System and method for conveying product information
View Patent ↗A system and method for conveying product information. The system includes an interactive product guide that has product options linked to a product database comprising product data organized in an ontology and a taxonomy. The product options dynamically switch from being available or unavailable for selection by a user depending on prior option selections by the user. Product data from the product database corresponding to products characterized by the selected options are presented to the user. Methods for using the system include presenting the system to a user for interaction therewith.
1. A system for dynamically conveying product information comprising:
a product database, stored on a storage device, comprising an ontology and a taxonomy, wherein the ontology comprises a plurality of items comprising product categories, product attributes, and product attribute values, and wherein the taxonomy comprises a hierarchical ordering of the plurality of items;
at least one interactive product guide accessible to a user, each interactive product guide comprising:
a dynamic option field, the option field presenting a plurality of product options to the user, wherein each product option in the plurality of product options is linked to at least one item in the product database, wherein the plurality of product options comprises a dynamically variable set of available product options available for selection by the user, wherein selection of one of the available product options generates a set of selected product options and a revised set of available product options, wherein the revised set of available product options is defined with respect to the set of selected product options in accordance with the hierarchical ordering of the plurality of items in the product database; and
a result field presenting at least one product result, each of the at least one product result comprising product data for a product characterized by the items in the database linked to the product options in the set of selected product options.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the product options in the revised set of available product options is linked to items contained on a branch of the hierarchical ordering stemming from items linked to the set of selected product options.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of product options comprises the dynamically variable set of available product options available for selection by the user in addition to a dynamically variable set of unavailable product options that are unavailable for selection by the user, wherein selection of one of the available product options generates the set of selected product options, the revised set of available product options, and a revised set of unavailable product options, wherein the revised set of unavailable product options is defined with respect to the set of selected product options in accordance with the hierarchical ordering of the plurality of items in the product database.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein each of the product options in the revised set of unavailable product options is linked to items contained on a branch of the hierarchical ordering distinct from a branch stemming from items linked to the set of selected product options.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the at least one product result comprises product data for a product characterized by the items in the database linked to the product options in the set of selected product options and further characterized by the items in the database linked to the product options in the revised set of available product options.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the product database comprises product data for products characterized by the items, wherein the product data presented with the product result for the set of selected product options is capable of being changed by modifying the product data in the product database without changing the plurality of product options presented to the user and without changing the set of selected product options.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the product data comprises one or more of a product image, a product name, a product manufacturer, a product retailer, product availability, product price, product dimensions, and product weight.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one interactive product guide comprises a plurality of interactive product guides, wherein at least a first of the plurality of interactive product guides presents a product option linked to a first product category, at least a second of the plurality of interactive product guides presents a product option linked to a second product category, and the first product category and the second product category are non-overlapping categories.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one interactive product guide comprises an interactive product guide presenting a first product option linked to a first product category and a second product option linked to a second product category, wherein the first product category and the second product category are non-overlapping categories.
10. The system of claim 1 further comprising an author application configured for generating one of the at least one interactive product guide, the author application comprising a functionality for generating an option in the product guide that is linked to at least one of the items in the product database.
11. The system of claim 1 further comprising an author application configured for generating one of the at least one interactive product guide, the author application comprising a functionality for searching the items in the database and a functionality for generating an option in the product guide that is linked to at least one of the items in the product database.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the search item comprises one or more of a search term and a product image.
13. A method for dynamically conveying product information with a system as recited in claim 1 comprising, in a special-purpose computer or a suitably programmed general-purpose computer:
presenting the at least one interactive product guide accessible to a user for interaction therewith, comprising:
presenting the plurality of product options to the user, comprising generating a set of selected product options and a revised set of available product options upon selection of one of the available product options by the user, wherein the revised set of available product options is defined with respect to the set of selected product options in accordance with the hierarchical ordering of the plurality of items in the product database; and
presenting at least one product result, each of the at least one product result comprising product data for a product characterized by the items in the database linked to the product options in the set of selected product options.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the presenting the plurality of product options to the user further comprises presenting the revised set of available product options to the user.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the presenting the plurality of product options to the user comprises generating the set of selected product options, the revised set of available product options, and a set of unavailable product options upon selection of one of the available product options by the user, wherein the set of unavailable product options is defined with respect to the set of selected product options in accordance with the hierarchical ordering of the plurality of items in the product database.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein each of the at least one product result comprises product data for a product characterized by the items in the database linked to the product options in the set of selected product options and further characterized by the items in the database linked to the product options in the revised set of available product options.
17. The method of claim 13 further comprising changing the product data presented with the product result for the set of selected product options by modifying product data stored in the product database without changing the plurality of product options presented to the user and without changing the set of selected product options.
18. The method of claim 13 wherein the presenting the at least one interactive product guide comprises presenting a plurality of interactive product guides, wherein at least a first of the plurality of interactive product guides presents a product option linked to a first product category, at least a second of the plurality of interactive product guides presents a product option linked to a second product category, and the first product category and the second product category are non-overlapping categories.
19. The method of claim 13 wherein the presenting the at least one interactive product guide comprises presenting, in one of the at least one interactive product guide, a first product option linked to a first product category and a second product option linked to a second product category, wherein the first product category and the second product category are non-overlapping categories.
20. The method of claim 13 further comprising presenting an author application configured for generating one of the at least one interactive product guide to a user for interaction therewith, the author application comprising a functionality for generating an option in the product guide that is linked to at least one of the items in the product database.
21. The method of claim 13 further comprising presenting an author application configured for generating one of the at least one interactive product guide to a user for interaction therewith, the author application comprising a functionality for searching the items in the database and a functionality for generating an option in the product guide that is linked to at least one of the items in the product database.