System and method automatically sorting ranked items and generating a visual representation of ranked results

1. A method of visualizing data associated with a search query, the method comprising:

receiving the search query over a network and executing the search query, by a computing device, over a database;

receiving, by a computing device in response to the executing the search query, a data set of search results comprising a plurality of data items, each data item having rank information indicative of the relevance of the data item to the search query, and similarity information indicative of similarities between the data item and one or more other data items from the plurality of data items;

sorting, by the computing device, the data set of search results into a ranked list based on the rank information associated with each of the plurality of data items;

masking, by the computing device, a contiguous portion of the ranked list based on a boundary parameter having a value;

iteratively clustering, by the computing device, a portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion based on the similarity information associated with the plurality of data items to produce a clustered, ranked data list, wherein the iteratively clustering the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion comprises, for each successive iteration:

changing the value of the boundary parameter by a step parameter;

unmasking a portion of the previously masked contiguous portion of the ranked list based on the changed value of the boundary parameter;

adding the unmasked portion to the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion; and

clustering the the added unmasked portion and the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion; and

generating and displaying a visualization of the iteratively clustered, ranked data list, the visualization comprising a shaped object representative of the data set of search results ordered based on each cluster in the iteratively clustered, ranked data list.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the boundary parameter and the step parameter are user adjustable.

3. A method of visualizing data associated with a search query, the method comprising:

receiving the search query over a network and executing the search query, by a computing device, over a database;

receiving, by a computing device in response to the executing the search query, a data set of search results comprising a plurality of data items, each data item having associated rank information indicative of the relevance of the data item to the search query, and similarity information indicative of similarities between the data item and one or more other data items from the plurality of data items;

sorting, by the computing device, the data set of search results into a ranked list based on the rank information associated with each of the plurality of data items;

masking, by the computing device, a contiguous portion of the ranked list based on a boundary parameter having a value;

iteratively clustering, by the computing device, a portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion based on the similarity information associated with the plurality of data items to produce a clustered, ranked data list, wherein, for each successive interaction, changing the value of the boundary parameter by a step parameter;

generating and displaying a visualization of the clustered, ranked data list, the visualization comprising a shaped object representative of the data set of search results ordered based on each cluster in the clustered, ranked data list;

receiving a user instruction changing one or more values of the boundary parameter and the step parameter;

demasking the entire ranked list;

masking, by the computing device, a new contiguous portion of the ranked list;

iteratively clustering, by the computing device based on the changed one or more values, a new portion of the ranked list other than the masked new contiguous portion based on the similarity information associated with the plurality of data items to produce a clustered, ranked data list; and

generating and displaying a new visualization representative of the clustered, ranked data list, the new visualization comprising a shaped object representative of each cluster in the clustered, ranked data list.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contiguous portion of the ranked list is defined to extend from a highest ranked data item to a lower ranked data item calculated based on the boundary parameter.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contiguous portion of the ranked list is defined to extend from a lowest ranked data item to a higher ranked data item calculated based on the boundary parameter.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the visualization comprising defining a size of each shaped object to be representative of a size of the cluster of the clustered, ranked data list associated with each shaped object; and

defining a color of each shaped object to be representative of a highest ranked item in the cluster of the clustered, ranked data list associated with each shaped object.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions for making a computing device execute a method of visualizing data associated with a search query, the method comprising:

receiving the search query over a network and executing the search query, by a computing device, over a database;

receiving, by a computing device in response to the executing the search query, a data set of search results comprising a plurality of data items, each data item having rank information indicative of the relevance of the data item to the search query, and similarity information indicative of similarities between the data item and one or more other data items from the plurality of data items;

sorting, by the computing device, the data set of search results into a ranked list based on the rank information associated with each of the plurality of data items;

masking, by the computing device, a contiguous portion of the ranked list based on a boundary parameter having a value;

iteratively clustering, by the computing device, a portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion based on the similarity information associated with the plurality of data items to produce a clustered, ranked data list, wherein the iteratively clustering the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion comprises, for each successive iteration:

