the items representing items for consumer purchase, each record having at least two or more associated attributes for the record, each record having a value for each associated attribute;
• an evaluation engine, the evaluation engine coupling a domain model to the database and allowing a user to inspect, compare, or navigate records in the database;
• a proximity searcher coupled to the evaluation engine, the proximity searcher being capable of determining for a reference record in the database selected by a user the distance of other records in the database with respect to one or more attribute values associated with each record;
• and
• at least one user interface coupled to the proximity searcher for allowing a user to iteratively select a representation of a reference record from records in the database and to display other representations of records found by the proximity searcher to be a predetermined distance from the reference record.

A method of searching a database for records of items similar to a record for a reference item in a database comprising:

• providing (a) a database comprising a plurality of records of items, the items representing items for consumer purchase, each record having two or more associated attributes, (b) a domain model, and (c) an evaluation engine having a proximity searcher;
• selecting a reference record from the database;
• specifying one or more attributes associated with the reference record;
• using the proximity searcher to determine the distance between the reference record and other records in the database with respect to the values associated with each record for the specified attributes;
• and
• displaying representations of records on a user interface found to be a predetermined distance from the reference record.