Education and demonstration – Question or problem eliciting response – Response of plural examinees communicated to monitor or...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-21
2004-02-03
Hughes, S. Thomas (Department: 3714)
Education and demonstration
Question or problem eliciting response
Response of plural examinees communicated to monitor or...
C434S322000, C434S30700R, C434S118000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C717S124000, C717S143000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06687485
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to providing help/training content for a web-based application, and is particularly concerned with simultaneously displaying customizable, interactive help/training content in a browser window for an object of a web-based application as the object is triggered in another browser window supporting the web-based application.
Computer-related applications have become increasingly sophisticated and easily accessible over the Internet. As technology advances, new versions and improvements are released periodically with increased frequency. Service providers and other entities are offering more and more applications over the Internet which are easily accessible to all types of users around the world.
With new technology and improved versions of software, users need instructions and oftentimes structured training classes to utilize certain applications effectively. While some applications provide a help module, traditional help programs generally offer static help content that must be requested by the user. Oftentimes, an answer to a particular problem may be difficult to locate, requiring time and effort. In addition, traditional help tools are integrated into a particular piece of software (or application) thereby requiring separate help tools for each new piece of software, including upgrades. As a result, the help/training tool itself becomes obsolete with each new upgrade.
Most companies will provide classroom instruction (e.g., training courses) to introduce a new application or updated version of a familiar application for their employees. Training courses may last a few hours to several days to instruct new users on how to perform daily tasks. Similarly, newly hired employees will also need training for software. Even if a new employee is familiar with a particular application, the new employee will still need to be trained on company policies, procedures and other protocols that may be specific to an employer. The new employee might have a personal instructor stepping through the operation of the computer program, providing the new employee with the policies and procedures for performing tasks (e.g., entering data). However, a personal instructor for each new employee is expensive and time consuming. One way to save costs is to provide training courses periodically (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually) for a group of new employees or new users. However, if a new employee is hired during the beginning of this period, the new employee will be unproductive for most of this period until the training course is offered. While training courses are a common way to provide instructions to users, lost production attributed to the company may be enormous and very costly to the company.
In addition, various users have different proficiency levels. While some users may only need a few hours of training to be productive, others may require several days. To offer the same training course to users of varying proficiency results in wasted resources, loss of productivity, and overall frustration.
While companies are one group of users who have a need for an improved training tool, any user may run into difficulties when accessing applications over the Internet. In particular, certain government related forms are difficult to complete correctly and oftentimes require explanation. Frustrated users may give up and be forced to resort to less efficient methods for accessing information.
These and other drawbacks exist with current systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a software solution for web-based training. The present invention provides help/training content, which may include instructions, policies and procedures, and other general and/or customized information to a user while the user is accessing a web-based application system (e.g., PeopleSoft®, SAP®, etc.) delivered using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), or any tag-based language. Help/training content may refer to any information or message to be displayed with the web-based application.
The information provided to the user may be context-sensitive, showing the appropriate information at the appropriate time (e.g., when the user needs the information). As the user moves a cursor or mouse pointer over an object of an application in one application window, the help/training content associated with the object is displayed in another window viewable by the user. The relevant help/training content may be associated with a particular object of the application so that even if the object is later repositioned, altered in size or shape or otherwise modified, the relevant help/training content will be nevertheless displayed to the user when the object is triggered (e.g., by moving a cursor over the object). Thus, in this example, the help/training content is not pixel-based, but rather defined at an object level. In another embodiment, the help/training content may be displayed depending on a location of an object as well. In addition, the help/training content provided to the user may be based on a particular page (or pages) of the web-based application. Further, help/training content may also be applied to the entire web-based application.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the user is not required to request help/training content for certain objects or fields within an application. Rather, appropriate help/training content may be automatically provided to the user as the user triggers certain objects or fields (e.g., by moving a pointer or cursor over the object or field within the page of the web-based application using a mouse or other device). Therefore, the user is not required to invoke a help/training tool, nor is the user required to search through a table of contents or submit terms for a word search. For example, for topics familiar to a user, a quick scan of the relevant help/training content may be sufficient. However, for unfamiliar topics of areas that may need further explanation, a user may examine the relevant help/training content in greater detail. In addition, additional links and/or tabs of additional information may be explored. Thus, the user may proceed through an application at his or her own pace with an amount of help/training content sufficient for the individual user.
The help/training tool of the present invention may be separate from the web-based application so that the application as viewed by the end user does not appear altered or modified. In addition, the help/training tool may work with a variety of different applications. For example, help/training content associated with an object across multiple applications may be displayed to a user. If a user is running multiple applications concurrently, the help/training tool of the present invention may display relevant help/training content for multiple applications depending on where the user's cursor is currently located (e.g., over what object in what application). For example, as a user navigates through a browser, the content displayed in a content window may change accordingly. In another example, multiple browser windows may support multiple web-based applications. While a user may be positioned in a first browser window. The content shown in the content window may change as the user toggles among different browser windows supporting different applications.
The present invention may be utilized by companies, software vendors, and other entities. For example, the application may be used with in-house and vendor-delivered systems. The present invention may by used by software vendors to provide general training for their applications. In addition, consultants may provide custom training to the vendors' end-users. However, no cooperation from a software vendor may be required for tag-based, web-delivered packages, for example. Therefore, end-user companies may work with the present invention with little or no assistance from the original software vendor. The present invention may also be used to prov
Chodrow Sarah Elizabeth
Danner Kevin Rory
Hopkins Rosalie Marie
Hughes S. Thomas
Hunton & Williams LLP
Sotomayor John
Thinksmark Performance Systems LLC
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