Granted Patent B2

US 12,499,169 · App. 18/209,269 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Inventors: Kristian Lyngbaek (Palo Alto, CA); Lester D. Nelson (Santa Clara, CA); Eric A. Bier (Palo Alto, CA); Margaret H. Szymanski (Santa Clara, CA)

Assignee: Xerox Corporation

G06F16/9566G06F16/954

Abstract

Claims (74)

1 . A system for providing Website navigation instructions, comprising:

a server comprising a central processing unit, memory, an input port, and an output port, wherein the central processing unit is configured to:

receive a request for directions from a source Web page to a destination Web page received from a user;

identify a Web page of interest as the destination Web page;

generate a domain of Web pages related to the destination Web page, comprising:

identify Web pages that are related to the destination Web page; and

perform at least one of selecting those of the identified Web pages that satisfy one or more exclusion rules and refining the identified Web pages as the domain of Web pages;

extract information from each Web page in the domain;

generate an index of the extracted information from the domain of Web pages for the destination Web page, generating the index including structuring the index as an index type between one of a graph representation and a hash table, wherein the index type is structured based on a type of recommendation to be generated;

distinguish whether the index associated with the destination Web page is the graph representation or the hash table;

select navigation directions comprising links or search terms to the destination Web page based on whether the index associated with the destination web page is the graph representation or the hash table; and

provide the selected instruction to the user in response to the request based on the index type associated with the destination web page, comprising:

provide a path instruction comprising two or more links to Web pages located between the source Web page and the destination Web page as the selected instruction to the user when the index type of the destination web page is the graph representation; or

provide a query instruction comprising two or more search terms as the selected instruction to the user when the index type of the destination web page is the hash table.

2 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the central processing unit assigns a short link to the destination Web page based on the extracted information and provides the short link to a user as the instruction.

3 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the central processing unit determines a search query to identify the Web page of interest and provides the search query to a user as the query instruction.

4 . A system according to claim 3 , wherein the central processing unit generates the search query by selecting a set of search words from the domain of Web pages, by identifying combinations of the search terms, by filtering out the combinations of search terms that are unlikely to identify the destination Web page, by applying the non-filtered combinations as possible search queries, by identifying one or more Web pages as results, and by mapping each of the results to one of the search queries.

5 . A system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a source Web page; and

a path determined between the source and destination Web pages, wherein the path is provided to a user as the path instruction.

6 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the path is generated based on at least one of a predetermined Web page through which the path is directed, structures within the Web pages, and shortest path.

7 . A system according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:

a script generated based on the instructions;

a display to provide the script to an agent during a call with a caller; and

a record of the call based on the script.

8 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the central processing unit measures effectiveness of the instruction by measuring metrics of the instruction, wherein the metrics comprise at least one of repeatability, error rate and learnability and by analyzing the metrics.

9 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the central processing unit determines the domain by identifying a collection of Web pages with a common domain related to the destination Web page.

10 . A system according to claim 9 , wherein the central processing unit performs at least one of excludes particular pages within the domain based on a Web page title, expands the domain by including additional Web pages, and decreases the domain by excluding pages based on content characteristics.

11 . A method for providing Website navigation instructions, comprising:

receiving from a user, a request for directions from a source Web page to a destination Web page;

identifying a Web page of interest as the destination Web page;

defining a domain of Web pages, comprising:

identifying Web pages that are related to the destination Web page; and

performing at least one of selecting those of the identified Web pages that satisfy one or more exclusion rules and refining the identified Web pages as the domain of Web pages;

extracting information from each Web page in the domain;

generating an index of the extracted information from the domain of Web pages for the destination Web page, generating the index including structuring the index as an index type between one of a graph representation and a hash table, wherein the index type is structured based on a type of recommendation to be generated;

distinguishing whether the index associated with the destination Web page is the graph representation or the hash table;

selecting navigation directions comprising links or search terms to the destination Web page based on whether the identified index type associated with the destination web page is the graph representation or the hash table; and

providing the selected instruction to the user in response to the request based on the index type associated with the destination web page, comprising:

providing a path instruction comprising two or more links to Web pages located between the source Web page and the destination Web page as the selected instruction to the user when the index type of the destination web page is the graph representation; or

providing a query instruction comprising two or more search term as the selected instruction to the user when the index type of the destination web page is the hash table.

12 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

assigning a short link to the destination Web page based on the extracted information; and

providing the short link to a user as the instruction.

13 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a search query to identify the Web page of interest; and

providing the search query to a user as the query instruction.

14 . A method according to claim 13 , further comprising:

generating the search query, comprising:

obtaining a set of search words from the domain of Web pages;

identifying combinations of the search terms;

filtering out the combinations of search terms that are unlikely to identify the destination Web page;

applying the non-filtered combinations as possible search queries;

identifying one or more Web pages as results; and

mapping each of the results to one of the search queries.

15 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

identifying a source Web page;

determining a path between the source and destination Web pages; and

providing the path to a user as the path instruction.

16 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein the path is generated based on at least one of a predetermined Web page through which the path is directed, structures within the Web pages, and shortest path.

17 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising at least one of:

generating a script based on the instructions;

providing the script to an agent during a call with a caller; and

generating a record of the call based on the script.

18 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

measuring effectiveness of the instruction, comprising:

measuring metrics of the instruction, wherein the metrics comprise at least one of repeatability, error rate, and learnability; and

analyzing the metrics.

19 . A method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

determining the domain by identifying a collection of Web pages with a common domain related to the destination Web page.

20 . A method according to claim 19 , further comprising at least one of:

excluding particular pages within the domain based on a Web page title;

expanding the domain by including additional Web pages; and

decreasing the domain by excluding pages based on content characteristics.

Assignments (5)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (400)