changing the value of the boundary parameter by a step parameter;

unmasking a portion of the previously masked contiguous portion of the ranked list based on the changed value of the boundary parameter;

adding the unmasked portion to the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion; and

clustering the the added unmasked portion and the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion; and

generating and displaying a visualization of the iteratively clustered, ranked data list, the visualization comprising a shaped object representative of the data set of search results ordered based on each cluster in the iteratively clustered, ranked data list.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein one or more of the boundary parameter and the step parameter are user adjustable.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving a user instruction changing one or more values of the boundary parameter and the step parameter;

demasking the entire ranked list;

masking, by the computing device, a new contiguous portion of the ranked list;

iteratively clustering, by the computing device based on the changed one or more values, a new portion of the ranked list other than the masked new contiguous portion based on the similarity information associated with the plurality of data items to produce a clustered, ranked data list; and

generating and displaying a new visualization representative of the clustered, ranked data list, the new visualization comprising a shaped object representative of each cluster in the clustered, ranked data list.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the contiguous portion of the ranked list is defined to extend from a highest ranked data item to a lower ranked data item calculated based on the boundary parameter.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the contiguous portion of the ranked list is defined to extend from a lowest ranked data item to a higher ranked data item calculated based on the boundary parameter.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the generating the visualization comprising defining a size of each shaped object to be representative of a size of the cluster of the clustered, ranked data list associated with each shaped object; and

defining a color of each shaped object to be representative of a highest ranked item in the cluster of the clustered, ranked data list associated with each shaped object.

13. A computing device comprising:

a memory storage device configured to store a database; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory storage device, the processor configured to receive a search query and perform a method of visualizing data associated with the search query, the method comprising:

receiving the search query over a network and executing the search query, by a computing device, over a database;

receiving, by a computing device in response to the executing the search query, a data search results comprising a plurality of data items, each data item having rank information indicative of the relevance of the data item to the search query and similarity information indicative of similarities between the data item and one or more other data items from the plurality of data items;

sorting, by the computing device, the data set of search results into a ranked list based on the rank information associated with each of the plurality of data items;

masking, by the computing device, a contiguous portion of the ranked list based on a boundary parameter having a value;

iteratively clustering, by the computing device, a portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion based on the similarity information associated with the plurality of data items to produce a clustered, ranked data list, wherein the iteratively clustering the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion comprises, for each successive iteration:

changing the value of the boundary parameter by a step parameter;

unmasking a portion of the previously masked contiguous portion of the ranked list based on the changed value of the boundary parameter;

adding the unmasked portion to the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion; and

clustering the the added unmasked portion and the portion of the ranked list other than the masked contiguous portion; and

generating and displaying a visualization of the iteratively clustered, ranked data list, the visualization comprising a shaped object representative of the data set of search results ordered based on each cluster in the iteratively clustered, ranked data list.

14. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein one or more of the boundary parameter and the step parameter are user adjustable; and

further comprising:

receiving a user instruction changing one or more values of the boundary parameter and the step parameter;

demasking the entire ranked list;

masking, by the computing device, a new contiguous portion of the ranked list;

iteratively clustering, by the computing device based on the changed one or more values, a new portion of the ranked list other than the masked new contiguous portion based on the similarity information associated with the plurality of data items to produce a clustered, ranked data list; and

generating and displaying a new visualization representative of the clustered, ranked data list, the new visualization comprising a shaped object representative of each cluster in the clustered, ranked data list.

15. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the contiguous portion of the ranked list is defined to extend from a highest ranked data item to a lower ranked data item calculated based on the boundary parameter.

16. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the contiguous portion of the ranked list is defined to extend from a lowest ranked data item to a higher ranked data item calculated based on the boundary parameter.

17. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the generating the visualization comprising defining a size of each shaped object to be representative of a size of the cluster of the clustered, ranked data list associated with each shaped object; and

defining a color of each shaped object to be representative of a highest ranked item in the cluster of the clustered, ranked data list associated with each shaped object.