Granted Patent B2

US 12,271,401 · App. 17/900,009 · Granted Apr 8, 2025

Inventors: Choo Yei Chong (Redmond, WA); Heidi Kenyon (Bellingham, WA); Neha Parikh Shah (Glen Ridge, NJ); Deepa Shenvi Priolkar (Redmond, WA); Christopher Michael Dollar (Renton, WA); Jin Young Kim (Seattle, WA); Aaron Nash Melhaff (Seattle, WA); Venkata Sreekanth Kannepalli (Redmond, WA); Wende E. Copfer (Woodinville, WA); Harald Becker (Seattle, WA); Amy L. Huang (Seattle, WA)

Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

G06F16/288G06F3/0482G06F9/451G06Q50/01

Abstract

Claims (106)

1. A method for friction reduction during professional network expansion, wherein the method is implemented via a computing system comprising a processor, and wherein the method comprises:

executing, via a network, an enterprise application on a remote computing system operated by a user associated with an enterprise;

causing surfacing of a professional networking user interface (UI) on a display of the remote computing system during the execution of the enterprise application, wherein the professional networking UI comprises UI elements corresponding to a professional network of the user and suggested professional contacts for the user;

generating parameters that are representative of a connection between the user and each suggested professional contact based on enterprise-level data corresponding to the user and each suggested professional contact, the enterprise-level data derived from at least one property graph, wherein the at least one property graph comprises at least:

data objects relating to the user's interactions at the enterprise level,

data objects relating to various types of enterprise resources, and

data objects relating to telemetry data maintained by an application service provider of the enterprise application, the telemetry data comprising data collected during the execution of the enterprise application;

generating friction-reducing UI elements for each suggested professional contact based on the generated parameters;

receiving, via the professional networking UI, user input comprising a command to open a contact connection page corresponding to one of the suggested professional contacts; and

causing surfacing of the contact connection page for the suggested professional contact on the display of the remote computing system, wherein the contact connection page comprises at least a portion of the generated friction-reducing UI elements.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising utilizing a machine learning model to perform at least one of the generation of the parameters or the generation of the friction-reducing UI elements.

3. The method of claim 2 , comprising:

receiving, via the professional networking UI, feedback regarding the contact connection page; and

updating the machine learning model based on the feedback.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameters that are representative of the connection between the user and each suggested professional contact comprise at least one of:

a location of the user;

a location of the suggested professional contact;

a current position of the user within the enterprise;

a current position of the suggested professional contact within the enterprise;

a career goal of the user;

at least one of a goal or a standard corresponding to the enterprise;

an estimated likelihood of reach-out success for the suggested professional contact;

a relationship between the user and the suggested professional contact;

any interactions between the user and the suggested professional contact;

any similarities between the user and the suggested professional contact; or

any mutual professional contacts between the user and the suggested professional contact.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the friction-reducing UI elements comprise at least one of:

an interactions panel that displays any interactions between the user and the suggested professional contact;

an information panel that displays any similarities between the user and the suggested professional contact;

an introductions panel that displays any mutual professional contacts between the user and the suggested professional contact;

a notes box that enables the user to enter text regarding the suggested professional contact;

a relationship drop-down menu that enables the user to specify a professional relationship between the user and the suggested professional contact; or

a new event link that enables the user to schedule an introductory event with the suggested professional contact.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, via the contact connection page, additional user input comprising an interaction with one of the friction-reducing UI elements; and

performing an action corresponding to the selected friction-reducing UI element.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

integrating the parameters that are representative of the connection between the user and the suggested professional contact into a communication platform of the enterprise application; and

during a communication between the user and the suggested professional contact via the communication platform, causing surfacing of friction-reducing data corresponding to the parameters.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein causing the surfacing of the friction-reducing data corresponding to the parameters comprises pre-populating the communication platform with at least one of similarities between the user and the suggested professional contact, potential topics of mutual interest, potential meeting times, potential meeting locations, or potential communication methods.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

ranking a likelihood of professional network expansion between the user and each suggested professional contact based on the parameters that are representative of the connection between the user and each suggested professional contact;

generating a prioritized list of suggested professional contacts for the user based on the ranking; and

causing the surfacing of the prioritized list via the professional networking UI.

10. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

execute an enterprise application on a computing system operated by a user associated with an enterprise;

cause surfacing of a professional networking user interface (UI) on a display of the computing system during the execution of the enterprise application, wherein the professional networking UI comprises UI elements corresponding to a professional network of the user and suggested professional contacts for the user;

generate parameters that are representative of a connection between the user and each suggested professional contact based on enterprise-level data corresponding to the user and each suggested professional contact, the enterprise-level data derived from at least one property graph, wherein the at least one property graph comprises at least:

data objects relating to the user's interactions at the enterprise level,

data objects relating to various types of enterprise resources, and

data objects relating to telemetry data maintained by an application service provider of the enterprise application, the telemetry data comprising data collected during the execution of the enterprise application;

generate friction-reducing UI elements for each suggested professional contact based on the generated parameters;

receive, via the professional networking UI, user input comprising a command to open a contact connection page corresponding to one of the suggested professional contacts; and

cause surfacing of the contact connection page for the suggested professional contact on the display of the computing system, wherein the contact connection page comprises at least a portion of the generated friction-reducing UI elements.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to utilize a machine learning model to perform at least one of the generation of the parameters or the generation of the friction-reducing UI elements.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive, via the professional networking UI, feedback regarding the contact connection page; and update the machine learning model based on the feedback.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the parameters that are representative of the connection between the user and each suggested professional contact comprise at least one of:

a location of the user;

a location of the suggested professional contact;

a current position of the user within the enterprise;

a current position of the suggested professional contact within the enterprise;

a career goal of the user;

at least one of a goal or a standard corresponding to the enterprise;

an estimated likelihood of reach-out success for the suggested professional contact;

a relationship between the user and the suggested professional contact;

any interactions between the user and the suggested professional contact;

any similarities between the user and the suggested professional contact; or

any mutual professional contacts between the user and the suggested professional contact.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the friction-reducing UI elements comprise at least one of:

an interactions panel that displays any interactions between the user and the suggested professional contact;

an information panel that displays any similarities between the user and the suggested professional contact;

an introductions panel that displays any mutual professional contacts between the user and the suggested professional contact;

a notes box that enables the user to enter text regarding the suggested professional contact;

a relationship drop-down menu that enables the user to specify a professional relationship between the user and the suggested professional contact; or

a new event link that enables the user to schedule an introductory event with the suggested professional contact.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive, via the contact connection page, additional user input comprising an interaction with one of the friction-reducing UI elements; and

perform an action corresponding to the selected friction-reducing UI element.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: integrate the parameters that are representative of the connection between the user and the suggested professional contact into a communication platform of the enterprise application; and during a communication between the user and the suggested professional contact via the communication platform, cause surfacing of friction-reducing data corresponding to the parameters.

17. An application service provider server, comprising:

a processor;

an enterprise application that is utilized by an enterprise;

a communication connection for connecting a remote computing system to the application service provider server via a network, wherein the remote computing system is operated by a user associated with an enterprise; and

a computer-readable storage medium operatively coupled to the processor, the computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

execute, via the network, an enterprise application on the remote computing system;

cause surfacing of a professional networking user interface (UI) on a display of the remote computing system during the execution of the enterprise application, wherein the professional networking UI comprises UI elements corresponding to a professional network of the user and suggested professional contacts for the user;

generate parameters that are representative of a connection between the user and each suggested professional contact based on enterprise-level data corresponding to the user and each suggested professional contact, the enterprise-level data derived from at least one property graph, wherein the at least one property graph comprises at least:

data objects relating to the user's interactions at the enterprise level,

data objects relating to various types of enterprise resources, and

data objects relating to telemetry data maintained by an application service provider of the enterprise application, the telemetry data comprising data collected during the execution of the enterprise application;

generate friction-reducing UI elements for each suggested professional contact based on the generated parameters;

receive, via the professional networking UI, user input comprising a command to open a contact connection page corresponding to one of the suggested professional contacts;

cause surfacing of the contact connection page for the suggested professional contact on the display of the remote computing system, wherein the contact connection page comprises at least a portion of the generated friction-reducing UI elements;

receive, via the contact connection page, additional user input comprising an interaction with one of the friction-reducing UI elements; and

perform an action corresponding to the selected friction-reducing UI element.

18. The application service provider server of claim 17 , wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to utilize a machine learning model to perform at least one of the generation of the parameters or the generation of the friction-reducing UI elements.

19. The application service provider server of claim 17 , wherein the friction-reducing UI elements comprise at least one of:

an interactions panel that displays any interactions between the user and the suggested professional contact;

an information panel that displays any similarities between the user and the suggested professional contact;

an introductions panel that displays any mutual professional contacts between the user and the suggested professional contact;

a notes box that enables the user to enter text regarding the suggested professional contact;

a relationship drop-down menu that enables the user to specify a professional relationship between the user and the suggested professional contact; or

a new event link that enables the user to schedule an introductory event with the suggested professional contact.

20. The application service provider server of claim 17 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

integrate the parameters that are representative of the connection between the user and the suggested professional contact into a communication platform of the enterprise application; and

during a communication between the user and the suggested professional contact via the communication platform, cause surfacing of friction-reducing data corresponding to the parameters.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (83)